As the John Cena Retirement Tour nears its end, reflections are pouring in far and wide from those who have played a part in Cena's legendary career and few were more influential in the early days than WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson. Appearing on "Busted Open Radio," Anderson reflected on his first interactions with Cena after his call-up to "WWE SmackDown" in 2002.
"[Cena] was green in his thought process," said Anderson, who quickly became the agent (or producer) for Cena's matches and right away, knew there was work to be done. "He was trying to find his way and experimenting with the rapper stuff and all that, which I knew would never work, but [that wasn't my] call." Soon, "Double A" would notice Cena's confidence growing, maybe too quickly, but knowing another lesson was afoot, the veteran was fine with letting his protege test the waters some. "I saw John begin to question me and I would say, 'Okay, that's a valid point. Try it your way. Tomorrow, we'll try it my way,'" Anderson recalled. "[He'd established] a confidence that I was gonna take care of him and protect him and sometimes that would involve having to be a bit firm."
One such instance involved learning a tough lesson from fellow WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle. "Some guy in the audience had one of those hands and John spotted it," Anderson remembered. "Now, they're in the middle of the match. This is an Olympic gold medalist. He just leaves Kurt, goes [about] 10 rows deep, takes the hand and folds it into a [middle] finger. He goes back over the rail [and] Kurt hit him with a Belly-to-Belly on the floor and threw him in the ring and stomped his brains out. When he came back through the curtain, I went, 'Uh, learn anything tonight?' And he had this [wide-eyed] look on his face. Oh yeah, cause he had just got the dogs*** kicked out of him by somebody that could do it and not have any repercussions."
Anderson was then asked about another one of his mentees, WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, and specifically for his feelings on his match with Cena at SummerSlam. Trying to quantify his level of pride for the work the two put forth that night, Anderson took a familial angle. "Like a doting uncle." In a Street Fight that featured multiple AAs, Cross Rhodes, and several other finishing moves, Rhodes would be successful in defending his title before leaving the ring for Cena to celebrate with fans (only to be attacked by a returning Brock Lesnar).
With regard to Rhodes, who Anderson has mentored well before their time together in AEW, he dug a bit deeper to comment on his larger journey and his position as the legendary Dusty Rhodes' son. "[I'm] very, very proud of him because he did it the right way," Anderson said. "He had a tough road to climb being Dusty Rhodes' son. Most people don't realize he's always gonna be compared to his dad. That's not fair because nothing about him is like his dad was."
But maybe "nothing" isn't entirely accurate. As Anderson continued, he did draw one distinct parallel between "The American Dream" and "The American Nightmare." "They were both megastars in different ways, different eras, and different times in the business," he explained. But from a bottom line perspective, now looking back on all that Rhodes has accomplished, according to Anderson, his close friend Dusty would be smiling in approval. "I would just say his dad would be very proud. Very proud."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
