John Cena spoke about the lesson he learned from JBL when they wrestled at WWE WrestleMania 21 during a Q&A session at the Florida Supercon.
Cena beat the WWE Hall of Famer for the WWE Title at this show.
“Every chance for a connection or every opportunity to have [an] experience in life, you can learn from something and I remember this: John [Layfield’s] entrance that day, he had a limo and it was like raining money and he had all this pomp and circumstance and I remember being backstage with John, our producer and myself and I think that Vince [McMahon] was there as well.
“I said, ‘My God, look at him. He’s got the the limo, it’s raining money. What do I get?’ And deadpan, John turned over to me and he said, ‘You’re winning tonight’ and that sunk in and I learned that here I am, looking at all the things he had, wanting what he had and not looking at what’s right in front of me which is an opportunity to be world champion for the first time, something that I dreamt of as a kid.
“I made my own paper championships so he was…John was always great about keeping you grounded and he did a lot for me and I’m forever thankful to him. That’s the one thing I remember from that day, him turning to me deadpan and saying, ‘You are winning!’ And almost like, ‘Get over yourself man, I’m trying to build myself up as the biggest obstacle you can overcome which is why it’s raining money and you’re going to win so that’s going to be enough for this evening so just take that and you’re going to be good.’
“I really thank him for not only that lesson but he gave me a bunch of lessons through my career.”
