John Cena says the demands of wrestling in the 1980s made it hard for stars like Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan to separate themselves from their characters.
On What Now? with Trevor Noah, Cena was asked whether the two changed or were misunderstood by the public.
“I think it’s more complex than that. I think as performers in a day and age where they sold it as a shoot, or as real, these are real fights, the personalities had less time away from the personality,” Cena said.
He pointed to the schedule after Vince McMahon took WWE national.
“The schedule was arduous. I’m talking 30 days on, seven days off. 30 days on, seven days off or less. And you’re doing your own promotion. So you spend more time as the IP than you do as a human. This is why when you talk to Ric Flair, whom I love and respect, even on his doc, ‘Richard Fliehr is dead. I’m Ric Flair.'”
Cena said Hogan was the same way.
“So when it’s supposed to be real, you got these guys who are trying to convince fans to come in the building and see them, and they assume the role, and it’s really tough to shut the switch off.”
He added that the crowd has always been part of the product.
“If we perform to apathetic silence, it’s really just kind of two guys in their underwear doing stunts.”
