John Cena On Facing Roman Reigns, Why He Wears Sneakers To The Ring

John Cena is willing to concede WWE to Roman Reigns. For now.

“Roman is in the trenches every night and he’s performing at an elite level with a champion caliber attitude,” Cena said in an interview with Sports Illustrated promoting his new movie, The Wall.

“His performance and the response that he gets from certain audiences is indicative of an elite-level performer. He’s doing what I did in 2006, 2007, and 2008. He has all the justification in the world in saying it’s his yard.”

As you would expect, Cena’s competitive drive still burns.

“I’ve made a career of shutting the mouths of people who’ve made that claim that WWE was their yard,” said Cena, who recently celebrated his 40th birthday with a 602-pound deadlift. “I very, very much look forward to the day we put that to the test.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Cena explained why he wears sneakers to the ring.

“I’m a very weird thinker when it comes to WWE,” Cena noted. “If you look at every major sport, their uniforms continue to evolve and change. I think patent leather boots are archaic. We have wonderful technology as far as footwear. I certainly am glad to come out in shoes because I can now wear a more functional cross-training shoe in the ring, whether it’s a low top or high top or three-quarter.”

Cena agreed that boots are a traditional part of the wrestling uniform, but he also added that baseball uniforms used to be made out of wool.

“The football helmet used to look different, too,” added Cena. “Change is always met with adversity. When some people read this, they’ll want me strung from the tallest tree, but that would only make the thousandth time they’d want that. I believe our uniforms, in some cases, are archaic. That deters some people from showing their personality because they get latched onto this ideology.

“If you go back and trace the history of professional wrestling, the reason that people wore the high boots, the flashy tights, and the robes was to define personality. The high boots are just an extension of a wrestling shoe. I would like to see more diversity in terms of uniforms as a whole.”

Cena explained that those who feel attached to the traditional wrestling attire are missing a critical component of the interaction with the worldwide audience.

“When you walk out there, if you don’t get to speak, all you have to stand on is your appearance,” said Cena. “If you look like everyone else and you don’t stand out in the way you perform, then you’ll be perceived as everyone else and you won’t stand out and you won’t attract attention. It’s a way for somebody to create their personality when a lot of guys get stuck in a rut and go for plain gear.”

As for the inevitable clash with Reigns, all Cena could offer was praise for the much-maligned WWE Superstar.

“I’m not going to take anything away from Roman,” said Cena. “He handles his business with the utmost professionalism. He’s doing it on his own watch. He’s not one of the those guys that comes over to me and asks me, ‘What happens next?’ He’s doing it his way, and I think that’s the best way to do it. He’s not trying to be the next John Cena, but he is being the only Roman Reigns-and that’s why it’s met with so much adversity.”

Cena also discussed his WrestleMania proposal to Nikki Bella, acting, Shinsuke Nakamura and more. You can check out the interview here