John Cena has heaped praise on a surprise WWE star he believes helped the company during a troubling time.
Cena often has controversial WWE opinions and he believes one star helped the company in the early 2000s more than him, The Undertaker, and Randy Orton.
The WWE star suggests another underrated talent was the reason the company were able to recover after The Rock and ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin left the company.
He said the star was incredibly influential in showing Cena how to act as the company’s top champion.
John Cena said Eddie Guerrero helped save WWE
WWE went through a transitional period at the end of the Attitude Era, with the likes of Steve Austin and The Rock leaving the company, and several top stars such as The Undertaker suffering injuries.
It allowed the new generation of stars to ascend to the top of the company, including Cena, Edge, and Orton.
Despite those three making their mark in the company, Cena believes Eddie Guerrero was key to helping WWE survive the difficult period.
“Eddie was our champion for a certain period of time,” Cena revealed at the FAN EXPO Denver 2025.
“And he used to tell me that it is the night when the fewest people show up that you have to work 10 times as hard because the presence in that area isn’t as strong,” added the 17-time champion.
Cena used that advice to take WWE by the scruff of the neck and drag it into an entirely new and successful era.
Did John Cena ever wrestle Eddie Guerrero in WWE?
Guerrero took Cena under his wing during the early days of his career on WWE SmackDown, but they only ever met in two singles matches in front of the cameras.
Guerrero won the first bout on the blue brand, defeating the future 17-time World Champion in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The pair met again in a World Heavyweight Championship tournament, which was won by Cena in five minutes.
The two men shared the ring a total of 27 times across their careers, and Cena even wrestled on Guerrero’s tribute show after his tragic death in 2005.