One of John Cena’s most famous WWE matches came after the star had been partying for a week, according to a former insider.
It didn’t take long after John Cena’s WWE debut match against Kurt Angle for the star to become the biggest star in the company.
Cena became the face of WWE thanks to legendary feuds with the likes of CM Punk and Randy Orton, but he also knew how to let loose.
According to former WWE commentator Jonathan Coachman, Cena wrestled an iconic match after partying on tour for a whole week.
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John Cena wrestled Shawn Michaels after ‘drinking for over a week’
Cena made the most of WWE’s tour of Europe in 2007, as the 17-time champion had become the biggest star on the roster.
Jonathan Coachman told SunSport that Cena had racked up over $35,000 on partying while on the WWE tour.
According to Coachman, Cena was told the night before that he would be facing Shawn Michaels in a 60-minute match on WWE Raw.
It’s one of the most famous Cena matches of all time, and it came after the rising star had spent the week drinking.
“He goes, ‘I just told him that tomorrow night after nine straight nights of drinking and doing house shows, that he was gonna have a 60 minute Iron Man match with Shawn Michaels live on Monday Night Raw,'” said Coachman.
The next night, because we were so close back then, I was waiting at Gorilla to congratulate him when he came back through,” explained Coachman.
“And when he came through, you could smell the alcohol because we had been drinking for over a week,” he added.
Cena’s match with Michaels is widely considered one of his best matches, and one of the greatest TV matches of all time.
John Cena opens up about a time he ‘bombed’ in WWE
Cena may have proved he can pull off miracles while partying across Europe, but the star has admitted to one mistake he’s made in his career.
Asked if he was upset by how his WWE heel turn played out, the star placed the blame upon himself. “No, I failed,” said the star at a FanExpo in Chicago.
“Ain’t nothing wrong with that. You can learn from failure, right? I went up there and bombed. S— happens.”
Cena turned heel at Elimination Chamber, to mixed reviews across 2025, before turning back to babyface ahead of his SummerSlam match with Cody Rhodes.