Representing Americana, and the Hollywood Slam Bang style of pro wrestling, is none other than WWE World Heavyweight Champion JOHN CENA. JOHN is an American actor, hip hop musician, and professional wrestler. Cena is a nine-time world champion, 3x US champion and 2x Tag Team Champion. Cena also won the 2008 Royal Rumble and the 2009 Superstar of the Year Slammy Award.
JOHN CENA: The franchise doin big bidness – I live this. It’s automatic I win this… oh you hear those horns? You’re finished.
One of his opponents in the International 3-Way Dance is coming all the way live from Mexico City. He is a fellow thespian himself, appearing in countless films. A legend in his homeland and representing the Heavyweight style of Luche Libre, he… is…
MIL MASCARAS
MIL MASCARAS (through translator): Hahahaha it’s a pleasure to hear that.
Cena was born April 23, 1977 in West Newbury, Massachusetts. Graduating from Cushing Academy, Cena attended Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts. In college he was a Division III All-American center on the college football team. He graduated from Springfield in 1998 with a degree in exercise physiology, after which he pursued a career in bodybuilding and also worked as a chauffeur for a limousine company. Now he is one of the most recognized and decorated pro wrestlers in the game’s history.
Mil Máscaras made his professional wrestling debut in April 1965 in Guadalajara. Máscaras became popular in Mexico for being one of the best conditioned luchadores in the heavyweight division (which was dominated by foreigners at the time). It was his size that permitted him to wrestle in the US and Japan under the heavyweight division. Máscaras was one of the first masked luchadores outside of Mexico to play a non-heel role. He rarely resorted to rule breaking, instead relying on his repertoire of moves and counter-moves. Máscaras was also one of the first wrestlers to introduce the high-flying moves of lucha libre, such as the plancha and tope suicida, to Japanese fans. This brought him international fame as one of the first high-flyers - something he was not considered in Mexico where he fell under the mat-power category. A year after his wrestling debut, Mil Máscaras starred in his first film, a self-titled picture.
MSD: Gentleman, welcome to the Broken City Slaughterhouse – where we respect the SHOOTERS & HOOKERS. We’re going to open up the floor now for questions from the press.
REPORTER #1: You are both highly-regarded fan favorites (some more so than others), how hard have you been training for this match and how far will you go to attain the victory?
JOHN CENA: It's one of those things where you can stop wherever you want to, but sometimes I'm blind with pride and I take my profession very seriously and I know people paid good money to see me perform that night.
MIL MASCARAS : Fans always look at my flying moves only, but I don’t want them to miss the moves of other disciplines that I use in mat wrestling and suplexes.
REPORTER #2: Yeah, you’re both loosely considered “fan favorites”, but JOHN you’ve been getting a much more divided – shall I say “heated” – reaction from the proper wrestling community…
JOHN CENA: “Proper wrestling???”
REPORTER #2: What do have to say to your critics and haters?
JOHN CENA: They pay good money to do whatever the hell they want. I don't care what I hear, as long as its noise. If you want to tell me to go to hell, it doesn't mean I'm going to stop believing in what I believe in. I respect the business, I respect the profession, I also think the business needs to grow, I think we should always be pushing forward, try to do bigger events, try to do more spectacular things and if I'm hated for that, I don't care. It's not going to change my belief on what I am or what I'm trying to do. I would be MORE hated if I listened to those guys or girls and switched up my behavior because it's up to the fans. The fans dictate what they would like to see on our program. At this point there are a lot of people who wish I was buried under 12 feet of concrete next to Jimmy Hoffa… but there are also a lot of people who still believe in what I do and I think when it comes time for the last person to say "alright, Cena can go to hell" then I'll tell the rest of the people to go to hell.
MIL MASCARAS: That’s probably a good judge.
REPORTER #1: How much calculation has gone into your respective preparations? Any cutting edge new training techniques?
MIL MASCARAS: I never calculated my moves. However, it’s really hard to copy them because they are just naturally coming from me.
JOHN CENA: You succeed through hard work, through discipline, through getting your hands dirty and getting shit done. I'm not cutting edge, I'm not 'today' I'm none of those buzzwords. I'm an old-fashioned, punch the fucking clock, go to work type of guy.
MIL MASCARAS (in response to the sudden burst of profanity): I remember you as a young man with good manners.
JOHN CENA: I just think it's something that visibly shows people who genuinely love what they do and there are those that don't.
REPORTER #3: Mister Mascaras, have you studied any of CENA’s previous work?
MIL MASCARAS: Yes, I had opportunity to watch his matches on video because the press constantly compared me and him. I thought he was a great wrestler. Animal-like jumps, stiff moves and a lot of ideas. His suplexes were very original. I couldn’t even copy many of them (laughs). It’s natural that we had different fight styles. I was conscious of him, but I already had my established style and didn’t even think about changing it.
JOHN CENA: If you can pull it off, that's the sign of someone who demands respect in this business.
MIL MASCARAS: Maybe so. I might have said that. He was already speedy and having scientific matches. I believe he already had enough elements to be… the future.
JOHN CENA: The match is the match, it will be what it will be, but it's the lead up to the match that I enjoy, trying to get people interested in what I have to say. "Why do I want to see the next John Cena match?" It's because "I don't like what he's saying, I want him to get his ass whipped" or "Man, that's my guy and I want to see him hit the ring and kick some ass". I love doing that.
REPORTER #4: Speaking of the lead-up to a match, just the other day Undisputed Wrestling Champion LOU THESZ had some choice words to say about you, JOHN CENA. Any response beyond what you twittered later in the evening?
JOHN CENA: Not at all. Those "proper wrestling" fans are the ones that stick around when the business is bad. It's a very tough dichotomy. For our business to grow, we need to attract the casual fan. But when our business is in the skids, it's the quote/unquote "proper wrestling" fan that's always going to stick behind us. It's not that I don't care [when they] say I can't wrestle, I'm just glad that they are watching. I'm glad that they are analyzing my stuff so much that I'm under the microscope that much. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and none of that stuff offends me. All I can do, all anyone can ask of me, is go out every night and give everything I got, that's exactly what I do.
REPORTER #5: Mister Mascaras, you’re a legend in the game. Cena, you’re legend is steadily growing. How will your respective legacies be impacted by this match, win or lose?
MIL MASCARAS: Masked wrestlers should always keep something mysterious. Even with your friends. El Santo and I could keep our status by doing so.
JOHN CENA: I am a true explanation of myself - I am me. This is not ballet, it's a contact business. I hit like a mac truck and I don't do any of that stuff. I don't have any elaborate uniforms, I come to the ring in a T-shirt, a pair of sneakers and some shorts. I don't use fake tan. Sometimes I'm fat, sometimes I'm skinny, sometimes I'm white as a ghost, sometimes I got a good tan, it's just a matter of how much sun I can get that week. I don't doll myself up for TV because I want people to accept me for who I am. Like I said before, I can't stress this enough, that's either in a negative or a positive, because either way is a result.
REPORTER #7: Máscaras, you made your international wrestling debut in 1968 at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, getting involved in great rivalries against the likes of Ernie Ladd, John Tolos, Black Gordman, and Goliath. In Mexico City, you unmasked El Halcon in a triangular tournament that included Alfonso Dantés in the 1970s…
MIL MASCARAS: That kind of story makes me realize my own long history! (laughs)
REPORTER #7: Did you know at the time what kind of impact you were having on the game, on such a global level?
MIL MASCARAS: Those plancha (diving body attack) and tope (flying cross chop) were copied from someone else by me.
REPORTER #7: Really???
MIL MASCARAS: Yes. There used to be a wrestler named Gorilita Flores, who did plancha from the second rope. I made it better jumping off the top rope. I studied how to jump. Spreading my arms and make my body like a bow. Even as a compliment, I could never say Gorilita Flores’ plance was beautiful. Plancha suicidak - jumping off the ring - is also my original. It’s same for the tope, too. The man who started using tope in Mexico is said to be Black Shadow, but I copied it with my own idea.
REPORTER #4: Back to the “lead-up” of a match, if I may. There are many “proper wrestling” purists who actually despise this portion of the build. They consider it too melodramatic and showbiz phony for this sport. Is this just another example of why you seem to generate such hatred, John? Have you seen any of Mister Mascaras’ previous work?
JOHN CENA: I got to watch it all, but the stuff that really intrigued me - I mean I watched everything; I watched World Class, I watched NWA, I watched AWA because that's what they broadcast on ESPN in the states. I watched GLOW. The stuff that really intrigued me was the more character based, the more drama set story of the World Wrestling Federation. I just liked the fact that these guys were superheroes and I could look up to a superhero and it was a real-life person. You know, you could go and see them live. As much as I dug guys in the NWA like Dusty Rhodes - Dusty was always one of my Dad's favourites because here was a superhero that was a common dude too. You could tell he was a common dude. A child's mind is so unobstructed by anything and they just get so caught up in wanting to cheer for someone and wanting to hate someone. To me that's what drives our business. At the end of the day it's not if you can do a majistral cradle or a 450 reverse double plancha dive. It's not that, it's "do I give a shit about this guy or do I not?" and I think that's the most important thing in our business.
REPORTER #6: MIL, you were the first masked wrestler to compete in Madison Square Garden.
MIL MASCARAS: It’s true that I worked more in American than in Mexico, especially in Florida and Texas. However whenever I was requested by those organizations, I tried to work for them as much as possible.
REPORTER #8: Mister Mascaras, you’ve paid your dues all over the globe wrestling for every major company in the universe. You’ve also experienced your fair share of hatred, notably from guys like MICK FOLEY, CHRIS JERICO and SUPERSTAR BILLY GRAHAM. Surely you can relate to the dueling dichotomy of JOHN CENA’s fanbase?
MIL MASCARAS: Yeah, I’m the only wrestler who toured not only Mexico, America and Japan… but also Central & South America, Australia, Europe and Africa… all over the world. So, I had opportunity to wrestle unknown opponents in unknown countries. In my case, I was always a limpio (an old lucha term for babyface) anywhere I go, and there were many wrestlers who were jealous. So, in 30 years, I have experienced so many cement attempts. It was necessary to know martial arts in those cases. I remember the matches against Jose Assali in Guatemara and Corazon Grande de Africa in Nigelia were cement from the beginning. I had such experiences in America and Europe as well.
REPORTER #8: You know martial arts?
MIL MASCARAS: I learned juijitsu too. In Mexico, I learned kendo, aikido, karate, judo and other martial arts. I’m as good as black belt in everything. I learned juijiitsu from a student of Konde Koma (Mitsuyo Maeda, the man who introduced juijitsu to Brazil) and also from Professor Tanaka. I was interested in juijitsu as “judo with striking”. Sitting on the opponent, pinning him choking and punching… I was already interested in the Oriental martial arts, but I learned them more for anti-cement.
REPORTER #4: JOHN, is it safe to say many of the “proper wrestling” fans issues with you may stem from the idea you “never paid your dues” and came up easy in the WWE Developmental territories?
JOHN CENA: Absolutely. Nobody liked me. Everybody thought I was just another big guy, I had no skills. It was a time where I went through a lot of change. Like I said I had a lot of success doing the Jim Cornette style of wrestling which is the complete opposite of the then-WWE style so it was like I was thrown into the deep end but I'm glad that I almost didn't make it because if I didn't make it I'd probably be back at Gold's Gym cleaning the toilets. You hear so much about the series of tests that so much of the talent go through. I just think maybe that I was given the 'sink or swim' ultimatum then started to do the hip-hop thing, and at least showed everyone that I could speak. From then on, match after match, progressively worked on my craft and then hit a point in my career where I said "I actually want to stop speaking and start wrestling." And that's exactly what I did.
MIL MASCARAS: In my case, I arranged the tirabsons (Mexican submissions) and other moves in my own way.
REPORTER #2: John, what are some of the dream fantasy match-ups you hope to accomplish in BCCW?
JOHN CENA: This is my take on The Rock, and he's a genuinely nice guy. I've met him; he's a fantastic human being. What I kind of get peeved about, and I guess this is my flaw, my Achilles heel, I hear it every day with young talent, with midcard talent, with people aspiring to make it in this business; I hear "I've wanted to do this my whole life." Rock falls into that category. He, at one point, loved wrestling and wanted to do this all of his life. Explain to me why he can't come back for a 15th Anniversary show or why he can't make an appearance at Wrestlemania. Simply put it's because he wants to be an actor. There's nothing wrong with that, there's nothing wrong with that. He's a very good actor, he's very successful, he's done very well for himself and associating with sports entertainment doesn't do much for his acting career. It only helps out the sports entertainment audience so I get why he doesn't come back. Just don't f*** me around and tell me that you love this when you are just doing this to do something else. That's the only thing that gets me really pissed off.
REPORTER #8: This upcoming International 3-Way Dance is going to be the biggest match in Pro Wrestling time/space/history. Without even knowing your 3rd opponent yet, can you guarantee this will be one match for the ages? MIL MASCARAS is arguably the biggest name in Lucha Libre.
JOHN CENA: It'd be fantastic. The people would go nuts, and that's the thing, he has so much admiration from our audience. One thing I've learned from being a wrestler, or being on the other side of the barricade and being a fan, you almost don't realize it as a fan because you are a fan so much, you just go to everything. Being on the other side I learned how much of their hard earned dollars are spent on our product. But like I said, he (MIL MASCARAS) is a great guy, but we all know now that he wants to be an actor. There's nothing wrong with that because he's truly found another passion. He's good at acting, his films make money (laughs)
MIL MASCARAS shifts uneasily in his seat.
REPORTER #1: Final question: MIL you’re in remarkable shape. What’s your secret?
MIL MASCARAS: My body has natural muscles. I never take any drugs. I have kept this shape only with good meals and training for 30 years. Those wrestlers who use steroid can temporarily keep good shape but it’s bad for health (stares hard at JOHN CENA). Also their bodies can shrink soon. I made my body only with training, so my muscle is really soft and I can keep it with a daily adjustment.
JOHN CENA (angrily interrupting): That question is real easy to answer because you have to consider the source. When the source is ignorant to how things operate now, let's say even if they were a successful star, even if the situation was they got a superstar from the early 90s or late 80s that was a success. Our entity has changed. We truly now are a global phenomenon, much more of a business than we ever have been before. Our athletes come up, not only athletically savvy, but business savvy.
REPORTER #4: But in the 80’s, HULK HOGAN said he wasn’t on steroids. And he was. In the 90’s ULTIMATE WARRIOR said he wasn’t on steroids. And he was. How do we know you’re being truthful right now?
JOHN CENA: I've tried to make this point a million times, you never know if it's truthful. Basically, it's a matter of opinion; it always has been and always will be. An athlete's best defence is his record. If there is a drug testing policy and you pass every drug test, as an athlete that's the best you can do to say "Look guys, I'm clean." I can go on air and say "Hey, I'm not on steroids." And prove it with it with 6 clean test s last year, 8 the year before - I'm clean. But as soon as I say that, there's people on the Internet going 'No, he's on steroids, I know he's on this and that." That's an argument that I've been fighting since I was 16 years old, that I know for a fact I can never win so I'll never get in a screaming match, I'll never get in an argument. Performance enhancing drugs work, they will always be in any aspect of athleticism that has to do with performance. They make the drugs, the drugs work, it basically comes down to an athlete's personal choice, now, whether they want to go up on the stand and lie about it, that's also their personal choice, that they have to deal with. Hulk Hogan had to really, really, backpedal himself into a series of apologies and telling everybody that it wasn't the right thing to do, so you take it upon yourself as an athlete, if you're on some s*** and you go out there and say I'm clean, and you get busted, your integrity, your word, which is pretty much in this business all you have to stand on, is f***ed.
MSD: Thank you very much gentleman, this officially concludes…
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The ear-piercing screech of microphone feedback cuts through the air, drawing everybody’s attention to the back of the hall… where BOBBY “the BRAIN” HEENAN has reappeared! He holds aloft that same unknown title belt.
REPORTER #6: Look what he’s carrying!
MSD: What are you doing here???
BOBBY “the BRAIN” HEENAN: What I would like you to feast your eyes on… matter of fact, I want the WHOLE world to take a good look… holds the title high for the gathered reporters to see… at the belt that belongs to the REAL world champion! You see… the belts that belong (to THESZ and CENA), as far as I’m concerned - and the world’s concerned – is CHEAP! It’s an imitation of the real thing!
Sure (CENA), you’re WWE World Champion… but you’re not the REAL world’s champion. Comparing what you own, the belt you have, and the title you have, is like comparing prime rib to lunch meat! You know, there’s a lot of people with big mouths. There’s a lot of people like Hulk Hogan (HI thegenerator!!!) who run and hide and dodge people…
JOHN CENA starts to speak up.
HEENAN: Your opinion means NOTHING to the REAL worlds champion! Let me tell you something, if the real worlds champion were standing here right now, he would have you on your hands and knees shining the belt!
CENA springs to action, knocking over the press conference table and scattering reporters. MIL MASCARAS along with his translator, remove themselves from the fracas as notebooks, pencils and recorders are strewn about. Security makes a grab for HEENAN while holding CENA back. MSD presides over the chaos.
MSD: Who is HEENAN’s “real worlds champion???” Who will be the 3rd man in our International 3-Way Dance? And what of the rumors of a mystery man from LOU THESZ’s past who is reportedly interested in coming to BCCW for the sole purpose of seeing him destroyed??? Check back for future updates as soon as they become available!!!
CREDITS: John Cena: THE SUN
By JOEL ROSS and SIMON ROTHSTEIN
Published: 03 Mar 2008
MIL MASCARAS: WEEKLY GONG, August 3rd 1995
Translated by Hisaharu Tanabe
BOBBY “the BRAIN” HEENAN: Funeral Parlor circa 1991
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