Arn Anderson Says Vince McMahon Chose John Cena For Push Over Randy Orton And Batista

The OVW class of 2002 is often talked about as the gold standard when it comes to creating stars, and during the latest "ARN" podcast, Arn Anderson revealed that Vince McMahon was deciding who was going to be 'the' guy at the time between John Cena, Batista, and Randy Orton. While all three men went on to have incredible careers, it was ultimately Cena that was chosen for that role, which has proven to be a good call in hindsight. It was a decision that came with some pressure for Anderson though, who McMahon was trusting heavily at the time. 

"When he decided on John he just said to me one day, 'Okay Arn, I am giving Cena to you, teach him how to work, teach him the business,' just like that," Anderson said. "From that point on I guess he told whoever assigned the matches, 'Give Cena to Arn,' and I started working with him and worked with him the entire time that he was being groomed and what he became." Anderson revealed he had a track record of guiding someone to the top of the business in the form of Goldberg, who he got to pass on his wisdom to after he was brought up, which led to a lot of politics backstage due to his undefeated streak.

"Some guys already started to balk at it and I had to do some politicking with these guys and let them know it's okay," Anderson explained. "Normally you wouldn't get beat in that amount of time but hey, it's going to be everybody guys so don't be the guy that bucks up and loses their job cos everybody is going to put the guy over and in record time."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "ARN" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.