John Cena Opens Up About His First Introduction To WWE

For some fans, their WWE fandom began with the former Cenation leader John Cena. For Cena himself, his introduction to WWE came in the mid-1980s, thanks to the MTV television network.

"You guys did something in conjunction with MTV to build up WrestleMania 1. MTV showed the entire match of Hogan [vs. The Iron] Sheik in MSG where Hogan won the championship," Cena told former WWE executive Stephanie McMahon on "ESPN." "I'm seven to eight years old and now I'm like 'Yo, this is the coolest thing ever.' It was so larger than life, so incredible, especially to a young mind of like 'Man, superheroes are real. Can you believe this is happening?'"

The match in reference pitted Hulk Hogan against The Iron Sheik on January 23, 1984 at NYC's Madison Square Garden. In it, Hogan pinned The Iron Sheik (accompanied by Freddie Blassie) to claim his first and longest reign as WWE Champion.

Cena specified that his WWE viewing experience didn't originate in his own household, but rather the one next door. "Because wrestling was on MTV, I got to watch MTV. I watched that in my next door neighbor's [house] acres away," he said. "You had to go through a path in the woods to get to this kid's house. My parents wouldn't let us watch MTV. We could always watch MTV at this other kid's house."

In his own WWE career, Cena is now a record-breaking 17-time world champion. This comes after he defeated "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41. Looking ahead, he will team with Logan Paul to take on Rhodes and Jey Uso at WWE Money in the Bank on June 7.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "ESPN" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.