“Not Everything Has To Be Fast”: WWE Star Shares The Secret Wisdom John Cena Left Him With
Even though John Cena hung up his boots after his final match at Saturday Night’s Main Event in December 2025, his presence is still very much felt backstage in the WWE locker room.
For years, Cena was the gold standard, not just for his mic skills or his “never give up” attitude, but for his deep understanding of the psychology of wrestling. One current WWE RAW star who was lucky enough to absorb that knowledge firsthand is Rusev.
In a recent deep-dive conversation on Chris Van Vliet’s “Insight” podcast, the former United States Champion opened up about the most valuable lesson he took away from sharing the ring with the 16-time World Champion. And it wasn’t about lifting weights or cutting promos—it was about the art of listening.
The Art of Reading a Room
According to Rusev, the biggest takeaway from Cena was mastering timing and crowd connection. He learned that there is a massive difference between just performing and truly engaging an audience.
“Just timing, take my time,” Rusev explained. “There’s no such thing as a TV match and a live event match, like there’s no such thing as a bad crowd. If they’re not reacting, it’s because you’re not giving them what they want to see.”
Rusev recalled watching Cena meticulously work during matches, constantly assessing the room. “Him listening, ‘Okay, is it a high pitch? Is it low-pitched? Who’s out there tonight? What’s the vibe? He’s always there, watching and learning the crowd as much as everything else.”
The big “Aha!” moment for Rusev was realizing that faster isn’t always better. “Not everything has to be like [fast paced] it’s got to make sense, and it’s got to take your time and listen to the crowd. I think that’s the most important thing. Just listen to the crowd. They’ll tell you what to do.”
The WrestleMania Tank Moment: A Case of Manifestation
Speaking of memorable moments, Rusev also revisited arguably the most iconic visual of his career—his entrance riding a tank at WrestleMania 31 to face Cena.
While fans remember the spectacle, Rusev revealed the surprising origin of that idea. It wasn’t a direct pitch to Vince McMahon, but rather a case of powerful visualization.
“Manifestation, brother. Manifestation, nothing else,” Rusev said with a laugh. He admitted that he and his wife, CJ (Lana), used to dream about the possibilities. “We literally took a paper and we just kind of, ‘Oh, what if it’s this? what if it’s this?’ We’re not gonna go to [Vince]; it’s my first few months. I’m not going to go, ‘Vince, what about this? ’”
To his shock, just days before the biggest show of the year, the universe delivered. “Then all of a sudden, a few days before the show, they call us in the stadium, Oh, there’s a tank. Whoa, there’s the guns. Whoa, there’s a Russian soldier,” he recalled.
For Rusev, it was a surreal moment that proved that focusing on a goal, or “manifesting” it, can sometimes lead to magic—especially when it gets into the mind of the boss.
“It was just something I couldn’t ask for or dream for anything more. And it was all because, like I said, we were just thinking about it… and then somehow it got to Vince’s head for him to put it up there.”
