“I Went to This Training, and I’ll Never Forget It”: Ex-WWE Star Recalls the Day John Cena Literally Broke the Ring
Long before he became a 17-time world champion and the face of WWE, John Cena was just another trainee trying to make a name for himself. But according to one former WWE star, even back then, Cena was already doing things nobody else could.
Shelly Martinez, known to WWE fans as Ariel, recently took a trip down memory lane on her “Too Much Information” podcast. And the story she shared might be one of the most unique John Cena tales you’ve ever heard.
Martinez recalled attending a training session during the early days of her career when Cena was still honing his craft. What started as a routine practice session quickly turned into something nobody in attendance would forget.
“I went to this training, and I’ll never forget it,” Martinez said on her podcast. “I remember John Cena being in the ring, and he was hitting the ropes and running, and we all were training, and he hit them so hard that he broke the ring.”
Yes, you read that correctly. John Cena was hitting the ropes with such force that he actually broke them.
“The ropes broke, and it was like this fun little moment,” Martinez continued. “And fast forward to John Cena being John Cena.”
Looking back now, that moment feels almost prophetic. A young, hungry wrestler putting so much power into his movements that the equipment couldn’t handle it – it’s hard to imagine a more fitting origin story for someone who would go on to become one of the most dominant forces in sports entertainment history.
Cena has certainly come a long way since those training days. Just last year at WrestleMania 41, he defeated Cody Rhodes to capture the Undisputed WWE Title, securing his record-extending 17th world championship in the process.
Rhodes Reflects on That Electric WrestleMania Crowd
Speaking of that WrestleMania 41 showdown, Cody Rhodes recently opened up about the unique experience of wrestling Cena on wrestling’s biggest stage – particularly when it came to the crowd’s reaction.
Appearing on the “Insight” podcast, Rhodes addressed fans who’ve suggested watching the match with the sound turned off due to the overwhelming crowd response favoring Cena.
“I remember every now and then you see fans say, ‘Turn the sound off when you watch it,'” Rhodes said. “And I’m always thinking, what? The sound is fans are in the ring with us.”
For Rhodes, the crowd reaction isn’t background noise – it’s an essential part of the performance.
“We are a live performance that interacts with our audience and plays off of what they are giving us. There is no sound off. Sorry, I feel strongly about that match.”
The current WWE Champion also shared some wisdom he received from Bobby Roode, who helped prepare him for the reality of wrestling someone with Cena’s legendary status.
“Bobby Roode has a couple of times come up to me and said, ‘Hey, it’s going to be an away game,'” Rhodes revealed. “That was because they show us now arriving, we love doing these arrivals. I actually don’t mind it, because I could sit right there and go, okay, great. It’s going to be one thing in Louisville, Kentucky, it might be a different thing in Las Vegas.”
Rhodes seems to have made peace with the complicated relationship fans have with him, especially when standing across the ring from someone like Cena.
“Somebody said something to me recently, because you talk about, I don’t know if villain is the term, some people might think that’s who I already am. That might be that for them, I might not need to do any more. They might think, no, he’s a bad guy, I’m booing him, or he’s a good guy, I’m cheering him.”
From breaking rings in training sessions to breaking championship records at WrestleMania, John Cena’s journey has been nothing short of remarkable. And thanks to stories like Martinez’s, fans get a glimpse of the larger-than-life figure before he became exactly that.
