John Cena is one the most experienced performers in the professional wrestling world due to his 22-year-long WWE career. Throughout his run with the organization, The Cenation Leader has been exceptional in terms of in-ring action as well as the character work he has done. From being The Doctor of Thuganomics to working as the face of the company, Cena has done it all.
But despite his brilliance in on-screen work, Cena was unable to hold himself back during a segment in 2013. This extremely rare incident took place when John was having a verbal war in the ring with the fan-favorite Daniel Bryan. During their battle on the mic, both of them were going all in to make an impact with their words, but all of a sudden, a member of the WWE Universe used the moment to take a dig at Bryan.
At first, The Cenation Leader said, “I wrestled and beat them all. And that’s a pretty stacked list, Daniel Bryan. A list that includes Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Batista, Randy Orton, CM Punk, The Rock.” But as Cena was speaking, Bryan interrupted him, and said, “Wait a second, you talk about all those people like they are so much better than me,” and that’s when someone from the audience said, “They are.”
WHY DID THAT FAN COOK DANIEL BRYAN LIKE THIS? 😂
— FADE (@FadeAwayMedia) June 26, 2024
pic.twitter.com/o58IQqlqfA
As soon as the WWE fan trolled Daniel through this move, the face expressions of John Cena changed, as he wasn’t able to control himself from laughing. A veteran like John being unable to hold it together on live TV clearly shows how hilarious that segment was, and it’s also understandable from the fans reaction to the spot.
John Cena and Daniel Bryan’s rivalry was a really memorable one
This brutal trolling of Daniel made this interaction extremely memorable; in fact, their entire rivalry was a really memorable one. These two superstars feuded at the time when Bryan was at the peak of his popularity among the WWE Universe, and John Cena was still a main-event guy in the Stamford-based promotion. All this eventually led to a WWE Championship match between them at SummerSlam 2013.
The stakes of their encounter were also high because Daniel had the opportunity to win his first world title in the company in this match. Bryan ended up doing so by defeating The Cenation Leader, but then the unexpected happened, as Triple H attacked him, and Randy Orton cashed in his MITB contract to end Bryan’s reign at the top of the division within minutes.
The Cenation Leader once went off-script because of Daniel Bryan
While the feud between John Cena and Bryan came to its conclusion at SummerSlam 2013, it wasn’t their only interaction in WWE. In fact, in one of their most memorable interactions, The Cenation Leader once went off-script because of Daniel Bryan. This moment took place during a segment that involved The Viper and The Authority, as Cena decided to include the fan-favorite star in the segment.
Never forget that Daniel Bryan was not supposed to be involved in this segment.
— Wrestling Pics & Clips (@WrestleClips) October 29, 2023
However, crowd was going crazy just for him and John Cena improvised and gave us this great moment. pic.twitter.com/nFR2FlE3AH
As Daniel was arguably the biggest babyface in the wrestling promotion at that time, it was a great move and ended up getting a loud cheer from the live crowd. Through this decision, John Cena showed his selflessness, as he made Daniel Bryan a star in that promo. All this gave a great boost to the “Yes Movement,” as the fan-favorite star eventually won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 30 in 2014.