Hall of Famer says 47-year-old absent WWE star was the chosen one, not John Cena

Modified Apr 02, 2025 20:38 GMT

Cody Rhodes and John Cena on RAW [WWE/Courtesy] — Cody Rhodes and John Cena on RAW [Image credit: WWE.com]

Cody Rhodes and John Cena engaged in a war of words for three weeks straight on RAW. In their latest promo, Cody called Cena the chosen one, making a subtle reference to former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.

Bully Ray dismissed this notion, reminding John's humble beginnings in WWE, and how Stephanie McMahon played a crucial role in not getting Cena fired. On the contrary, Ray revealed that Brock Lesnar was in fact, the chosen one. The Hall of Famer also gave details.

On the Busted Open podcast, Bully Ray said the higher-ups had come up to him back in 2002 en route to the King of the Ring pay-per-view. According to Ray, The Beast Incarnate was earmarked as a future headliner, and he had to put over the next big star.

"John [Cena] is not the chosen one from day one. John is not a Brock Lesnar," Bully Ray said. "I was the guy that they gave Brock to first. They came to me and said, 'Bubba, this is the guy,' when he was about to win the King of the Ring." [From 23:07 to 23:34]

You can check out his comments in the video below:

The Hall of Famer also set the record straight about another point made in the Cody Rhodes-John Cena promo segment on RAW. He reminded everyone that Vince McMahon brought back The American Nightmare to WWE, not Triple H.

Cody Rhodes wondered if John Cena couldn't stand the turn of events in WWE

John Cena's wrestling career slowly fizzled out in the last decade as he moved on to Hollywood.

Before he became a part-time performer in WWE, Cena wrestled Stardust on RAW. Cody Rhodes reminded the 16-time former World Champion of it this past Monday, wondering if the latter couldn't stand this fact.

Meanwhile, The Rock has not been seen on WWE television since he decimated Cody Rhodes with John Cena and rapper Travis Scott at Elimination Chamber last month. Bully Ray picked the next show for a Final Boss appearance this season.

Please credit the Busted Open podcast and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use the quote from this article.

About the author

Joel has been a WWE news writer at Sportskeeda for the last 2 years. Always having a penchant for writing, he worked as an independent screenwriter and a copy/content writer for almost 2 years before joining Sportskeeda.

Joel’s pro-wrestling knowledge comes from hours of watching it from a young age. His favorite wrestler is Shawn Michaels, but if he could go back in time to The Attitude Era, he would like to manage Chris Jericho and advise him to cut his hair and portray a character similar to Javier Bardem in the movie “No Country for Old Men,” something which Jericho later pulled off in 2008.

Besides Michaels, Joel is also a fan of Eddie Guerrero, Randy Orton, Edge, CM Punk, and Brock Lesnar. His current favorites are Roman Reigns, Gunther, and Drew McIntyre.

Joel is a team man and works closely with his colleagues, conducts thorough research, and only relies on top pro-wrestling sources for information. His well-researched news reports have received close to 10 million reads till date.

When not following pro wrestling, Joel can be found designing built spaces, auditioning for films, working out, spending time with family and watching movies.

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Edited by Sayantan Niyogi