"Holy c**p. This is great" - Former WWE Champion on fans being hostile towards John Cena

When John Cena shows up on WWE TV today, fans get behind him almost unanimously. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, they say. Cena was not always the beloved superstar that he is today.

Being one of the most polarizing names the Stamford-based promotion has presented as its poster boy, John Cena has found himself facing hostile crowds on numerous occasions.

Perhaps the most outrageous and volatile crowd Cena ever faced was back in 2006 during WWE's revival of the ECW One Night Stand. The main event of the second installment of the pay-per-view featured a WWE Championship Extreme Rules match pitting John Cena against Rob Van Dam.

Appearing on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, the ECW Original, RVD, spoke about how he did not expect fans to react the way they did.

"I couldn’t have predicted that they were gonna feel so much that way. They’re gonna be like ‘No! F**k your T-shirt’ and throw it back. You see me laughing when you watch that. I thought that was funny and great. What are the chances that a fan that could have a John Cena shirt, because they’re all real fans at heart, will do that? Then boom, second guy does it again, third guy wipes his a** with it. It’s like, ‘Holy c**p. This is great,’ But I had no idea it was gonna be like that." (H/T PW Mania)

He further added how The Franchise Player was "looking forward to the match."

"John knew that he was in for a rough night, He was gonna get shit on a lot. He knew that. He’s just super cool. I really think he was looking forward to the match. I think that he had fun with it. I know I did.” (H/T PW Mania)

You can listen to the entire podcast here.

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Rob Van Dam's favorite match is the WWE Championship contest in Manhattan, New York

The former WWE Superstar cited his first WWE Championship win as his favorite match for multiple reasons. Fans certainly wouldn't disagree as it was a barn-burner and arguably one of the best title matches WWE has produced in the 21st century.

“The one match would probably be when I beat John Cena at ECW One Night Stand and won the championship belts. Which if they asked me, I’d bring it up. If they asked me what my favorite match was, [I’d mention it] because first off, the match itself was in my opinion, great. I loved the match. Obviously Cena is great. He was great with that crowd. The crowd was incredible. One of a kind crowd. [It was an] irreplaceable moment, besides all of that, it’s like ‘What was my story, my build up, going into that particular match? Everything since 96." (H/T PW Mania)

Would you like to see Rob Van Dam back at the Stamford-based promotion in 2023? Sound off in the comments section below.