John Cena owes WWE success to one man, former manager believes (Exclusive)

John Cena is widely regarded as one of WWE's all-time greats. Legendary booker and manager Dutch Mantell, formerly known as Zeb Colter in WWE, believes the retiring superstar can thank Vince McMahon for his success.

Cena made his main roster debut in 2002. The 47-year-old became WWE's top babyface for over a decade while McMahon was in charge of the company's creative direction. He also headlined WrestleMania five times and won a joint-record 16 world titles.

Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk, Mantell admitted he was surprised by Cena's 2025 retirement announcement at Money in the Bank. He also referenced McMahon's misconduct allegations while highlighting how Cena owes a lot to his former boss:

"I'm kind of amazed he even made it [retirement announcement] because he's got such a reduced schedule now, he may as well be retired," Mantell said. "But he did come out and, I'll say one thing, he appreciates pro wrestling, he appreciates the fans, and even though Vince is engaged in all this other stuff and he's been charged with a lot of stuff, still, he [John Cena] owes his success strictly to one man, and that's Vince McMahon." [From 04:08 – 04:40]

Watch the video above to hear Mantell predict what the future might hold for Cena in the wrestling business beyond 2025.

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Dutch Mantell on John Cena's attitude toward WWE

In 2015, John Cena significantly reduced his in-ring schedule to focus on his movie career. Since then, he has wrestled sporadically and made several surprise appearances on WWE programming.

Unlike some veteran wrestlers, Dutch Mantell thinks Cena has never lost his enthusiasm for the wrestling industry:

"He is still over like rover. He's still over like a son of a gun, people still like him, and he appreciates them, so he's not the type to make a lot of money in wrestling and then get out and kinda cr*p on it. I've seen people do that too. They have [an attitude] like, 'Yeah, I was in wrestling, I didn't really enjoy it that much, blah blah blah,' but he's not that way." [05:14 – 05:43]

Mantell also gave his thoughts on Cena possibly dethroning a RAW star to win the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 41.

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What do you make of Dutch Mantell's remarks? Hit the discuss button and let us know.

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