"You could smell the alcohol" - Veteran recalls John Cena's iconic match against a WWE legend

John Cena is nearing the end of his in-ring career, but he's had some absolute classics over his career, one of which happened against Shawn Michaels on WWE RAW. Jonathan Coachman recently revealed how Cena had been on a drinking binge before the match.

On April 23rd, 2007, John Cena and Shawn Michaels had an unexpectedly long match on an episode of WWE RAW. The hour-long showdown is considered one of the greatest TV matches ever, but not many know the state Cena was heading into it.

During his appearance on The Angle Podcast, Jonathan Coachman recalled how, after becoming world champion, John Cena followed the traditions set by Ric Flair and indulged in some heavy drinking between shows.

Coachman was in the Gorilla position after John Cena completed his match against Shawn Michaels and could clearly smell the alcohol when the star came backstage after the bout. Since his early days, The Cenation Leader has proven that irrespective of what happens, he is a dependable superstar who is ready to be at the top of the card.

Coachman said:

"I remember standing there because I was traveling with him at this time, and out of respect for the effort and what he was doing, I stood at the Gorilla position for him to walk back down. When he walked back towards me, you could smell the alcohol coming out of his pores. But he gave a 60-minute absolute banger." [14:44 - 15:00]

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Jonathan Coachman on John Cena's reaction to being told about his match against Shawn Michaels

Jonathan Coachman, John Cena and most of the stars travelled together during the mid 2000s and hitting the bars was clearly a regular phenomenon.

Coachman recalled how former producer Dean Malenko informed John that he would face Shawn Michaels on RAW during one of their visits to the bar.

Like a true professional, Cena put his beer down and left in preparation for his match the following day, which ended up being one of the best-ever in-ring spectacles in RAW history.

Coachman continued:

"Now, don't feel sorry for him because he was making 50 to 100 grand a night in the main event. But the last night, Dean Malenko walks up to him, beer in his hand, and whispers something in his ear; he puts the beer down, heads straight to the elevator, says nothing to nobody, and disappears. Dean Malenko had just told him, 'Tomorrow night, you're going 60 minutes with Shawn Michaels on Monday Night RAW.'" [14:20 - 14:40]

As noted, The Cenation Leader apparently doesn't have much time left in the ring, but everyone hopes he might have not just a match or two but one final run left in the tank.