As many wrestling fans know, Jim Cornette is never one to hold back on a controversial opinion or a hot take. The legendary former manager’s latest comments about John Cena are no exception to this, as he said the retired star lately comes off like a “robot wearing Vince McMahon’s clothing.”
The remarks came during the most recent episode of his Jim Cornette Experience podcast while he and co-host Brian Last discussed the first episode of season three of WWE Unreal.
The Netflix show covers Cena’s much-discussed
2025 farewell tour, and the 17-time world champion gets significant screen time discussing various decisions made during his last year competing in the ring. His controversial heel turn was one angle of the episode, and Cornette, of course, offered his thoughts.
“Cena’s explaining his thought process for being a heel, and it makes sense when he explained it, but they’re acting like it worked,” Corny said of how WWE Unreal presented the storyline.
But perhaps more than Cena’s messaging, Cornette took issue with John’s delivery, and he dug back into their shared past when Cena was coming up in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), which was used as a WWE developmental territory at the time.
According to Cornette, Cena’s personality “got him over” at OVW, noting he was “personable” in those days.
“He’s turned into a monotonic, whispering robot wearing Vince McMahon’s clothing,” Corny said, adding in commentary about Cena’s custom suits.
He then asked Last if he also noticed how Cena sounds like “he’s having someone read it into the chip in his brain.”
Last responded by saying John seems like a “genuinely great guy” who does a lot of “commendable” work with children. He then commented: “But the way he talks, everything is a politically correct press statement where he’s not going to offend anyone.”
Soon, Last agreed with Cornette’s assessment by saying: “He’s a robot. He speaks like a robot. He behaves like a robot.”
“He used to be a very jovial, outspoken, happy fellow telling stories,” Corny interjected.
Later in the podcast episode talk about Unreal, Jim said “Cena was getting so grandiose and polished and so soft-spoken about this, like he’s recounting the moment that he discovered the method for brain surgery.”
What do you think, Cagesiders? Does John Cena come off as too robotic with his speaking sometimes? Any thoughts on his clothing choices? Let us know in the comments.
