"We fired Stone Cold", "The Rock left" - John Cena recalls testing times in WWE

John Cena has opened up about the testing times WWE had to face in the aftermath of the Attitude Era. Cena has been largely credited with carrying the mantle of being the company's biggest star after Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock left the promotion.

WWE went through the immensely successful Attitude Era in the late 90s, which propelled them to win the Monday Night Wars with WCW. But soon after, things began to change. Austin was let go after creative differences with the company, while The Rock moved to Hollywood to further his acting career.

During the FAN EXPO in Denver, Cena was asked about the influence of the late Eddie Guerrero on his wrestling career. The self-proclaimed Last Real Champion opened up about the legend and also talked about what he learned from him.

"WWE went through a boom in the Attitude Era and then all those guys, we fired Stone Cold. The Rock left, The Undertaker got hurt, we changed the name, the XFL failed. There was a lot of upside down stuff. We started SmackDown and it had Kurt Angle as its anchor, but we brought Eddie Guerrero and a bunch of [new guys] like Edge and me and a bunch of other new guys and people trying to find their way," he said. [From 6:47- 7:07]

Cena then talked about a specific piece of advice that Eddie gave him.

"Eddie was our champion for for a certain period of time. And he used to tell me that it is the night when the fewest people show up that you have to work 10 times as hard because the presence in that area isn't as strong," Cena added. [From 7:08-7:26]

The Ruthless Aggression Era, ushered in by Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero, and others, laid a solid foundation for John Cena to build on.

The current WWE Undisputed Champion ended up becoming the face of the company and carried that mantle for well over a decade.

---

John Cena has only 14 dates left on his retirement tour

John Cena showed up on WWE programming for the first time since Night of Champions when he made an appearance last week on SmackDown.

A chaotic contract signing with SummerSlam opponent Cody Rhodes ensued, which ended with The Champ being laid out and The American Nightmare taking his hand to sign the contract.

With this appearance, Cena has only 14 dates left on his retirement tour, with his last appearance slated for mid-December.

Currently, John Cena is advertised to show up on the SummerSlam go-home episode of SmackDown on August 1.

If you use the quotes from this article, please credit FAN EXPO and add an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.

Edited by Arsh Das