John Cena Explains Why He Thinks Danielson Was Released

June 16, 2010

"Busted Open Radio" had WWE Champion John Cena on the show today with Dave LaGreca and Doug Mortman to promote his role with Gillette, and he had comments on the Bryan Danielson/Daniel Bryan release from WWE. Below are the comments on Danielson:

"I believe Bryan was given his release and this is just my belief, its complete speculation so basically you’re going off my second hand knowledge for something to do with violating our PG content agreement which is very serious. If you watch RAW, there is a label at the beginning of the program that says PG TV and its very important for us to play within those guidelines because we do have a lot of younger viewers and it was tough for us to get that logo at the beginning. As you know, the WWE, we are doing good business and most of that business is family business. So for us to violate that content….we get in trouble with our TV providers, sponsors….its not good business. I think that is the reason for the Bryan Danielson release.

In the same token, for a young man such as him to make, like I said on Twitter, make an impact on the WWE Universe in that short a time, it says something about who he is as a person and where he belongs amongst our group. I agree with a lot of folks that I think the penalty might have been a little too severe but the best advice I can give everybody, like you just explained, the WWE is a business and that why I was one of the names on that petition. I don’t know how many names are on that petition but if the fans collectively want this young man back in the company, the only way to do that is the power is within the ticket buyers. If the ticket buyers come out by the fifty thousands, by the hundred thousands and say ‘listen, we want this young man back, we think he has something to offer’, were a company that worries about the bottom line. If you get one hundred thousand signatures and lets say our cheapest ticket for bottom line reasons is ten dollars, there is no way that people in charge of finance and revenue can ignore the fact that this young man should be back on our program. As far as a fix to the situation, who knows what the fix is going to be but I put the power in the hands of the consumer. That’s why I was one of the first to sign that petition because I think if you show strong enough belief that ‘listen, this guy has something to offer’ and I believe he does too, if you get enough signatures on something like that, it would be very difficult for WWE, as a business entity, to ignore the fact that Daniel Bryan would be able to generate revenue.’

The interview will be replayed tonight at 12:05 AM ET on Sportsnation 2 on the internet for Sirius/XM subscribers and this Sunday at 9 PM ET on Sirius 122. I’ll also be posting the sound on our Facebook page at some point this afternoon (facebook.com/bustedopen) for the general public to listen.

Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.

Nick attended New York University and graduated in 2001 with a degree in Drama.

Nick first entered the internet wrestling community back in 2004 when he became the co-host of The Voice of Wrestling Radio Show. From there, Nick made the transition from radio personality to editor when he began working with WrestleZone in 2008.

Nick is a member of two Off-Broadway theatre companies, Another Urban Riff, and the Drama Desk Award winning Godlight Theatre Company. Nick has appeared in over a dozen Off-Broadway plays since he moved to New York City, and has shot several short and feature length films. In 2010, he completed principle photography on a film titled "How to Score Your Life," which also features TNA Knockout ODB.

Inspiration in his life has come from many people including his family, Woody Allen, Steven Spielberg, Jack Nicholson, The Beatles, and of course, Lassie.