PWTORCH.COM
VIP SIGN-UP JUMP TO VIP
CONTACT US VISIT MMA TORCH




Select Next Article by Category





TAKE PWTORCH
WITH YOU!

PWTORCH IPHONE APP
Get our iPhone App (FREE!): Click Here
Or enter "PWTorch.com" on your Blackberry or other Smart Phone browser for mobile-version of PWTorch.


WWE News
WWE News: CNN edited Cena footage to take steroid comments out of context, Cena denied usage
Nov 10, 2007 - 12:08:24 PM


By Wade Keller, Torch editor

WWE.com has posted a contrast between what CNN aired of John Cena's interview for Wednesday's documentary, "Death Grip," and the true context of what he said.

In the CNN documentary, the narrator said, "He doesn't like being asked about taking steroids." That was followed with the quote from Cena: "This is a crazy question to have to answer. My answer to that question, have you ever used steroids, is the only thing I can. I can't tell you that I haven't, but you'll never be able to prove that I have." It was a damning quote that really stood out in the one-hour documentary. WWE.com points out that Cena seconds earlier said he never took steroids. WWE.com today offers its unedited video footage taken off to the side by one of their own crew. That footage reveals the following in-context, unedited footage.

CenaJohnArt2_210GG.jpg
John Cena [artist Grant Gould (c) PWTorch]
The interviewer asked: "There's a lot of talk about steroid use and drug use. Have you ever used steroids." Cena: "Absolutely not..." Interviewer interrupted: "Even back in bodybuilding days and football days?" Cena quote, which was a continuation of what he had been saying, not necessarily a response to the interviewer's interjection: "This is a crazy question and this is something that is tough to answer because of the way society is now, the way people conceive things because performance-enhancing drugs have the spotlight and it's a hot thing to talk about." He said now in any sport, if someone performs beyond the norm, people assume it's not athletic achievement, but he or she must be on performance-enhancing drugs. Then Cena said: "My answer to that question, have you ever used steroids, is the only thing I can. I can't tell you that I haven't, but you'll never be able to prove that I have because each one of you out there has an opinion how how I carry myself. I can take a million tests. I've been tested for drugs ever since I was 17 years. I can take a million tests and I can pass every one of them. As soon as I pass it, there's some other guy on the other end going, 'Oh, it's masking agents' or this or that. I know the arguments because I've been in the situation. It's a subject that is very near and dear to me only because ever since I was a small child, I've worked my ass off to get where I'm at. It sucks to have to deal with people saying I rely on a crutch. I wake up every day and I work myself to the bone because I love what I do. I have the best gig in the world. I love it. It kills me to have to sit here and do this with one arm. I want to get back out there... I want to get back in the field. It's killing me."

WWE.com's statement: "In a country in which the news media is highly suspect, and the quality of unbiased reporting has been thrown into the trash can, CNN has stooped to new depths. Notwithstanding the fairness, or lack therein, of CNN’s recent piece entitled 'Death Grip: Inside Pro Wrestling,' perhaps the best example of how CNN misrepresents and unfairly presents their biased, if not illegal, point of view is the comparison of WWE’s unedited video above to CNN’s edited version. CNN’s depiction of John Cena as it relates to steroids is not only professionally and morally wrong, but damaging to his character."

WK: CNN was absolutely wrong to portray Cena the way they did. Cena also made a mistake handing CNN such an ambiguous quote. I say ambiguous because I know what Cena meant, but it's also obviously something that can be honestly misinterpreted. I believe what Cena meant when he said, "I can't tell you I haven't," isn't a roundabout admission, but rather meaning that no matter what kind of denial he issues, the listener won't believe him. What he said is shorthand for "I can't tell you I haven't and have you believe me" or "I can't tell you I haven't and expect you will believe me." While CNN producers could honestly misinterpret Cena's quote if that were all he said about the issue, he said seconds earlier "absolutely not" to a direct question of whether he had ever taken steroids. The producers had an obligation to include that in their documentary. There is no excuse to exclude that from the context of the next Cena quote so, if nothing else, viewers could reconcile the two statements themselves. What CNN did is give WWE a poison pill of sorts to discredit anything in the documentary because WWE fans will have reason to be suspect of the context of any and all quotes.

I know Vince McMahon has a genuine belief that the media is "out to get him." Several times when I've interviewed him or just talked with him on the phone over the years, he's often asked before anything else whether I was recording him, even if the context of the conversation was just casual. WWE, as a policy, always films any media interviews on controversial subjects with their own crew for this very purpose - so they have proof of quotes being taken out of context. It's a great policy for them to have for this very situation. Did CNN forget that WWE filmed it, or did they think the Cena quote "absolutely not" didn't matter or wasn't important? There's no way the producers would intentionally have left themselves so vulnerable to a discrediting contrast between what they aired and the full context of Cena's comments.

If CNN has additional footage that would justify their journalistic choice to exclude a flat denial by Cena - which even if they didn't buy into, should have been included in the documentary - now is the time to offer it.

As for Cena's denials of steroid usage, the best way for him to silence critics is to agree to subject himself to all state athletic commissions voluntarily, and let any independent entity - including an investigation media entity - to test him randomly at any point for steroids and HGH with zero notice at any WWE event or appearance. Vince McMahon made exactly that offer back in 1993-'94, and if Cena did now, that would help him have more credibility than always pointing toward an in-house, suspect testing policy.

Comment on this Article Below

(CLICK FOR COMMENTS RULES OR TO REPORT ABUSE)
[an error occurred while processing this directive]

(CLICK FOR COMMENTS RULES OR TO REPORT ABUSE)

ALSO DISCUSS MORE SUBJECTS IN OUR PWTORCH FREE FORUM

For more BREAKING NEWS on WWE, TNA!
VISIT OUR AFFILIATE - PROWRESTLING.NET


For UFC NEWS & BLOGS:
VISIT OUR SISTER SITE - MMATORCH.COM

Upgrade to PWTORCH VIP: DETAILS & SIGN-UP INFO


MORE "WWE News" ARTICLES
WWE News: Jeff Hardy contract status update, Hardy's future to be decided soon
TNA News: TNA video game franchise without a home after Midway Games bought out; Analysis of interesting domino effect involving WWE
WWE News: Jerry Brisco's heart surgery postponed again, update on his health
WWE News: Update on Edge after severe ankle injury last night
WWE News: WWE executive explains the decision to change PPV names
WWE News: Updated line-up for "Night of Champions" PPV after Smackdown last night
WWE News: WWE TV programming pulled from key international market this weekend
WWE News: Report Wanted from Friday night house show in San Diego on reported injury to Edge
WWE News: Chris Jericho discusses art form of staying heel, taking a dive for Mickey Rourke, wrestling Ricky Steamboat this weekend
WWE News: Jim Ross comments on brutal travel schedule and Roddy Piper DUI arrest
WWE News: Preview for tonight's Superstars on WGN - Punk vs. Edge, Morrison vs. Haas
Other News: New clip of Rob Van Dam doing a stunt for his upcoming movie (w/VIDEO)
WWE News: Matt Hardy vows to reinvent himself on Smackdown; Play the "Matt Hardy decoder" game
WWE News: Torrie Wilson very upset with WWE for WrestleMania 25 divas battle royal and lack of support for "I'm a Celebrity" show
Ratings News: ECW TV rating for Tuesday night's show - near-20 percent increase in TV viewers
WWE News: JBL talks candidly about wrestling too long in WWE; on the cover of bodybuilding magazine
Other News: Mr. Kennedy continues to kill time before 90-day no-compete expires (w/VIDEO)
WWE News: Tommy Dreamer says he's working hurt, talks about his training and diet to keep in shape
WWE News: Spoilers - Second detailed report on Superstars/ECW/Smackdown taping for next week including Rey vs. Jericho IV and Punk "shooting" on Hardy
Other News: Roddy Piper arrested in Los Angeles early this morning

(c) 1999-2009 TDH Communications Inc. - All rights reserved.

QUICK CLICK REFERENCE LISTING
-CLICK TO FOLLOW PWTORCH ON TWITTER!
-CLICK FOR OUR FREE PWTORCH IPHONE APP

-CLICK FOR OUR FREE PODCAST (#1 in iTunes!)
-CLICK TO GET INFO ON BECOMING A VIP MEMBER
-CLICK TO VISIT MMATORCH.COM
-CLICK TO VISIT PROWRESTLING.NET

-CLICK TO EMAIL PWTORCH EDITORS


PWTORCH READER POLL

FOURTH OF JULY POLL: What's your favorite July 4th "gimmick" in pro wrestling?
The Great American Bash
The Bash
Consequences Creed
Independent wrestling
The Patriot Del Wilkes
Hacksaw Jim Duggan
Mr. USA Tony Atlas
U.S. Title
USWA promotion
Babyface Sgt. Slaughter
Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle
Lex Luger bodyslams Yokozuna
USA Network
  

VOTE IN OR SEE RESULTS OF PREVIOUS POLLS


ARE YOU VIP? SIGN UP NOW FOR $7.50 A MONTH FOR INSTANT ACCESS TO AD-FREE, BENEFIT-PACKED VIP VERSION OF PWTORCH.COM (see screen capture)
PWTORCH VIP HOME PAGE

INFO ON SUBSCRIPTION TO AD-FREE VIP SITE

INCREDIBLE BENEFITS!
Over 50 full-length audio updates per month (iPod compatible)... New weekly award-winning Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter (text and printable pdf versions) with latest exclusive insider news, new Torch Talks, great columns, Keller's cover story, much more... Hundreds of full-length back issues of PWTorch Newsletter from late-'80s to today... Ad-free access to PWTorch.com's Main Listing... VIP Forum with interaction with other subscribers and Torch staff... Torch Talk Library with text and audio of hundreds of interview installments from last 20 years... Great layout... Deepest archives on pro wrestling history anywhere... Keller's PWTorch Today PDF Bulletins with email alerts... VIP Email reports on major PPVs and TV shows... Staff Roundtable Reviews (text and audio) followiing major events... The best staff of writers and world class reporting since 1987... We'd love for you to join us and experience the most entertaining, authoritative, experienced staff of professional reporters and commentators in the business...

SIGN ME UP NOW!

Compare the value of four or five months of PWTorch VIP content to the price of just one PPV. Can you cut 25 cents a day from your budget to make room for PWTorch VIP?

AND NEW FOR 2009!
Monthly "Vintage Audio Torch Talks." We are releasing for the first time ever audio versions of our text Torch Talk updates, the historical first series of insider interviews ever. Wade Keller's newsmaking in-depth interviews with wrestling's biggest names are now being made available exclusively to VIP members. But you must be a member each month, as these are not archived, so they are replaced with a new one each month! This debuted in January 2009 with a 68 minute interview with the late "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith. Who's next? Hulk Hogan? Eric Bischoff? The Rock? Goldberg? Jeff Hardy?

SIGN ME UP NOW!


UPCOMING EVENTS LISTING

Articles Grouped by Category
Torch Today
FOURTH OF JULY: Fun facts from the Great American Bash 10 & 20 years ago
TORCH MONTHLY AWARD VOTING: Polls OPEN for best/worst in pro wrestling from the month of June (Part 2 of 2)
TORCH MONTHLY AWARD VOTING: Polls OPEN for best/worst in pro wrestling from the month of June (Part 1 of 2)
WWE News
WWE News: Jeff Hardy contract status update, Hardy's future to be decided soon
TNA News: TNA video game franchise without a home after Midway Games bought out; Analysis of interesting domino effect involving WWE
WWE News: Jerry Brisco's heart surgery postponed again, update on his health
TNA News
TNA News: Latest episode of the Spin Cycle with Sting, Jarrett, Cornette, Foley greatness (w/VIDEO)
TNA News: TNA video game franchise without a home after Midway Games bought out; Analysis of interesting domino effect involving WWE
TNA News: Sting talks Shockmaster with Jeff Jarrett, Jim Cornette (w/VIDEOS)
ROH News
ROH News: Lance Storm's first match out of retirement announced, details on second match against Chris Hero
ROH News: Notes on Toronto Gauntlet match, Nigel McGuinness below-average performances into storyline, ROH selling PWG DVDs
TOP FIVE STORIES - Weekend edition: Three WWE PPV title changes, WWE announcer leaving, Lashley blasts Sapp, Jerry Lawler's son arrested, "State of TNA" address
Other News
Other News: Torch Talk All-Star Lanny Poffo Video interview, great poem on taking out Hulk Hogan
Other News: Brian Blair denies hitting his children in Father's Day Fight; local news runs 911 call leading to arrest (w/VIDEO)
Other News: New clip of Rob Van Dam doing a stunt for his upcoming movie (w/VIDEO)
PPV Reports
THE BASH PPV COVERAGE: Listing of the Torch's WWE PPV coverage - Title changes, Jericho writes on Rey match, Miz on Cena match
RADICAN'S WWE THE BASH PPV BLOG 6/28: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Orton vs. Hunter PPV
CALDWELL'S WWE THE BASH PPV REPORT 6/28: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Orton vs. Triple H, Punk vs. Hardy
TV Reports
PARKS' WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 7/3: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the show, including Punk & Jeff Hardy vs. Jericho & Edge
WWE News: Preview for tonight's Smackdown - Mysterio vs. Kane and Edge & Jericho vs. Punk & Jeff Hardy
PARKS' TNA IMPACT REPORT 7/2: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the show, including Team 3D vs. Booker & Steiner
Arena Reports
7/3 WWE in San Diego, Calif.: First-hand report on Edge's apparent injury, Punk vs. Rey Mysterio, Ricky Steamboat in action
6/27 ROH in Chicago: Austin Aries vs. Nigel McGuinness, KENTA vs. Black, Petey Williams looks odd, Crowd eats up Flair's generic promo
6/28 PWG in California: Joey Ryan vs. Necro Butcher, Davey Richards vs. Young Buck, Michael Jackson entrance themes
MMA / UFC Coverage
UFC News: Kimbo Slice, Rampage Jackson, Rashad Evans plus rest of cast of TUF 10 to be revealed...
UFC - ENNIS COLUMN: The Lay of the Lane - A look at MMA's top heavyweights from Brock to Mir to Carwin to Fedor to...
MMA: Plan a week of UFC and other MMA viewing with the Torch's viewer's guide including Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva
KELLER'S TAKE
KELLER: How bookers, like Jeff Jarrett last night, show that they're the toughest SOBs in the world
KELLER'S TNA IMPACT TAKE 7/2: Thoughts, observations, nitpicks, and quotebook
KELLER'S ECW ON SCI-FI REPORT 6/30: Results, star ratings, thoughts, observations, nitpicks, and quotebook
MITCHELL'S TAKE
MITCHELL SHORT: WWE Proving Once Again That Life is Easy...
MOJO MITCHELL'S 6/29 Raw Stream Of Randy Orton Faces ECW and Loses and That's The Main Event
Mitchell Short: Your Thank-You Note to WWE
MCNEILL'S TAKE
The Names Have Been Changed To Protect The Buyrates: McNEILL Previews WWE Bash 2009!
Redemption: McNEILL previews TNA Slammiversary 7!
MCNEILL BLOG: A Modest Proposal For Monday Night Trump
CALDWELL'S TAKE
CALDWELL: Analysis of WWE's roster shuffle from the 15-person trade - who benefited, which brand needs help
CALDWELL: Instant Reaction to key storylines on Raw and post-PPV developments
CALDWELL: WWE Smackdown/The Bash PPV analysis - Don't Mess with C.M. Punk's dynamic character
RADICAN'S TAKE
RADICAN: Torch readers sounds off on Mark Henry's shining moment on Raw (w/Radican Reax)
RADICAN: Mark Henry's shining moment on Raw leaves a bad smell in the room
RADICAN: A follow up on the Death Before Dishonor audio with Feinstein with notes on Special K angle, Punk-Raven feud, where's Misawa now?
The Specialists
CHARACTER MATTERS: Why The Game Doesn't Play with Me - The Flaws of Triple H's On-Air Persona
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - 7/2 TNA Impact: Kurt Angle saw "The Hangover," Stacker2, A.J. Styles Eats a Lot of Cookies, Stacker2, Jeff Jarrett Has the Power of Flight
HITS & MISSES - TNA IMPACT 7/2: Kevin Nash's sit-down, Kurt Angle Plays the Game, Matt Morgan a Hit?, Samoa Joe muted, Bad acting, Raven MIA
Guest Editorials
EDITORIAL: Historical perspective on Austin Aries's ROH Title victory - his journey from main event to mid-card back to main event
EDITORIAL: TNA needs to K.I.S.S. the King of the Mountain match to make it more appealing to TNA viewers
EDITORIAL: How WWE could have better handled the Vickie-Edge segment on Raw and caught up with the year 2009
Torch Feedback
Smackdown TV Reax #1: "Fresh match-ups, superstars, and storylines just create great TV"
Thursday Night TV Reax - SS/Impact: "X Division, we hardly knew ya after Abyss beat up the only two representatives who showed up"
ECW TV Reax #2: "Yoshi is already on the road to being the next Funaki at this point"
Ask the Editor
Ask the Editor: Wouldn't incorporating MMA-style holds into pro wrestling matches just be trying to be something it's not?
ASK THE EDITOR: Have the Michaels-Batista promos crossed a line with use of insider terms, references to "jobs"?
ASK THE EDITOR: Why do wrestlers in WWE refer to wrestling as "the business" and not "the sport"?
DVDs - VGames - Books
RADICAN'S ROH DVD REVIEW SERIES: 2/7 "Proving Ground: Night 2" (Danielson-Generico, Steen-Richards)
RADICAN'S TORCH DVD REVIEW SERIES: YouShoot with Sabu: Sabu opens up about working in WWE, incident with Kurt Angle, negotions with TNA, more...
RADICAN'S PWTorch DVD review: The Best of RVD TV Vol. 1: RVD trains MMA with a UFC fighter, talks the power of the mind with The Ultimate Warrior, discusses love on a beach with Samoa Joe
Torch Flashbacks
KELLER'S TNA IMPACT REPORT (5 Yrs. Ago): Eric Young headlines, Jerry Lynn, R-Truth, Dusty Rhodes, Sabu, A.J. Styles, Jarrett, D-Ray 3000!
OWEN HART 10 YRS. AGO: Bruce Mitchell Feature Column - The Fluke Death of Owen Hart - May 23, 1999
OWEN HART 10 YRS. AGO: Torch Newsletter #550 cover story on Owen Hart's death (PART TWO) - May 23, 1999
VIP Exclusive Features
7/4 Bruce Mitchell Audio Show, part two: The Vickie Guerrero Injustice, Torrie Disrespect, Jericho Laments Schedule, Wrestler Twitters Going Too Far, Punk's Surprising Hardy Comment, TNA's Ho-Hum Kidnapping of Lauren (76 min.)
7/4 Wade Keller Hotline - The News: Edge Injured, Jeff Hardy's Uncertain Future, WWE PPV Strategy, Wrestling on FX? (19 min.)
7/4 VIP East Coast Audio - Smackdown: Punk-Hardy great exchange, Rey loses to Kane, Dolph and Maria an item? (40 min.)
Torch Trivia
TORCH TRIVIA 2/28: Which wrestler backed out of a WWA PPV in February 2002?
TORCH TRIVIA 2/27: Who said this quote about Hulk Hogan's athleticism 11 years ago?
TORCH TRIVIA 2/25: What said this quote about WWE's mid-1990s drug testing policy?
Torch Instant Polls
FOURTH OF JULY POLL: What's your favorite July 4th "gimmick" in pro wrestling?
7/3 SMACKDOWN MICROSCOPE POLL: What related topic from tonight's Smackdown do you want to see analyzed Under the Microscope?
TNA IMPACT POLL: Who was the MVP of the 7/2 episode if you saw the show?
PWTorch Free Podcast
6/23 Nostalgia Audio with Brian Hoops: Former WCW rapmaster PN News joins Brian Hoops to preview upcoming Midwest shows (10 min.)
FREE AUDIO: Keller & Mitchell Discuss Randy Savage's Place in WWE History, Elizabeth's Strengths and Weaknesses
FREE FOR ALL TODAY - 5/31 Keller Hotline: Tons of info on Kennedy situation, immediate future, plus what top star's days in TNA are numbered, what's working against Kennedy getting big push in TNA, much more
Annual Obituaries
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 1999 - Muchnick, Rick Rude, Owen Hart, Renegade...
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 2000 - Solie, Albright, Duncum, Tsuruta, Blue Demon, Al Costello
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 2001: Johnny Valentine, Terry Gordy, Chris Adams, Bertha Faye, Helen Hart