WrestleMania is known for larger than life match-ups, and you never know what will happen on the grandest stage of them all. John Cena and Bray Wyatt made history in their Firefly Fun House match, but it turns out that they didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for things.
The pandemic halted a ton of plans for the entire world. Thankfully, WWE was able to figure out how to operate in Florida, a state that deemed pro wrestling as an essential service. All of that craziness surrounding logistics for WrestleMania 36 also only gave them three days to figure out what to do at the show of show with Cena and Wyatt.
WWE’s Original Plan For WrestleMania 36
John Cena recently spoke to Chris Van Vliet on Insight, where he revealed a lot of things. Not only did he admit that a heel turn was planned several years ago, but he even had new music and gear made up for that turn. Cena also revealed something very interesting about his confrontation with Bray.
That match against Bray Wyatt was actually supposed to be a standard match. The Firefly Fun House aspect was tacked on later, and they had to figure out what that match even was in a very short amount of time.
“I remember three days before we filmed the Firefly Fun House match. It was the last TV taping where they came in and they’re like, ‘You’re gonna have a Firefly Fun House match’, and I remember there were three people in one of the conference rooms in NXT with me. I said, ‘What’s a Firefly Fun House match?’ They said, ‘I don’t know.’ I said, ‘Great! What can we do’, and that was like, oh, man, again, control the controllable. I wish we had an audience. Performers are like. I wish there could be blood. I wish we could do chair shots to the head. I wish we could swear. I wish I could flip people off. Control the controllable. Use the tools in your tool belt. How do we make something entertaining over a two day period with no audience, and they gave us a stipulation.
Everybody else has a regular match and it’s your stip. It’s not a doctor of Thuganomics match or a Hustle, Loyalty, Respect match that’s completely different. You have these definitive characters. You have all this ammunition. You have all this personality and that’s what people really radiate towards. Holy sh*t. We can make this a meta look at my life and we can get away with it. What do we have up in the warehouse? We have the fist. We have the blue cage. I can get some NWO stuff. We can make this work. I remember this the only match I’ve ever written from start to finish. My poor wife, I made her print it out and I’m writing and giving her paper. She said, ‘What is this? What does it even mean?’ ‘Just print it. I need it’, and somewhere I still have the original draft in my handwriting of the Firefly Fun House. Bray couldn’t have been better.
He knew what was up and he knew the whole thing. I wrote it the night before so I’m trying to text these guys like, I got something weird. I think I might have a picture of the draft still in my phone. I don’t have it with me, but I have it saved as a text that I sent him the night of the match, especially after we saw The Undertaker’s match the night before. Oh, my man, they crushed it, and there was a whole lot more physicality. We got one punch and I texted him how nervous I was, but I wanted to thank him for being so brave and trusting me and I think I couldn’t have done any more. I think we gave it our best shot and hopefully, it works, and it was an effort that I am very proud of.”
Things worked out in the end, as John Cena got to work that whole match without any physicality until the final moments. Bray Wyatt also gave a fantastic performance throughout, adding another amazing highlight to his ingenious character.
John Cena’s Candid Interview
John Cena also revealed what he said to MJF during The Iron Claw premiere. He wanted to know when the Salt of the Earth might switch sides and play for WWE. Only time will tell if that actually happens any time soon.
Cena certainly made a ton of memories during his time in WWE, and he can speak candidly about that now. Sadly, Bray Wyatt passed away in August 2023, and the pro wrestling world is still mourning that great loss. At least, Cena was able to mix it up with the Eater of Worlds to create an unforgettable WrestleMania moment.
SEScoops will have continued coverage of this story, and so many more, so please keep checking back for updates!
