John Cena is one of WWE’s most admired yet despised superstars. His success in the Stamford-based promotion did not come easy. Cena’s personality was his ‘it’ factor, making him stand out from other wrestlers. However, when his career took off, he attracted a lot of jealousy from his co-wrestlers. Former WWE superstar, Rene Dupree, accused Bob Holly of hating John Cena for his success in WWE.
Bullying was a common occurrence in pro wrestling back in the day. While many WWE superstars like John Cena were saints, others had a tarnished reputation for being bullies.
Hardcore Holly was one of the few old-school wrestlers who was notorious for backstage hazing. Although John Cena wasn’t one of Bob Holly’s victims, he certainly was one of many wrestlers that Holly detested.
Rene Dupree says Bob Holly hated John Cena for his success
According to Dupree, when John Cena passed by Hardcore Holly in the locker room, the latter flipped out. John Cena being viewed as one of Vince McMahon’s top guys seemingly did not sit well with Holly.
While speaking on his Cafe de Rene podcast, Rene Dupree recalled an incident from his days with WWE when he was yelled at by Holly for making Cena look good in the ring. At the time, Dupree and Bob Holly traveled to shows together.
“So, we’re in the locker room after the match and Cena passes by and Bob was like, ‘I hate that motherf**ker.’ Why do you think he hated him? Because he knew he was getting the push that that was the new guy. He was jealous, you get it. We would ride together and he would yell at me, ‘Why [are] you making Cena look good? Why are you giving him so much?’ He would yell at me because he knew that that was Vince’s [McMahon] new guy”.
Despite Holly’s jealousy, John Cena rose to become the face of WWE in the years to come. It should be noted that Bob Holly was an old-timer. So, based on Dupree’s allegations against Holly, it’s safe to bet that the Hardcore legend did not take younger talents getting the push very kindly.
While Cena did not experience getting bullied by Bob, Dupree found himself on the receiving end of stiff shots from Holly in the ring.
Hardcore Holly once punished Rene Dupree over a speeding ticket
Speaking on the Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross recalled the time when Bob Holly was incensed with Rene Dupree for using the former’s rental car and getting a speeding ticket. The ticket affected Holly’s insurance and spurred him on to get back at Dupree in the ring. It’s widely known that Holly had no tolerance for frivolity.
During a house show in 2004, Bob Holly threw some stiff shots at Rene Dupree as punishment. According to JR, Holly was trying to discipline Dupree. It’s worth noting that JR did not chastise Holly for his actions.
“Bob was disciplining Rene, but you don’t endorse it, ‘Yeah, beat your teammate up.’ You don’t endorse it.”
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