If you ever find yourself questioning how important Babe Ruth is/was, consider this…it doesn’t matter who is talking, they’re bound to compare the best in their business to the baseball great.
The latest offender? WWE.
“Hustle Loyalty Respect” is not just an expression, it’s the measure of the man. Happy birthday to the Babe Ruth of WWE, @JohnCena.
— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) April 23, 2017
Considering they both might be the industry standard for both of their industries, comparing John Cena to Ruth is fine. Doing it on an annual basis…that’s a bit much.
Thirteen months ago, as WWE was heading into WrestleMania, company CEO Vince McMahon sung the praises of his top guy.
“John is Babe Ruth, he’s everything to us. And a real warrior,” McMahon said. “It’s just in him and he loves it so much, even when he was a little kid. I don’t know if you’ve seen some of the videos where he’d have a mini-championship belt made out of cardboard and all that kind of stuff. And on top of it, he’s a hell of a guy.”
Now, let’s be honest…outside of Cena being the biggest star in the wrestling world, there really aren’t a whole lot of similarities between him and the legendary New York Yankees slugger. Matter of fact, the 16-time World Champion’s grandfather has more in common with Ruth than he does.
It’s true.
Cena’s grandfather, Tony Lupien, played six years (1940-1948) for the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago White Sox. The former first baseman hit .301 with 2006 hits (632 in the Majors) during his professional baseball career with his best season coming in 1947, nearly two years after serving in World War II.
Perhaps that explains why Cena is a huge baseball fan. You’ll recall, the longtime WWE Superstar even loaned his championship belt to David Ortiz following the Red Sox 2013 World Series victory.
(h/t Dan Glickman)
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