SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA // John Cena, the 15-time WWE world champion, bids to win the United States title on Sunday for the first time in more than 10 years as he goes up against Rusev at WrestleMania 31. Ahead of the match, Graham Caygill heard what he had to say on several topics relating to him and his future in the WWE.
On working with emerging talent at WrestleMania
“I said something on Raw a while back that any moment at WrestleMania is an opportunity to make life-long memories, and you hear so many people putting stress on the main event of WrestleMania. The product has grown to such an extent essentially every match is a main event, and the goal of everyone should be just to be involved at WrestleMania. It has been a pleasure, it truly has, to see the excitement, to see the anticipation, to see the nerves of what is about to happen and it is something I still go through, but to be able to be a life-long memory in a competitive situation, a story they will have to tell for the rest of their life that is a pretty cool thing.”
On his secret of lasting so long at the top
“Everyone always asks the question, how does he do it? How does he go on? I love what I do. You will hear everyone say that, but I prove it. I am not saying that to condescend anyone else’s opinion, I am saying it because I love this, I truly do and I want to be in this as long as I can and I am going to. When I am a step slower than I should be and I should not be out there, it will be time to go.”
On the advice he is giving Roman Reigns on dealing with adverse crowd reactions
“I told him to be just himself out there. As long as they [the fans] are making noise, I think he is doing just fine.”
On what winning the United States title at WrestleMania on Sunday would mean to him
“I think it is a beacon of achievement, I really do. Right now we are a bit of a fickle situation with a WWE Heavyweight champion [Brock Lesnar]. When he shows he does some damage, believe me. I think I spoke German after Summerslam he suplexed me so many times, but I want to be able to have a viable, competitive championship that is available at every live event, at every television screening, at every special event, and at every pay-per-view. And on top of that those who have watched WWE, I am almost overly patriotic. That is not a work, that is who I am. It gives me great pride, not just from a nostalgia factor to win the championship that I won at WrestleMania 20 but to be the bearer of the championship that essentially defines the United States.”
On what is left for him to achieve in the WWE
“We can always go someplace else. I really want to get the WWE to be able to perform on a regular basis in China. I think we should be able to go to India on a regular basis and whatever I can do, and I am not the person whose booking live events, but whatever I can do to push that message forward and help those things happen, I will. WrestleMania this year is at Levi’s Stadium. We should do every show in a stadium, and at that point we should build a bigger stadium. That is what is great about the WWE. We are always extending the fanbase, there is always another story to tell and it is never essentially over. You can tell I still have passion for this and I really love it. We will see what is next when we see what is next.”
gcaygill@thenational.ae
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Mamo Year it started: 2019 Founders: Imad Gharazeddine, Asim Janjua Based: Dubai, UAE Number of employees: 28 Sector: Financial services Investment: $9.5m Funding stage: Pre-Series A Investors: Global Ventures, GFC, 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Silicon Valley investors. Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The advice provided in our columns does not constitute legal advice and is provided for information only. Readers are encouraged to seek independent legal advice.
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
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Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Roll of honour 2019-2020
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Hurricanes
Runners up: Bahrain
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Bahrain
Runners up: UAE Premiership
UAE Premiership
Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes
UAE Division One
Winners: Abu Dhabi Saracens
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes II
UAE Division Two
Winners: Barrelhouse
Runners up: RAK Rugby
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Everything Now
Arcade Fire
(Columbia Records)
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
The biog
Simon Nadim has completed 7,000 dives.
The hardest dive in the UAE is the German U-boat 110m down off the Fujairah coast.
As a child, he loved the documentaries of Jacques Cousteau
He also led a team that discovered the long-lost portion of the Ines oil tanker.
If you are interested in diving, he runs the XR Hub Dive Centre in Fujairah
Fanney Khan
Producer: T-Series, Anil Kapoor Productions, ROMP, Prerna Arora
Director: Atul Manjrekar
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Rajkummar Rao, Pihu Sand
Rating: 2/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
CREW
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Favourite things
Luxury: Enjoys window shopping for high-end bags and jewellery
Discount: She works in luxury retail, but is careful about spending, waits for sales, festivals and only buys on discount
University: The only person in her family to go to college, Jiang secured a bachelor’s degree in business management in China
Masters: Studying part-time for a master’s degree in international business marketing in Dubai
Vacation: Heads back home to see family in China
Community work: Member of the Chinese Business Women’s Association of the UAE to encourage other women entrepreneurs
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