Jim Ross has revealed exactly what he told Vince McMahon after discovering a 24-year-old John Cena back in 2001.

John Cena, following his WWE debut in 2002, went on to become the company's franchise performer until his move to Hollywood in the late 2010s.

Cena is also one of wrestling most decorated performers, main eventing several WrestleManias and winning 16 world titles, a record he shares with Ric Flair.

It was WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross who first discovered Cena, bringing the now 44-year-old into WWE back in 2001.

Speaking on his Grilling JR podcast back in 2020, Jim Ross spoke about bringing Cena into the company, also discussing John's insane work ethic.

Ross was asked whether or not Cena belongs on wrestling's Mount Rushmore, which JR' unequivocally said yes to:

“Oh hell yes, absolutely... “If John Cena is not on the Mt. Rushmore of WWE stars, then there doesn’t need to be a Mt. Rushmore. Knock it down, and build an apartment building or something because you don’t need the mountain. He’s on that mountain and he’s very firmly in place.”

Ross went on to speak about just how committed and dedicated Cena was to wrestling, something that Ross stated was unlike anyone else he's worked with in the industry:

From the get-go, I never worked with a more dedicated guy than John Cena. The greatest work ethic of any guy I’ve ever known in the wrestling business for sure simply meaning he didn’t turn anything down but the covers... He did appearances, his Make-A-Wish total is astronomical, but John Cena was a very special guy.

As noted, JR was actually the person that brought John Cena into WWE, signing him to OVW, the company's developmental territory at the time.

When speaking to Vince McMahon, Jim Ross told his boss that he'd found a future WrestleMania main eventer, which McMahon seemed to scoff at.

The irony is, Cena would go on to become one of McMahon's favourite performers, with many slamming Vince for his constant pushing of him during the late 2000s and early 2010s:

I told Vince ‘I agreed to terms with a WrestleMania main-eventer in 5 years’, he looked at me like I was delirious. I just felt in my heart that I had met a very special athlete. He could sit and talk, especially the WWF brand of wrestling, chapter and verse as good as anybody. I thought I met somebody very special, told Vince that much and he wasn’t as sold on it as I was but he didn’t know John Cena. He couldn’t have picked him out of a lineup, but he got to know him pretty well over the next three years.”

As they say, the rest is history, as four years after signing with WWE, John Cena beat JBL to become the WWE Champion at WrestleMania 21.