By Wade Keller, Torch editor

WWE.com has posted a contrast between what CNN aired of John Cena's interview for Wednesday's documentary, "Death Grip," and the true context of what he said.

In the CNN documentary, the narrator said, "He doesn't like being asked about taking steroids." That was followed with the quote from Cena: "This is a crazy question to have to answer. My answer to that question, have you ever used steroids, is the only thing I can. I can't tell you that I haven't, but you'll never be able to prove that I have." It was a damning quote that really stood out in the one-hour documentary. WWE.com points out that Cena seconds earlier said he never took steroids. WWE.com today offers its unedited video footage taken off to the side by one of their own crew. That footage reveals the following in-context, unedited footage.

John Cena [artist Grant Gould (c) PWTorch]

The interviewer asked: "There's a lot of talk about steroid use and drug use. Have you ever used steroids." Cena: "Absolutely not..." Interviewer interrupted: "Even back in bodybuilding days and football days?" Cena quote, which was a continuation of what he had been saying, not necessarily a response to the interviewer's interjection: "This is a crazy question and this is something that is tough to answer because of the way society is now, the way people conceive things because performance-enhancing drugs have the spotlight and it's a hot thing to talk about." He said now in any sport, if someone performs beyond the norm, people assume it's not athletic achievement, but he or she must be on performance-enhancing drugs. Then Cena said: "My answer to that question, have you ever used steroids, is the only thing I can. I can't tell you that I haven't, but you'll never be able to prove that I have because each one of you out there has an opinion how how I carry myself. I can take a million tests. I've been tested for drugs ever since I was 17 years. I can take a million tests and I can pass every one of them. As soon as I pass it, there's some other guy on the other end going, 'Oh, it's masking agents' or this or that. I know the arguments because I've been in the situation. It's a subject that is very near and dear to me only because ever since I was a small child, I've worked my ass off to get where I'm at. It sucks to have to deal with people saying I rely on a crutch. I wake up every day and I work myself to the bone because I love what I do. I have the best gig in the world. I love it. It kills me to have to sit here and do this with one arm. I want to get back out there... I want to get back in the field. It's killing me."

WWE.com's statement: "In a country in which the news media is highly suspect, and the quality of unbiased reporting has been thrown into the trash can, CNN has stooped to new depths. Notwithstanding the fairness, or lack therein, of CNN’s recent piece entitled 'Death Grip: Inside Pro Wrestling,' perhaps the best example of how CNN misrepresents and unfairly presents their biased, if not illegal, point of view is the comparison of WWE’s unedited video above to CNN’s edited version. CNN’s depiction of John Cena as it relates to steroids is not only professionally and morally wrong, but damaging to his character."

WK: CNN was absolutely wrong to portray Cena the way they did. Cena also made a mistake handing CNN such an ambiguous quote. I say ambiguous because I know what Cena meant, but it's also obviously something that can be honestly misinterpreted. I believe what Cena meant when he said, "I can't tell you I haven't," isn't a roundabout admission, but rather meaning that no matter what kind of denial he issues, the listener won't believe him. What he said is shorthand for "I can't tell you I haven't and have you believe me" or "I can't tell you I haven't and expect you will believe me." While CNN producers could honestly misinterpret Cena's quote if that were all he said about the issue, he said seconds earlier "absolutely not" to a direct question of whether he had ever taken steroids. The producers had an obligation to include that in their documentary. There is no excuse to exclude that from the context of the next Cena quote so, if nothing else, viewers could reconcile the two statements themselves. What CNN did is give WWE a poison pill of sorts to discredit anything in the documentary because WWE fans will have reason to be suspect of the context of any and all quotes.

I know Vince McMahon has a genuine belief that the media is "out to get him." Several times when I've interviewed him or just talked with him on the phone over the years, he's often asked before anything else whether I was recording him, even if the context of the conversation was just casual. WWE, as a policy, always films any media interviews on controversial subjects with their own crew for this very purpose - so they have proof of quotes being taken out of context. It's a great policy for them to have for this very situation. Did CNN forget that WWE filmed it, or did they think the Cena quote "absolutely not" didn't matter or wasn't important? There's no way the producers would intentionally have left themselves so vulnerable to a discrediting contrast between what they aired and the full context of Cena's comments.

If CNN has additional footage that would justify their journalistic choice to exclude a flat denial by Cena - which even if they didn't buy into, should have been included in the documentary - now is the time to offer it.

As for Cena's denials of steroid usage, the best way for him to silence critics is to agree to subject himself to all state athletic commissions voluntarily, and let any independent entity - including an investigation media entity - to test him randomly at any point for steroids and HGH with zero notice at any WWE event or appearance. Vince McMahon made exactly that offer back in 1993-'94, and if Cena did now, that would help him have more credibility than always pointing toward an in-house, suspect testing policy.

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