John Cena spoke near-flawless Mandarin at WWE’s historic press conference in China

WWE's business commitment to China is laudable.

Belmont Lay | June 17, 2016, 09:11 AM

WWE has officially beaten a path into China.

On Thursday, June 16, 2016, full-time polyglot and equally capable wrestler, John Cena, fronted a press conference and delivered his speech in near-flawless Mandarin.

Cena, who is easily the best brand ambassador China has ever seen, did so without a script for more than two minutes in front of Chinese media.

The announcement of a multi-year content distribution agreement with PPTV, a Chinese streaming entity, was made at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai.

A clip of John Cena's Mandarin press conference has been uploaded onto YouTube:

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Via the WWE official website, it was revealed that as part of WWE’s commitment to its fans in China, it aims to deliver its flagship shows Raw and SmackDown in Mandarin.

For the first time ever, starting Tuesday, June 28, Chinese viewers will be able to stream all three hours of Raw and two hours of SmackDown on-demand exclusively on PPTV and PPTV Sports.

Fans can download the PPTV App and watch the two programmes on smart TVs, set-top boxes, mobile devices and tablets, as well as on PPTV.com and Sports.PPTV.com.

WWE short-form content will also be available on PPTV’s digital platforms and leverage on social platforms, including WeChat and Sina Weibo, to share WWE content.

It was also announced that the return of a WWE Live Event to Shanghai will be on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016 at 7 p.m. local time.

For the benefit of those who don't speak Mandarin, this was what John Cena said translated into English:

Thank you. I'm sorry but I will specially speak in Mandarin, but most of the time, my Mandarin-speaking skills is mediocre. [Crowd laughter]

I shall speak slowly, I will speak simply, so thank you, because right now, you have a lot of patience with me.

Please allow me to tell you a little more about WWE.

[34sec] WWE is an entertainment company. WWE programmes are available in 180 countries. But WWE's business and broadcasting has not been big in China in the past. I personally feel that this is not a good thing because a lot of people support WWE and WWE programmes are the best form of entertainment.

[1min 8sec] I am very thankful for PPTV because WWE broadcasting in China is going to change. Now, I announce, WWE and PPTV will have a multi-year partnership. Both companies will be corporate partners. [Audience applause]

The first day of the start of the partnership will be on June 28. Chinese audience can watch three hours of WWE Monday Night Raw, two hours of SmackDown, which will be shown at almost the same time in the US. Both programmes will be in Mandarin, without the use of English, so that the Chinese audience can understand more.

[2min 22sec] This is the best opportunity for WWE. I am very grateful towards PPTV for giving us this opportunity. Right now, here's a bit of footage about PPTV.

 

Related article:

Just a video of John Cena speaking in Mandarin about bringing WWE to China

 

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