(PCM) We were absolutely thrilled to chat with WWE superstars John Cena and Sheamus, along with U.S. Rear Admiral Tim Alexander about what has become a holiday tradition the WWE Tribute To The Troops.

WWE Tribute to the Troops will air on NBC Saturday, December 22 from 9:00 to 10:00 pm Eastern Time and will also air on USA Network on Wednesday, December 19 from 9:00 to 11:00 pmEastern Time.  This year’s show will  feature performances by Grammy Award Nominated International Superstars Kid Rock and Flo Rida and also appearances by the Muppets along with some of WWE’s biggest superstars and Divas. The WWE Superstars and Divas spent the entire weekend visiting military in the Norfolk, Virginia and Hampton Roads area. The area is home to 125,000 active duty members, 830,000 veterans and many, many more military families. Naval Station Norfolk is the crown jewel of the U.S. Navy. It is certainly a not to be missed event!

Q: Can you describe what it means to perform at WWE Tribute to the Troops as a WWE Superstar?

John Cena: I just always try to hammer home the point I’m doing some late night TV tonight and I’ll speaking about the same thing that this is a very important relationship that the WWE shares with the military, it’s over a decade strong now.

This is our 10th episode of the Tribute to the Troops and I just really take great pride in not only the special itself but the WWE’s affiliation with the Armed Forces stemming from the National Guard to every other service branch.

And it just is – it’s a wonderful special and I’ve been involved nine of the ten years. So it’s something that I take great pride in, it gives me a great feeling of pride every year to be a part of this.

Q: Sheamus can you just tell us a little bit about what it is like to meet some of the Sailors?

Sheamus: Yes, as John said WWE takes great pride in that relationship with the, you know, U.S. military, Air Force, Naval and also with the National Guard as well but this is my third year doing this.

I’ve also been to Fort Bragg and Fort Hood and I’d have to say I’ve never experienced anything as amazing as this. The young kids are met and from Senior Naval Officers all the way up to the Admirals, it’s an absolute honor for me to meet these people and just to, you know, share the couple days we had there. I was playing volleyball in the morning, Thursday morning and then going on then to getting experience of being on battleships like USS Porter and an aircraft like the George H.W. Bush and be on a submarine like the USS Boise was an experience I never thought I’d ever get to experience.

And I had a great time, a great time meeting all these kids and, you know, everyone was delighted that we were there to share the experience with them and to share a day in a life of it.

Q: John, since you’ve participated in Tribute to the Troops over the past nine years, do you find you learn something new about yourself through being involved with the troops?

John Cena: I – the reoccurring theme you see over regardless of where you go and we’ve been everywhere from Afghanistan to Iraq, Fort Hood, Fort Bragg, I’ve been seen dependents in Walter Reed, Naval Station Norfolk is – it’s I call it like it’s upside down. All the troops really want to say thank you to us and to me that’s backwards. We’re there to one, let them know that we completely support them and we want to say thank you.

And two, to give them a weekend of basic downtime, you know, they get to meet and greet us over the weekend but at the very final day we actually set up and perform for them. So the whole weekend is built around thanking them but literally everyone we meet wants to thank us for supporting them. And that’s just – it’s extremely humbling and flattering and it just goes to show the resolve of the men and women in uniform, they do not under any circumstances put themselves first.

Q: Sheamus, since you’re originally from Ireland, this must be a really unique experience for you. Like what does it mean to you to be a part of the Tribute to the Troops in another country?

Sheamus: Well absolutely, I said this is my third year doing this now, I never in my life imagined myself to have the opportunity to, you know, to experience what the Officers experience, like getting on the aircraft carrier and the submarine Boise. The thing is I might be from Ireland but as the thing is I reside in the United States of America. This country has given me the greatest of opportunities, it’s given me a chance to live my dream with WWE and all these men and women protect, make sure my life and home is protected.

I am, you know, so anything I can do to give back to them or just to make sure I can go face-to-face and tell them, say thank you for all they do. They sacrifice, you know, so much, they’re at sea or at service overseas for great chunks of the year or years on end. And, you know, their families are home waiting for them, so that sacrifice they – to make the sacrifice they go through I just want to like – it’s a great opportunity for me to tell them thank you.

Q: John, having been at nine of the ten events, do you miss the aspect of going overseas as I know you did for the first few events, what are the differences with having here?

John Cena: The actually going to an area of conflict was quite interest, there was obviously the element of disaster and everyone was certainly on high alert but it’s actually very comforting now that we can actually keep it domestic because that means that the conflict areas are dwindling.

I truly miss those expeditions, we’d fly on the DC 17′s and all of us kind of go over there and just rough it for a week but it is very good news that more troops are home, are stationed home, are coming home, on the way home. So it is – they are two very different events. We can produce now the events domestically in an arena and pretty much give the arena to the military and let them enjoy it for the day.

The overseas ventures we had to set up our own arenas and a lot of times it was literally starting with a desert floor and making do and the soldiers would help our crew members construct whatever we could manage. It is two different experiences, I really did love being over there. I think the message does not lose any magnitude at all the fact that we stayed domestic and personally I like the fact that it’s domestic because that – it certainly says to me that the conflict areas are dwindling and more of our men and women are home where the should be, with their families.

Q: Rear Admiral Alexander, in your view what type of impact does an event like this have on the troops and their families, can you put that into words for us?

Admiral Alexander: I’m delighted to be here with you this afternoon and it’s very easy to put into words the impact, fantastic is a good one. The Sailors, the Marines here in the Hampton Roads area, their families were absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to meet the members of WWE and to be able to show them around the bases when they toured the bases and then to attend the main event downtown at the Norfolk Scope. So it was a real treat for us to be able to host this group of wonderful people and we look forward to doing it again whenever they’re ready.

Q: Throughout your career in the Navy what did events like this mean to you as a young Officer coming up?

Admiral Alexander: Well they’re always important because when you’re – whether you’re at home or you’re deployed it’s always nice to have somebody stop who doesn’t really have to frankly but have somebody stop and say, hey thanks for what you do, we recognize you make some sacrifices and we appreciate that. And so we’re grateful to WWE for taking the time to come down and spend some time with us here in Hampton Roads and for making us the subject of the 10th Tribute to the Troops.

Q: John, we were wondering on a personal level what does it mean for you to be able to perform at this event and do you consider yourself a very patriotic person?

John Cena: I absolutely do, this is the proudest day on our touring schedule, I’ve often said that, a lot of the Superstars have said that. Almost so much so that it becomes cliché, it is not – this is a very proud day for me especially.

I take great pride in being able to be put in front and center in front of the people that I admire most and that’s the people that defend our freedom. I adopt a lot of me creed, my personality from military Code of Conduct. A simple word like hustle, loyalty, respect are easily translated to honor code and country. It really is an extra special day for me. I’m glad we continued our relationship, I’m glad the folks at the Naval Station in Norfolk and bases around the country and abroad have opened their arms to give us not only a place to entertain but the hospitality that they’ve given us over the years. It really – like I said we do in excess of 300 shows a year and this is the proudest day on our calendar.

Q: Can you just tell us a little bit about your participation in the show in terms of matches, is it going to be one-on-one or tag team, what are you doing in the show actually?

Sheamus: Yes along with all the live acts we actually have Kid Rock is there, Flo Rida and the Muppets and it’s to show a kickoff for the tag match with myself and Randy Orton taking on the big show on Dolph Ziggler, so. The show itself as well was packed to the brim, it was exciting and we want to make sure that, you know, all the Naval Officers, Marines, everyone in the arena, everyone from Norfolk got the best show they possibly could get and that’s what we did, went out there and gave them everything we had, as much as they deserve.

John Cena: I’ll be competing in a match and the great thing about our Tribute to the Troops show whether it – there is an extended form on USA or its abbreviated form on NBC it’s a great watch. It’s not something that you necessarily have to be up to date on all the WWE story lines or all the plots, it really is just a general entertaining program, which is why we have a guest host and the Muppets, that’s why we have musical guests.

I myself am in a singles match against our current United States Champion, Antonio Cesaro but it’s one show that for the holiday season you can truly sit down, watch and enjoy. You don’t have to know who’s bad, who’s good, who’s a champion, who’s not, you can really just take in the show for what it is and it’s an entertaining hour or two hours on USA or either NBC but I’ll be doing what I do best, I’ll be in the ring doing what I do.

Q: Do either of you have any sort of favorite moments from taping this show last week?

Sheamus: I think my favorite part of the show obviously, I don’t want to give to much away obviously because of the show itself but getting to interact with everybody in the arena in the Norfolk Scope. I think that’s the most important thing is recognizing all of them. I’ll be honest with you they were probably the best crowd I’ve ever been in front of and the Officers and the Marines were just off the charts, they were an absolute pleasure to perform in front of.

I think I always this consistently, without the WWE  crowd behind you with the interaction and the energy of the fans and the crowd I think, you know, it makes our job that much easier and that much better. I think they were the stars tonight too because they were into every single minute of it and they were an absolute joy to perform in front of and if we could do that every week that would be awesome.

Q: What are your feelings that you take away from actually meeting the soldiers and their families?

John Cena: It truly is and the great thing is you get to meet and because especially the last few years we’ve been domestically, some of these soldiers and families can follow you throughout your appearance scheduled over the course of three days. So you truly get to talk to these families more than we would when we were in the deployed areas where we were in Fort operating bases, literally spanning across the war zone.

So in the past few years you’ve actually – you get to know some of these folks and you do see them at the arena and there is that personal connection that you very rarely get. It’s like seeing a friend or a family member in the audience. You really pay them a little extra attention, certainly go above and beyond obviously for the group you perform in front of. It’s a really good feeling being able to socialize with these people for three days and then perform in front of them and let them enjoy what you do best

Q: Sheamus, what was it like for you to come to America in the first place? I mean was it always your dream to wrestle here in America? What is it like for you to live your dream as a wrestler?

Sheamus: From a very early age I was infatuated by WWE and in ways I was infatuated by America too. I guess a lot of the American cultures were very apparent, you know, in Ireland. Like, you know, going to movies, watching American films and, you know, obviously I had a lot of relatives over here in America as well in Chicago and Florida.  But it was always my dream to come to this country and I always knew from an early age what I wanted to do. I was enthralled with WWE ever since I was seven or eight years old and I never lost sight of that, you know, I was always very determined to follow that dream and it took a lot longer than I thought it would.

But, you know, as I said I finally made it here five years ago, WWE gave me an opportunity and I jumped on that opportunity and for me it’s been an incredible journey. I’ve traveled the whole world, I’ve entertained and performed in front of fans worldwide. But as I said the last five years the United States has become my home and it’s, you know, it’s – I’m very proud to go home back to Ireland and, you know, after everything I have achieved but this country has given me an opportunity to pursue my dream. And I always remember hearing that back in Ireland, you know, it’s the land of opportunity and that’s exactly what it has been for me. And it’s just been incredible and as I said getting to meet all the soldiers and the Officers in the Air Force and the people who protect the country where I live, you know, an opportunity to thank them for helping me and letting me live my dream here without any fear is a fantastic opportunity for me.

And it’s just to say thank you to all of them because sometimes there’s even some heroes, you know, you don’t hear, you know, they don’t get their, you know, the thank you that they deserve or sometimes it’s just, you know, it’s nice to know or nice to hear the – to hear the word thank you. It’s not a very common word but for most to say the thank you to them is just for me a great opportunity and for the WWE it’s a great opportunity because there are even some heroes and they keep us safe and they let all of us live our dreams and live our lives without fear.

Q: Rear Admiral Alexander,could you talk a little bit about what – having a performance like this broadcast on national television does for the Navy. I mean as far as showing your ships, your bases, your Sailors to an audience, you know, around the country if not the world?

Admiral Alexander: Sure, I think first and foremost the best thing out of this is it gives us the opportunity to showcase the absolutely fantastic men and women who make up the United States Navy today. You know, our ships are great, are airplanes, are submarines are great, there’s no doubt that, you know, that we have some pretty neat technology but at the end of the day it’s all about the people.

And I think the opportunity to – for the WWE folks to meet our Sailors, to see them in their workplaces and to learn a little bit about what to do. And then for our Sailors and their families who are big fans to have multiple opportunities to meet as I think John talked about earlier to meet the folks in WWE and to talk to them, to get autographs and to do all the things that they enjoy doing was a huge hit. And obviously it was capped off by the performance on Sunday but I think, you know, the opportunity to sort of showcase our folks I think is a tremendous opportunity and to reaffirm for Americans what quality young men and women we have serving in our Armed Forces today as exemplified in this show by our Sailors.

Q: John, being a wrestler was always part of your plan but we are wondering at what point did you say to yourself that, you know, you sort of wanted to be a role model and you sort of wanted to be as involved in giving back as you are now?

John Cena: It was a legitimate conscious decision, our programming has changed so much over the years. I started in 2002 and our program was more TV14, edgy, anti-hero based, conflicts hero based. And since then I think our program has made a turn for the better, into a more PG environment, all of our programming platform wise PG. And the reason for that is because – simply because the people attending our events.

A lot more families began to attend, more children began to attend so when you have those young and youthful eyes looking at you and you know that your global, we’re truly translated in 140 countries. You tend to have choices to make and me being portrayed as a good guy on our programming it was an obvious choice that I wanted to do my best to use my television time to set a good example.

Q: With regards to the troops, obviously we know that they’re great human beings, we know that they are great warriors. We are wondering are they great wrestling fans, do you find that a lot of the troops are really keeping up with what you guys are doing, you know, to the extent that they have free time they can watch you guys on television. Are they really sort of into the story lines?

John Cena: They are, they are and that just becomes – that comes with our relationship with the military. We have a great relationship with Armed Forces Network. We – all our programming gets put on Armed Forces Network, I believe our pay for reviews also have an outlet on Armed Forces Network. We get a chance to give any man or woman in uniform domestically or foreign if they show up to our show to give them free tickets. So we encourage the men and women who defend the freedom of this country and give me the right to work to be as involved with the story lines as they can and they are. It was amazing no matter where we go we’re very – Navy, Army, Air Force, Marine, you know, or National Guard outpost, everyone seems to know what’s going on with the WWE. So we put our programming out there and they surely enjoy it and watch it.

Q: With Tribute to the Troops being one of the most popular and biggest events of the year for you guys, some people say it’s as big of an event as WrestleMania. How do the Superstars feel about it and what is the most humbling aspect for each one of you when you partake in the event?

Sheamus: Yes, I mean it’s and extremely humbling experience. I know all of our Superstars and Divas are tremendously proud to get to be involved in this. This is my third year doing this, I think that, you know, we are really aware of where it is on the calendar, we are aware it’s always around Christmas time.

And we, you know, it’s something we all look forward to, I mean just this past weekend alone I got to meet all the young Sailors and Officers and, you know, spend time with them to go on the battleship USS Porter, I was on the aircraft carrier, the George H.W. Bush where I sat down and we had dinner together and we all just talked about our experiences. And, you know, I talked to one young Officer who told me basically he was – he wasn’t able to go out on the ship anymore because he had a heart issue but he was very, very dedicated to his role in the Navy and then he was whenever he could and everything else he needed to do just to try and to do – to help the ongoings of every day, of the every day schedule.

John Cena: I’ll even piggyback off the Admiral’s words. It’s a great day for everybody but it’s truly a fascinating experience for all of us. We get to, you know, selfishly we kind of get to tour these military bases and see some of the unreal technologies. Sheamus was talking about the aircraft carriers and I know another one of our Superstars got to fly in an F18 and I got to board the USS Mitscher, which is a destroyer.

And just being able to get a little bit of a sneak peak at some of the technology is amazing but like the Admiral said, then talking to the people aboard the ship, talking to them about their seven month deployment on that ship, that everyday they’re on that ship and they’re, you know, committed to do their duty and serve their country. It’s amazing to see the technological marvels that the military has at its disposal, at it’s core, it is an unbelievable group of men and women and for the length of time that we spend with them and our ability to be able to perform for them and give them a smile on their face and make sure they have a little slice of the day to say, wow, this is really a true joy to kind of break up the daily operations that they go through.

But it’s – to me the best thing about this and the reason I put in on a parallel with Wrestle Mania is because you constantly see the dedication of the men and women it takes to keep our country free and it has never wavered in the nine years that I’ve been doing this.The moral and the dedication has been exactly the same. Everyone and it’s been in times of conflict and it’s been in times of peace and everyone is always proud to do what they do no matter what the situation, they’re happy that we’re there, they’re certainly ecstatic to be a part of the cause that they are.

And as I said like it’s to me coming from a different country I never thought I’d get to experience this or meet everybody involved in the Navy and the Marines and the Air Force, the Army And, you know, it’s really been a humbling experience for me coming from a different country and, you know, I’m very fortunate and blessed to have experienced all this and to meet these people because, you know, it’s funny it’s backwards that they’re thanking us to be there, you know, to say hello to them but we’re really thanking them for keeping us free and, you know, letting us live the life we live without fear. And that’s the ultimate great, huge, massive gratitude for that.