Backstage accounts from wrestlers meeting JohnCena for the first time ever have been varied over the years, with some claiming that the "Champ" wasn't as friendly to them as he appears on screen. Recently, former WWE United States Champion Matt Riddle looked back on his time in the promotion and recalled his first ever encounter with Cena.
"The first time I ever met John Cena, he critiqued I was on, like, a five on five tag match at Madison Square Garden when I was still in NXT and he was backstage and he gives us all critiques and he tells me I say 'bro' too much," Riddle recalled during an interview on "TMZ's Inside The Ring." He then went on to describe himself as the 'King of Bros' and claims that later on he had a conversation with Cena where he explained the character to him. "And he goes: 'I don't understand.' And me and him basically got, like by 20 minutes in, we were like I was yelling, like, we were yelling back and forth!"
Matt Riddle then claimed the argument went on for quite a bit, with both men becoming slightly heated by the exchange."I was like 'Dude! I'm just a cool, laid-back kind of guy!' and he's like 'I get it. The King of Bros is a cool, laid-back kind of guy.'" He added, noting that the roster members around them were confused by the exchange but he again bumped into John Cena before he was about to wrestle Bishop Dyer. "Before his music he goes: 'Hey, Riddle? I'm going to go out there and be a cool, laid-back and he ran out there did this match," he recalled, expressing that he wasn't sure if Cena was messing with him or not.
"And then, years later, he came back to WWE and we had that solo promo in the ring and he was like 'I want to say that I understand what, like, the King of Bros is.' Bro!" Riddle added, recognizing that Cena never forgot about their conversation. "Dude, he brings it back! He's a GOAT!" Riddle then briefly gave his opinion on Cena's farewell tour. "Yeah, which, I mean we've seen that before [BrockLesnar beating Cena]. I would rather had a 50-50 match, even if it was eight minutes, whatever, you know?"
In the past,Riddle was open to someday facing Cena in the ring, however, considering that he's no longer with WWE and the "Champ" is officially retiring by the end of the year, this will likely never happen.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "TMZ's Inside The Ring" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
