star Austin Theory has recalled the moment he met childhood hero and the career-changing lesson he learned.
The Raw superstar – who is poised for his biggest match to date against SmackDown commentator and– met the wrestler turned Hollywood actor at WWE’s Performance Center and was lucky enough to pick his brain.
He exclusively told Metro.co.uk: ‘When I was eight, first time I’d ever seen WWE, I was invested. John Cena was the first person that I’d seen. Just his character, the way he carried himself helped me through a lot of personal stuff in my life.
‘That’s what built my connection with loving professional wrestling, and sports entertainment. This was just huge for me, because my whole life I’ve modeled myself after this guy, and I’m about to meet him.’
After Cena spoke to all the trainees at the facility that day, he offered to stay behind in one of the offices to spend some one-on-one time with the stars of the future.
Austin waited for ‘probably two or three hours’ for his moment, noting he wanted to make the most of the opportunity because he has ‘so many aspirations and future goals’ he’s chasing in WWE.
‘I’d say the best advice that I got from John Cena – and I constantly remind myself of this,’ he added. ‘Something he said to me was, “No one will ever attach to your performance, they’ll only attach to your personality.” ‘
It wasn’t something Theory really grasped until he started learning from Johnny Gargano in The Way, and he was able to make the most of the freedom he was afforded through his association with .
‘This is something I didn’t understand before I got into The Way and really started getting into my personality and my character,’ he admitted. ‘I just felt like those times before I was in The Way and I was performing, I felt I was too serious and trying to play something that I wasn’t.’
He pointed to the likes of his onscreen mentor Vince McMahon and Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin – who will be – as perfect examples of this mentality.
‘To me, going out there and doing bunch of stuff, nobody’s connected to your personality, nobody’s gonna care what you’re doing. That’s what makes the difference with somebody that comes out there and has that presence,’ he pondered.
‘Mr. McMahon comes out there and hits that walk, or Stone Cold comes out and hits the Stunner – those moments and what they’ve made, because people are connected to those people.’
WWE WrestleMania 38 airs April 2 and 3 on the WWE Network.
