When Austin Theory landed a feud with John Cena heading into WrestleMania 39, it felt like a make-or-break moment for the once and current United States Champion.
Sure, Theory had some respectable title matches before taking the ring for the opening match of Day 1 of WrestleMania 39, with wins over Seth Rollins, Bobby Lashley, Seth Rollins/Bobby Lashley, and Edge on his resume, but this wasn't just another match. No, this was John “Freakin'” Cena, the Prototype-turned-16-time World Champion-turned-Hollywood star who has won more matches than most will ever wrestle.
Sitting down for an interview with the Babyfaces Podcast – a strange place for Theory to be invited as a guest – Theory explained what the moment meant to him before nonchalantly naming who he would like to wrestle at some point in the future.
“That whole moment was a full circle moment because anyone who knows my past knows that John Cena was always that motivation and inspiration to become a WWE superstar,” Austin Theory said via Fightful. “To finally have that moment in the ring with him, me being on one end and him being on the other, and leading to that match. There is no better place than getting to do that in front of my entire family in Los Angles, in the ring with John Cena, that was a really cool moment. Looking on, because you always have to move forward and look past that, for me, my next one, Roman Reigns. We have to get ready for Tribal Theory.”
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Theory wants Roman Reigns? Well, before getting too far off-topic, Theory was asked if he spoke to Cena after the match and if he had any advice for his career moving forward. Cena, to his credit, did have some advice for “A-Town's Finest,” which Theory passed along, too.
“Post-match, it was a really cool moment. He told me to enjoy this day, enjoy this moment. Literally, there was no stress that day. I wasn't nervous. Everything that prepared me for that moment and everything that prepared me to go out there and perform, I felt like I had it. That was something cool. Something that John says, you can say a lot of people say, but it's so true, just not being afraid to fail, betting on yourself, and going for it. A lot of times, that's what holds a lot of us back from things. Us worried about this or that. It might not even be you. You might believe in yourself, and just because one person has an opinion, it bothers you and can set you off. That's the biggest thing, don't be afraid to fail. It's going to be a ride that goes up and down, but continue to press forward.”
Alright, so Theory wants Reigns, the man who headlined SummerSlam a few hours after he was unceremoniously tossed out of the ring in the Slim Jim Battle Royal? A few months ago, when Theory was between title reigns and The Bloodline wasn't in full-on Ran territory, that might have been possible, but now? Unless Theory becomes strapless really soon and Reigns wants to work a quick squash on an episode of SmackDown, that's probably off the board.
Bryan Danielson reveals the John Cena advice that influenced the BCC.
Speaking of advice from John Cena, Bryan Danielson actually shared some advice he received from the leader of “CeNation” that has inspired the Blackpool Combat Club both now and into the future.
“The idea of Wheeler being with the Best Friends before, and now being with us, that makes us seem different. The idea is, when you join us, you can’t be that anymore. That kind of stuff is cool. I tried to get that across in one of my nights on commentary when Mox, Claudio, and Wheeler were wrestling The Best Friends and Rocky [on Dynamite in June]. My point was, those are the guys Okada hangs out with. Look at the guys I hang out with. That tells you so much,” Bryan Danielson told Justin Barrasso in an interview for Sports Illustrated.
“It was actually John Cena who I first heard say this–you become the five people you spend the most time around. So who do you want to become? The guys taking everything lightly? Or the guys, from a storyline perspective, taking this seriously and working to become the best?
“My real-life perspective is that wrestling can be a variety show. If everything was dead serious, I don’t think people would like it as much. And I’ve done a lot of comedy in my career. But that’s not the ethos right now of the BCC.”
Welp, there you go, folks; though John Cena is barely a wrestler at this point, averaging single-digit matches a year for each of the last two years, the “Peacemaker” is still finding ways to influence the sport of professional wrestling.