One AEW star is quite happy that he got to pay homage to John Cena during the June 27 episode of WWE Raw.
WWE celebrated the 20th anniversary of Cena’s promotional debut in Laredo, TX. During the show, there were special video messages from WWE superstars past and present. There were even some key AEW names such as Bryan Danielson, Chris Jericho, and Paul Wight.
When Cena made his way to the ring to address the fans, he said he doesn’t know when he’ll wrestle again but he made it clear he’s got a lot more than one more match left in him.
Paul Wight on Paying Tribute to John Cena
During an interview with SportsKeeda, AEW star Paul Wight said he’s grateful for the opportunity to have shared some kind words for John Cena.
“Like I said, it’s still a business. I worked with John Cena, you know, probably for 20+ years. You know, I was instrumental in the beginning of his career, and throughout my career, I had a lot of incredible battles with John Cena all over the world.
“I used to make a joke that every five months, it was time for Big Show and John Cena to fight again. I mean, we were great at the David and Goliath spectacle, and he was such a superhero. I was able to be a great monster for him to battle with and people enjoyed it.
“So that was a cool situation.
“I’m glad that WWE gave me the opportunity to say thank you to John,” Paul continued. “It’s really cool of Tony Khan, to allow his contracted talent to appear on another show to say thanks.”
Paul Wight on paying homage to John Cena
“This shows a lot of class, I think on both companies. You know, it’s great to be competitive. At the same time, the talent involved are also human beings. I have a lot of friends still in WWE. So it’s nice to be able to, in an appropriate way, pay homage to a friend that’s had an amazing career.
“Don’t get me wrong, we still want to kick their ass and ratings, but, I wouldn’t expect anything less from them.”
Wight had his share of encounters with Cena when he was known as the “Big Show” during his time with WWE. One of those matches took place at WrestleMania 25 back in 2009.
It was Cena vs. Big Show vs. Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship. Cena won the match.
Quotes via Fightful.
