16-time World Champion John Cena has shared a heartwarming story about a WWE fan who breaks records while dressed as him.
Matthew Akpan was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome later in life at the age of 24. He grew up in Leeds and attended Manchester Metropolitan University but wasn’t succeeding. Matt thought something was holding him back and was diagnosed with Asperger’s in 2013.
His father passed away the same year and Matthew decided to pay tribute to him in a unique way. He dressed up as John Cena and started running marathons. Matt told Leeds-Live that he watched wrestling for twenty years with his father and wanted to pay tribute to him.
Unfortunately, my father died in 2013, we watched wrestling for like 20 years and I thought that as a tribute to him and victim support, so I wanted to become a superhero, so I chose John Cena as he has done a lot for children.I thought he would be the best one to do, even though it wasn’t easy it was easy in his style, I ended up with a lot of blisters, scars and rash burns.
Matt participated in the York Marathon in 2021 in an attempt to achieve a world record. Guinness gave him a target time of three hours and thirty minutes to complete the race and Matt finished in less than three hours. He now holds the record as the first person to complete a marathon dressed as a professional wrestler.
John Cena took to Twitter to share the story and complimented Matthew on running for a cause and with purpose. Cena ended the tweet with his “never give up” catchphrase as an acronym.
A fun record worth celebrating for it’s substance and message (and maybe it’s style). Thanks to @GWR for recognizing a young man who is running for a cause and with purpose. #NGU