Throughout his career John Cena has often been criticised for the quality of his in-ring performances. While his star power and overall presentation have taken him to incredible hights and 16 World Titles, he has never really been considered a premiere in-ring performer.
However, a top WWE star has revealed that Cena caught them by surprise during their rivalry with just how impressive he was from bell-to-bell.
AJ Styles Tips Hat To John Cena
Former IMPACT Wrestling and New Japan star AJ Styles joined WWE in 2016, debuting in phenomenal style in the Royal Rumble match. After an initial program with Chris Jericho, Styles began a rivalry with John Cena, which saw the pair clash at Money In The Bank and SummerSlam. During an appearance on The Halftime Show, Styles reflected on his rivalry with Cena and their high-profile matches. Styles, who has wrestled many of the very best that the industry has to offer, revealed that he was surprised by just how good his illustrious rival was.
I’ve had a lot of tough opponents throughout my career. I will say that a guy that surprised me with how good he was in the ring would be John Cena. John is not known for being a technical mastermind in the ring, but he’s pretty good. I had some of my better matches against this guy.I didn’t realize what I was getting myself into, there’s a little bit of everything. I had no idea. That’s one of those things where I had a lot to learn.
Some guys may not look the part, but they definitely…. His mind for how everything needs to work and transition-wise. He’s just good. He knows what he’s doing. It’s one of those things were you thought, ‘I’m the superior wrestler in the ring,’ but once you get in there with John Cena, you realize, ‘Well, okay, I didn’t know that. Let’s keep going.’ He’s pretty good,”
AJ Styles was most recently in action at WWE Crown Jewel where he teamed with Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows in defeat to the Judgment Day. Meanwhile, John Cena hasn’t appeared on WWE television since the June 6th episode of Monday Night Raw which celebrated 20 years since his WWE debut. The star hasn’t wrestled on WWE programming since SummerSlam 2021. John Cena’s in-ring future remains unclear, although the man himself hasn’t ruled out wrestling again.
H/t to Fightful