For a very brief moment in the summer of 2008, JTG and his partner Shad Gaspard found themselves aligned with John Cena.
JTG and Gaspard, known as Cryme Tyme, had recently returned to the WWE when the highly popular team joined forces with bona-fide main event star John Cena.
The trio known as Cryme Tyme Cenation, vandalised JBL’s limo on an episode of RAW and appeared together at live events. However, as Cena turned his focus back to the world title picture, the group went their separate ways.
Speaking in a new interview, JTG has recalled working and learning from Cena during their brief time together. In conversation with Nick Hausman of Wrestling Inc, JTG said that while he doesn’t know why the group was broken up he learned a lot from Cena.
“For the first and only time in my WWE career, I was a main eventer. It was amazing. I learned so much. Cena would pull me to the side, very professionally, and tell me what I should be doing or avoiding while being in that spot. I still carry those lessons today. And now I am in the main event spot [laughs].”
JTG’s Cryme Tyme partner Shad Gaspard sadly passed away in March 2020, after instructing life guards to save his son, after the pair were caught in a rip current while swimming in California. JTG went on to explain how Cena made a donation to Gaspard’s wife following his death, commenting that he made a “very, very good gesture.”
“Oh, Cena made a very, very good gesture,” revealed JTG. “He made a very good donation to Shad’s wife. I haven’t had any recent contact with him, but whenever we do see each other, we always pick up where we left off. That’s how the wrestling business is, with a lot of my colleagues.”
In more recent years, John Cena has begun to move away from being a full-time performer and into Hollywood. Speaking on potentially following Cena into acting, JTG said that it’s not something he’s actively perusing right now.
“Yes, there are some opportunities coming my way. I filmed something last week. But that’s not my passion right now. I don’t mind doing it, but that’s not my focus. To be in one of the Sharknado films was really cool, though.”
JTG eventually left WWE in June 2014, but has consistently been appearing on the independent circuit ever since. The former tag team star has also recently revealed why Brock Lesnar’s seven second world title win over Kofi Kingston bothered him.