Dwayne Johnson is arguably the biggest star that professional wrestling has ever produced, so any comparison with The Great One can only be a good thing.
EJ Nduka signed with WWE in 2019 after impressing after impressing at two try-outs. The Texan had previously enjoyed a successful college career before enjoying a spell as a professional bodybuilder. However, despite his impressive athletic background Nduka never appeared on NXT television, only wrestling twice at live events.
Nduka was released by WWE in 2021 and was immediately snapped up by MLW, where he still plies his trade today.
EJ Nduka Recalls Being Compared To Dwayne Johnson
Although he never made a breakthrough in WWE, he still managed to make an impression while with the company. Speaking to the Grapsody podcast, Nduka recalled Triple H comparing him to Dwayne Johnson.
“I had a very strong influence with Dwayne [The Rock]. Even when I was at the PC [WWE Performance Center], Hunter said to me one day, I was shooting a commercial, it was a pilot for FOX, we were in Tampa, and everyone was up there; Stephanie (McMahon), Hunter [Triple H], Vince (McMahon), I’m in the ring, we’re sharing stories and talking about what we’re going to do for the commercial. I’m chopping it up with H and he said, ‘You remind me a lot of DJ [Dwayne Johnson].’ I’m having the conversation and I’m just enamoured being able to talk to H because just to be able to talk to Hunter is big.
Midway through the conversation, it clicked with me, ‘He said DJ, he’s talking about Dwayne.’ He goes, ‘The moniker he has, the hardest worker in the room, I always hear that when your name gets brought up. I have no doubt that you’re one of the hardest workers in the group.’ That kind of made me feel good because you don’t get a lot of acknowledgment, especially when you’re a recruit. You’re kind of like a shadow. You’re there to get better. At that time, you’re almost like a liability because you’re not really bringing money into the company.
To be able to hear that, that really boosted my mentality as far as what I can do in this business. That was the conversation that made me realize, ‘I can really do something here.’ For someone like that, to say that to me, I can do something,”
EJ Nduka is one half of the MLW World Tag Team Champions alongside Calvin Tankman.
H/t to Fightful