Austin Theory Believes He Can “Excel Past” John Cena

Speaking recently with WrestleBinge by Sportskeeda before last night’s Raw, Austin Theory shared some details on his perspective of his rivalry with John Cena (via Fightful). He cited how his current accomplishments stand up to Cena’s at the same age and made sure to point out that he’s not another flavor of Cena, but an original Theory in his own right. You can read a few highlights and watch the complete interview below.

On the comparisons between himself and Cena: “I am not the John Cena of this generation. I am the Austin Theory. That’s all there is. John Cena, you can put me in that category if you want, but it’s probably because I’m excelling at such a fast rate, and people can see it, but I’m certainly gonna excel past that. I’m 25. How many championships did John Cena have at 24? I was the United States Champion at 24. He didn’t have any. So just putting that into perspective. There’s only one Austin Theory.”

On why he set his sights on Cena specifically: “It’s almost like nobody gets the message here. Everybody loves relating to the past. Everybody loves bringing back the old legends. They love bringing them back, letting them live their glory days. That’s what it’s all about, and it’s not. It’s not about that. So why not point out the guy that literally has carried the WWE well over a decade, somebody that, even if you don’t watch WWE, you know who John Cena is. Even before the Hollywood, you knew who he was. There’s no bigger mountain than John Cena, and that’s exactly why I need to pay my respects to him on Monday, and that’s what I’m gonna do.”