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Cain Velasquez on Being Initially Turned Down By WWE, When He First Wanted to Get Into Wrestling
Image Credit: WWE
– Speaking with Cultaholic at WWE’s BT Sport celebration, Cain Velasquez discussed when he first decided he wanted to get into pro wrestling and how WWE initially turned him down. Velasquez said that he was inspired by Ronda Rousey’s appearance at Elimination Chamber in 2018 and that he contacted WWE before going to AAA, but was turned down.
Of course, Velasquez is now in WWE, making his in-ring debut at Crown Jewel last year. Highlights and the full video are below:
On when he first wanted to get into wrestling: “When I was thinking of trying this out I went to a show a couple of years ago, at Ronda Rousey’s Elimination Chamber match. I was there with a buddy, Daniel Cormier. Other fighters were there as well. So that’s where I kind of retook again into pro wrestling. Before that, I was a fan as a kid. But watching that match, I was having so much fun I’m like ‘Why not? Can I do that?’”
Cain Velasquez on being initially turned down by WWE and going to AAA: “So when I did AAA, I called the WWE first. I called them, me, my people, my agent called the WWE. And I was interested from that match that I saw at Elimination Chamber. You know, this is obviously where the best guys are, this is the top. So Triple H and Vince McMahon weren’t going to give me a shot right away, that was clear. So I said, ‘Okay, let’s do something else.’ I’ve always loved lucha. Lucha was my first love of wrestling. I watched that as — that was my first time watching any kind of pro wrestling. So I said, ‘Why don’t we do a lucha match?’ Me and my wife, my manager — my wife was super into it. She was like, ‘Why don’t you do a lucha match?’ I said, ‘Okay, let’s do it’…I wanted to wear the mask. I wanted to do traditional lucha moves just to pay homage to the people who have done it in the past and they just look f**king cool to do.”
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Cultaholic with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.
