Kurt Angle Recalls Trying To ‘Blow Up’ John Cena In WWE Debut Match On SmackDown, Reaction To Cena’s Performance

On a recent edition of The Kurt Angle Show, Kurt Angle discussed when he learned he’d be facing John Cena in his WWE debut match on SmackDown, trying to get Cena to blow up during the match, and much more. You can read his comments below. 

Kurt Angle on when he learned he’d be facing John Cena in his WWE debut match on SmackDown and trying to get Cena to blow up during the match: “They told me the day of the show I was gonna wrestle John Cena. He came up to me and said, ‘Hey, Mr. Angle, I’m John Cena. It’s a pleasure to meet you, and I’m gonna be working you tonight. It’s gonna be an honor to get in the ring with you.’ He was very respectful. You know what I tried to do with John? I really wanted him to take the test – the Angle test. I tried to blow him up and get him tired. I put the match together, and it was only 11 minutes. I made sure it was nonstop action and I wanted John to blow up. I wanted to take this monster-looking character, this Greek god, and show everybody how tired I could make him. And he didn’t get tired. The son of a bitch passed the test with flying colors. It was crazy.”

On his reaction to Cena’s performance: “His moveset in the ring was awesome. He had a great moveset. He worked really hard – good-looking kid, great build. His only downfall was, you could tell the way he moved around that he’s not quite as fluid as other wrestlers. He’s more choppy and a little bit more uncoordinated, but he makes up for that with hard work. Being able to do what he does – nobody knew at this time how good a promo he cut. So, this was kind of a pleasant surprise when he eventually started doing it.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit The Kurt Angle Show with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.