Rob Van Dam Recalls His First Time Meeting John Cena, Seeing Cena In UPW

Rob Van Dam recently looked back at the first time he ever met John Cena and seeing him in the ring for the first time. The WWE Hall of Famer appeared on TMZ Inside the Ring following Cena’s last match at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Cena lost to Gunther in the match in a widely polarizing decision.

Van Dam recalled meeting Cena before the latter was famous, back during Cena’s days in UPW. Their first meeting took place at Gold’s Beach where Cena was working at a gym. RVD also recalled his first time seeing Cena in the ring as The Prototype. You can see highlights below:

On His First Time Meeting Cena:

“I could think of better moments, but this is a pretty good little story that fans might enjoy. 100 years ago when I was in living in Los Angeles and went to the Golds Beach at Venice Beach Gym. And John was working behind the counter and I
didn’t know him yet. I got my wallet out to to pay to get in, and he was like, ‘No, you’re cool.'”

On Looking Back at the Moment:

“Oh, yeah. I was already wrestling. I think I might have went to one UPW show when he was The Prototype. It was around that time. I mean, it was probably before that but either way, yeah.

“I mean, my career is a lot longer than a lot of the younger guys, and definitely a lot longer than a lot of my peers made it. A lot of my peers didn’t get to live as long. And my favorite part about living longer is that I always get to see a bigger picture. And you don’t understand that in life until later on. You can’t see it till you get there. And it just always changes perspective, and it’s always for the better, you know? It just makes me feel like a better person. It allows me to uh to be better by my own standards and stuff.”

On Seeing Cena in UPW:

“John was The Prototype in UPW back then for Rick Bassman’s wrestling promotion. A lot of the guys started back then. And I’m thinking of who I saw at that show when I first saw him, but he stood out. Like he did something — I remember telling whoever I was there with like, ‘This guy gets it. Like, he’s going to be a star.’

“And he did like, he held the guy with one arm like he was going to do a side slam and then he just held him with one arm and like did a bicep with the other arm and pose, and then boom! Slammed him. That’s something that sticks out in my mind because it was different. I had seen anyone do that. And I liked the way that he was finding a way to to flex and to pose in a way that wasn’t taken from someone else that I knew.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit TMZ Inside The Ring with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.