Theory On Criticism Of Him Not Earning His Push In WWE, Not Wanting To Be Next John Cena

In a recent interview on The Ringer Wrestling Show, Theory discussed the criticism of him not earning his push in WWE, the comparisons to John Cena, and much more. You can read his comments below.

Theory on the criticism of him not earning his push in WWE: “I think a lot of those people, the people that do know the story and the people that don’t – when you think about it, any time somebody is really young, it seems like ‘oh they’ve been given this.’ But think about, I started working out at 12 because at eight years old I saw WWE. My mom was sneaking me in the gym – I had to be 13 to go to the gym, but I was sneaking in at 12 because I saw a video of John Morrison training abs and Triple H. It was a WWE workout video. I just wanted to start preparing myself for that because that’s all I wanted to do. I played sports before I figured out what WWE was, and if you think about that, I quit playing sports at around eight. I just worked out and was like, ‘I don’t want to get injured, I don’t want to rely on a team.’ That’s just my mindset. For me, that was my mentality. I’m gonna do whatever it takes to get here as fast as I can….once they gave me that debut, I was like, ‘This is mine.’ It’s a long story, but I think that’s why people say that is because the age is young.”

On the comparisons to John Cena: “For me, with the whole John Cena thing, from the very beginning, that was motivation for me. Through bullying, through my dad not being in my life, I was able to watch it on Monday or Friday and feel like I could escape through this. So, for me, that character that he was and that personality, it did a lot for me. Even meeting him and having that conversation, it was cool. But as I see myself getting older and your mind changes, I love the comparisons and there’s always gonna be comparisons because people always try to relate something to something. But when you look at the detail of stuff, I’m doing my own thing. John Cena didn’t have any championships at 24. He’s a 16-time world champion, and it’s like, ‘Okay, but over that process of a career. Imagine me [doing that].’ Like I said, always appreciative of comparisons, but definitely agree with not being the next John Cena but being the first me.”

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