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“You Could’ve Been Something in WWE” – John Cena on Shaquille O’Neal’s AEW Debut

Published 03/29/2021, 7:30 AM EDT

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A few weeks ago, NBA Legend Shaquille O’Neal had his first in-ring match at AEW. On the mentioned Dynamite episode, he and Jade Cargill defeated the team of AEW EVP Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet. Recently, he asked John Cena if he saw the iconic match or not.

On Thursday, John Cena appeared at NBA on TNT to promote his upcoming movie Suicide Squad on HBO MAX and show Wipeout on TBS. Shaq spoke about his wrestling experience, and Cena had some words to add to that.

“You are one of that Mount Rushmore of sports entertainers,” Cena said. “It’s a shame that you were born so large and so gifted on the basketball court because you could have been something in WWE. I still think you can be. But you are Mount Rushmore of sports entertainers.”

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Shaq asked John Cena to critique his AEW match

Before this, Shaq asked his old friend if he had watched the highly publicized match. Cena, who has been the face of WWE for a long time, had to be diplomatic to not give AEW any clout and yet be respectful in critiquing Shaq’s match.

“Big Shaq, I’ve been sequestered in a bunker here in Vancouver as they are really keeping the lockdown to us,” Cena said. “Now, I had heard you made your in-ring debut. I’m going to answer your question with a question. How did you feel about it? When it was all over, how did you feel about your performance?”

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To this, Shaq said that he wanted to uphold the names of his wrestling idols.

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“I went in wanting to represent you guys, right here [shown delivering a powerbomb to Rhodes] I’m giving a shout-out to Brodie Lee, power[bomb], I wanted to make it look good.

“Growing up, I watched you guys, Junkyard Dog, André the Giant, Hulk Hogan, I just wanted to represent you guys. He [Cody] kind of poked me in my eye, caught me off guard, body-slammed me into a table. I think I did pretty good.”

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Shaq also praised John Cena and congratulated him on everything he has accomplished. As of now, Cena is in Vancouver, shooting for the HBO Max series Peacemaker. However, because of the COVID-19 quarantine, he is stuck at his home. He will film there till July.

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Written by:

Angana Roy

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Angana Roy is a WWE and AEW author for EssentiallySports, having published more than 800 professional wrestling articles. She is currently pursuing higher studies in English language and literature from the University of Calcutta and has over three years of experience in journalism. As a life-long fan of the sports entertainment brand of pro-wrestling, her work consists of live coverage of weekly shows, PPVs, speculating the future course of storylines and everything in between.
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