Hall of Famer recalls knowing John Cena and WWE legend would be major stars: "I knew it from the beginning" (Exclusive)

Every WWE Superstar has an origin story, and John Cena's journey to the top of the business is well-documented. Now, one Hall of Famer recalled his thoughts on a few rookies before the fame.

Ohio Valley Wrestling has many new fans due to its exposure on Netflix, but the 31-year-old promotion once served as a legendary WWE developmental territory. Many top legends in the wrestling world started their journey in OVW, including Cena, Brock Lesnar, Batista, and Randy Orton. OVW is also where the legendary Bill Apter first got a look at the future Cenation Leader, more than twenty years after Sportskeeda Wrestling's Senior Editor watched a rookie Ricky Steamboat in action. Apter surprised AEW's Orange Cassidy with a response about wrestling's past during an exclusive interview on WrestleBinge YouTube Channel.

Freshly Squeezed, who had just turned 17 years old when Cena made his OVW debut, was shocked by the veteran journalist once again when he asked about the one newcomer he knew would be a star when he first saw them as a rookie. The 2011 NWA Hall of Famer responded by naming the 16-time WWE World Champion himself, and that's when Cassidy interrupted for clarification, asking if Apter really saw Cena early in his career and thought he'd be big one day. The veteran also named The Dragon, recalling how it was seeing Steamboat as a rookie.

"Yeah, I did. I saw him [John Cena] in OVW... yeah. Yeah, he had it. I would say the first two or three times that I saw Ricky Steamboat when he was a rookie, I knew that this guy was going to be huge. I knew it from the beginning, yeah," Bill Apter said. [From 4:03 to 4:31]

Cassidy never wrestled anyone from the famed OVW Class of 2002, but he has gone one-on-one with a few notable Ohio Valley graduates while in AEW. He had one loss and one draw against OVW's fourth Triple Crown Champion Cody Rhodes in 2020 and has secured two wins over former OVW Tag Team Champion Johnny TV, aka John Morrison, since last August.

AEW Collision: Winter Is Coming to air against WWE Saturday Night's Main Event

All Elite Wrestling will return to Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis on Thursday night. The Winter Is Coming edition of Collision will be taped to air on Saturday night in its normal timeslot, while ROH TV matches will also be taped.

AEW's taped Collision special will air on TNT at 8 pm ET, while WWE Saturday Night's Main Event is airing live on NBC and Peacock. Below is the updated Collision lineup:

Continental Classic Blue League: The Beast Mortos vs. Kazuchika Okada
International Women's Cup Qualifier: Jamie Hayter vs. Willow Nightingale for a spot at Wrestle Dynasty

The winner of Hayter vs. Nightingale will represent AEW in the International Women's Cup Four Way on January 5 at Wrestle Dynasty, which is the pay-per-view co-produced by NJPW, AEW, ROH, CMLL, and Stardom. Athena will represent ROH, while CMLL will send Reyna Isis, Sanely, Zeuxis, or Persephone. Stardom's representative also has not been named.