John Cena believed major WWE name "deserved" to defeat him, says AEW star
WWE veteran John Cena has been praised for many things across his career, but according to AEW star Matt Hardy putting Kevin Owens over in 2015 set the younger star up for a massive future.
Back in 2015, Owens made his main roster debut during that year's Elimination Chamber and took on John Cena for the United States Championship. Shockingly, the star defeated The Champ that same night, setting him up as a major name in WWE.
During the latest episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, the veteran recalled Owens' main roster match against John Cena and speculated that it was an indication of the backstage belief in him.
"I mean, that’s massive. That shows that someone has a lot of faith in him. I’m sure [Triple H] pushed real hard for it, because Hunter was a big fan of his in NXT. (…) But it also speaks volumes about John [Cena], because John was willing to do that, to elevate another talent; which John was known to do, especially if he thought that someone had earned and deserved it." [00:57:32 onward]
The @WWEUniverse is STUNNED!! @FightOwensFight has defeated @JohnCena at #WWEChamber!!! http://t.co/iP2FToBVLp
Matt Hardy also notably compared both Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to his longtime friends and former rivals, Edge and Christian, due to the lifelong brother-like bond the men share.
Missed out on last week's AEW Rampage? Catch up with the results before tonight's show right here.
Hardy notably believes there are similarities between Kevin Owens and WWE legend Dusty Rhodes
The American Dream had a lasting effect on his peers and many still tell fond tales about him to this day. Notably, Dusty differed physically from the major names during his era, yet still managed to become a major WWE star.
Earlier in the same episode, Matt Hardy expressed the similarities he sees between Dusty Rhodes and Kevin Owens.
"There was that period of WWE trying to retrain everybody’s thoughts about ‘This is what a pro wrestler looks like.’ Kevin’s not only a great talker, he’s pretty charismatic too. And Dusty, between his talk, promo, and his charisma? Dude, he’s the biggest star as anybody else in this industry." [00:35:15 onward]
6/3/89:
Dusty Rhodes' first WWF vignette. https://t.co/msbQoDlFHg
Both Rhodes and Owens broke boundaries for stars during their generations, but KO notably got an endorsement from John Cena. Could this indicate that he'll one day become a bigger WWE legend than The American Dream?
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling.