Unrecognisable photo of young AEW star with John Cena goes viral
John Cena shares history with one of AEW's most revered stars and veterans. A photograph featuring the WWE legend and the latter - All Elite powerhouse Samoa Joe - from several years ago has seemingly gone viral on social media.
The ex-leader of the Cenation recently made headlines when he turned heel for the first time in over a decade. He is currently on the Road to WrestleMania 41, where he will try to unseat Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship. On the other hand, The Samoan Submission Machine returned to AEW television earlier this year at Dynamite: Maximum Carnage, and is currently a member of The Opps, a stable consisting of himself, Katsuyori Shibata, and HOOK.
Although Cena and Joe did not work together much throughout the bulk of their careers - only meeting a handful of times during the latter's WWE tenure - the two stars came up in the business together when they first started. Still cutting their teeth on the indies, the future WWE Champion had squared off against The Destroyer in the California-based promotion Ultimate Pro Wrestling.
In interviews since then, Joe has spoken fondly of wrestling Cena back in the day, complimenting the latter as a hard worker and reminiscing on their shared experiences. As both respected names continue to thrive on their respective brands and projects, a photograph of the duo, alongside other peers, from their early years training together, is now making the rounds on X/Twitter.
"Big Match John" faced the former AEW World Champion one-on-one only twice in WWE, both matches taking place during House Shows in 2017.
AEW's Samoa Joe on how WWE used him as a talent
When Samoa Joe arrived in WWE in 2015, fans were convinced that The Samoan Submission Specialist would be pushed as a main event tier player. Unfortunately, his successes in NXT did not translate onto the main roster, and he was released in 2022 after what many deemed to be an underwhelming run in the sports entertainment juggernaut.
During a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet, the former AEW TNT Champion opened up on the Stamford-based company's, and Vince McMahon's utilization of him, stating:
"They were respectful of me. Listen, I think Vince understood who I was and what I brought to the show. If anything though, and I understand this, you want your own creations to do the best. You want your own things that you’ve invested time, money and effort into to kind of go to the forefront. I’ve never faulted anybody for that," Joe said. (H/T chrisvanvliet.com)
It remains to be seen what goals Joe and The Opps have in mind moving forward in All Elite Wrestling.