John Cena 'didn't like' Superstar who WWE released in 2016
Alex Riley has opened up on the problems that he had with John Cena when the two men worked together in WWE.
There have been frequent reports over the last few years that Cena may have had a part to play in Riley’s push being derailed early on in his career, and WWE even used the speculation in a 2017 storyline when Roman Reigns called out the 16-time World Champion for his treatment of Riley.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, The Miz’s former on-screen ally confirmed that he and Cena simply did not get along behind the scenes.
"I think it came down to, in the end, two men just not liking each other. As sad as that is, it had an impact on my career because he is who he is. I just happened to be in a situation where, right from the start, it was just… he didn't like me.” [H/T Fightful for the transcription]
Riley described his issues with Cena as “a tough situation”, while he revealed that he has also been told by other WWE Superstars that the five-time WrestleMania main-eventer did not like him.
“I would hear [he didn't like me] from other wrestlers, from time to time. It certainly didn't seem that way when we would interact. It's wrestling. it's something where, you do the best you can to learn in a way that is productive and will get you better. I tried to do that the best I could. It just didn't work out."
Although he did not explain exactly what happened, Riley went on to say that he apologised to Cena after a mistake was made one time and the two men started arguing.
Riley said Cena was “pretty offended”, but he is not holding any grudges against his former WWE colleague.