"Wasn’t even supposed to happen" - John Cena on iconic WWE moment
WWE legend John Cena has revealed that his debut match against Kurt Angle and the handshake moment with The Undertaker, wasn't even supposed to happen.
While speaking at Florida Supercon, the 16-time world champion stated that WWE put him in the match with Angle because they didn't have any other options.
"It’s surreal and it all happened so fast [match with Kurt Angle and shaking hands with The Undertaker]. It wasn’t even supposed to happen. I was thrown in there last minute because they had no other options.
"It was all like a blur but I remember I was ready to wrestle Kurt and he brought, technically the best out of me and forced me — he tried to run me ragged but I hung in there with him and yes, they filmed backstage moments of other superstars shaking hands there because it was genuine," said Kurt Angle. (H/T Post Wrestling)
John Cena said that he received praise from fellow WWE Superstars backstage following his debut match, and Angle thanked him for the match that they had. Cena's debut on the main roster came in June 2002 when he faced the Olympic gold medalist in a match on SmackDown and lost.
Kurt Angle and John Cena's rivalry in WWE
Kurt Angle and John Cena wrestled a number of times in WWE after their first match back in 2002.
One of their iconic matches came at the Unforgiven pay-per-view in 2005, when Cena defended his WWE Championship against Angle. The Pittsburgh native won the match by disqualification after Cena hit him with the belt. They had a few more matches against each other in 2005, including one at Survivor Series, where Cena won the match and retained his title.
Angle has publicly stated that he wanted Cena to be his last opponent in WWE, but wasn't granted it by the company.
"Nice job, kid."
The debuting @JohnCena earned @undertaker’s respect on this day in 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣2️⃣. https://t.co/gRn0z9LtYr