WWE legend and 17-time World Champion John Cena discussed various topics with Metro, including his first impression of WWE NXT star Mason Rook while filming Matchbox in Hungary.
Cena said, “I didn’t have access to a lot of sports entertainment live, especially with the time change, and the only stuff I would watch is, they ran a UK wrestling program on broadcast television, on my hotel TV. I think it was every Wednesday night, and I would consistently see Will Kroos do his thing, and the promotion he was working with. I was floored. And here’s the thing: he’s known for the moves. I was floored by his storytelling.”
On telling his wife about Rook:
“I would tell my wife, like, ‘I gotta watch this kid.’ She’s like, ‘What are you doing watching this English UK indie broadcast?’ I’m like, ‘This kid is good. He can tell stories, and he moves great!’”
On seeing Rook do extra work for WWE last year:
“We [WWE] did Glasgow, I think it was, and I was hoping, ‘Man, I know we have UK extras here. What if we walk into the room and Will Kroos is there? I will like lose my mind’ and that’s exactly what happened. All the additional talent was kind of being shepherded into taking their physicals and stuff, and Will Kroos is one of them and I stopped dead.”
On what he told Rook the first time they met:
“Yo, dude, I’m a huge fan of yours. The way you tell stories, the way you carry yourself, what you’re doing is appropriate. Anyone can learn to do the physical stuff with enough practice. You have the nuance that very few performers have.”
On Rook’s talent as a storyteller:
“I watched him get himself counted out in a match against a Rey Mysterio-like opponent, and everything he did made sense. I watched him in a further match; it was like a championship match, and he somehow made himself this big unstoppable force, but also somehow was able to get defeated with dignity. He’s a very intelligent performer, and a lot of times you see at a younger age aspirational performers who want to do crazy stuff, but their in-ring intelligence, they just don’t have enough time or attention. I was floored by his storytelling.”
