RJ City Recalls Talk With Pee-Wee Herman Actor Paul Reubens After WWE Rejection

Yesterday, it was announced that Paul Reubens, the actor behind Pee-wee Herman, died after a six-year battle with cancer. As reactions from across professional wrestling and the world of pop culture at large poured out, it became even more clear that Reubens had a massive effect on many inside and outside the entertainment industry. One of those people is AEW's RJ City, who took to Twitter to describe a life-altering conversation with Reubens.

"When WWE said no, Paul Reubens spent an hour on the phone with me," City wrote. "He told me how not getting SNL led to 'The Pee-wee Herman Show.' He told me to take my frustration and do something with it — the blessing of not being with everyone is doing what they can't. He changed my life."

While Reubens was only tangentially connected to professional wrestling, making a few WWE appearances over the years, there's no denying the influence of Pee-wee Herman. In addition to City's comments on the late star, AEW performer Danhausen credits Reubens as one of his major inspirations. One of the segments that helped Danhausen start to gain traction online featured him recreating the bar fight scene from "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," including the song "Tequila" by The Champs.

The conversation with Reubens clearly had a positive effect, as City did end up spending some time working for WWE before eventually making his way over to AEW. Over the past few months, City has begun making more regular appearances as a backstage personality, often alongside Renee Paquette, in addition to his online show, "Hey EW!"