WWE Hall Of Famer JBL Recalls The First Time He Met John Cena

With John Cena's historic in-ring WWE career coming to an end next year, many people throughout the business, from other wrestlers to producers and executives, are sharing their memories of "The Doctor of Thuganomics" before he was a household name, Hollywood star, and mult-time WWE champion. One of those people is former rival JBL, who shared his distinct memory of how and when he first met Cena on an episode of "Something to Wrestle." JBL said the pair met in catering in Los Angeles, where Cena initially set out to train in the ring before going to OVW.

"I just remember walking in and seeing this great big bodybuilder and I knew it was one of the boys," JBL said. "I sat and ate with him. He was telling me about the gimmick, "The Prototype," that he was doing. Which, I didn't know if it made a lot of sense or not. You never know. Back in the day, you would see a lot of these guys. Back in the day you would see a lot of these guys, not built as well as John, but built really well. You'd see them trying to make it in the business."

JBL said that at their first meeting, he explained to the young star that most guys won't have the same gimmick they started with, which was true for Cena. "The Prototype" was Cena's first gimmick when he started wrestling in OVW, where he'd act more like a cyborg than a man, with his physique and mannerisms attempting to mimic that of a well-oiled machine. Cena would drop the robot-esque gimmick shortly before arriving on the main roster. 

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Something to Wrestle" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.