Former WWE Superstar Says John Cena Tried To Bury Alex Riley Backstage
Tyler Reks has had his issues with John Cena in the past. He spoke openly about it with Wrestling Inc founder Raj Giri last year during an interview, stating that his Burning Hammer finisher got heat from Cena for being too much like yours. According to Reks, real name Gabe Tuft, he wasn't the only one to have heat with Cena.
Reks participated in a Reddit Ask Me Anything this week to promote Body Spartan, where he answered several questions regarding his wrestling career. During the Q&A, Reks said that Alex Riley was targeted by John Cena several times.
"There is truth that there was some sort of unknown, unreasonable heat between Riley and Cena. To the point where everyone on the roster thought that Cena was treating him in a way that was totally uncalled for. No one approached Cena about it, but the entire locker room was on Riley's side, a lot of condolences, and this is 'ridiculous, bro,' and it was every freakin' day. Cena thought Riley did something wrong every single day" Reks said.
Reks said that Cena did things to Riley, including going through his bag and berating Riley for certain supplements he was taking. Reks thinks that Cena did it in an effort to get Riley fired.
"Like, it's completely against the wrestler code to ever go through another wrestler's bag. One day, Riley walked into an empty locker room and Cena was just going through his bag. He found some pre-workout vitamins and b—hed him out for taking supplements, asking if he 'thinks this is ok.' Like, he was looking for a reason to get him fired," Reks said.
Riley would survive the alleged attempts to get him fired, and is still employed by WWE today. He most recently feuded with Kevin Owens on WWE NXT, prior to being injured. Reks shared more stories about Cena singling out Riley, including basically agenting an Alex Riley match to make him act a certain way.
"We had the match when Linda was running for Congress for the Stand Up For WWE charity shows, and it was a tag match, I think it was a six man tag match if I remember right. And it was me, Hawkins, and Ziggler vs. Riley, and two other baby faces. Cena had made it clear that he wanted Riley to act a certain way and do certain things. And we structured the entire match to his wishes and it went flawlessly as far as we were concerned," Reks explained. "The second we walked backstage he came up to me and said 'hey where's numbnuts?' And he sees the look on my face and tells me to go get Riley. So all six of us came back and he b—hed out Riley in front of the backstage roster — about how he always tells him to do one thing and he does another, and Cena was 'washing his hands of helping him.' Even Ziggler was like, 'What the hell, man?'"
You can check out Reks' full AMA at this link, and our interview with him at this link.