Former WWE champion claims he owes a lot of his success to John Cena

John Cena has wrestled many popular names over the years. A former WWE champion recently claimed that he owed a lot of his success to The Cenation Leader.

The star in question is a former three-time WWE United States Champion, Rusev. The Bulgarian Brute feuded with the 17-time world champion back in 2015. The two wrestled for the United States Championship on five separate occasions in as many months.

Rusev won the gold by defeating Sheamus in November 2014. Cena dethroned him in what was his second attempt at WrestleMania 31. The veteran then went on to defend the title against The Bashing Bulgarian thrice.

During a recent interview with Voxcatch, the host asked Rusev about his feud with John Cena. In response, the 39-year-old pointed out that he got to compete with the veteran on several occasions and learned a lot from him. The former AEW star added that he owed a lot of his success to Cena, and he was thankful for having wrestled and even defeated him.

"I learned a lot from John Cena. You know, I got to wrestle him quite a bit throughout my years in WWE. And I owe a lot of my success to him, because I got to learn from him, wrestling him, [and] beating him as well. So I’m always going to be thankful for that," he said.

You can check out the interview below:

Rusev opens up about potentially retiring John Cena

John Cena is slated to retire from professional wrestling by the end of 2025. He only has 7 dates left on his Farewell Tour.

Later in the same interview, Rusev noted that wrestling Cena on the latter's Farewell Tour would be a full circle moment. The RAW star stated that the 48-year-old started his career, and him ending the veteran's would be very appropriate.

"Well, I think it's going to be a great passing of the torch if I just get to beat him. Uh, I mean, yeah, that would be a fantastic farewell for him, you know, because he started my career, now I can end his, which is going to be very appropriate, and karma always strikes back, you know, at the end of the day," said Rusev.

John Cena's appearance last week on SmackDown was his last on the blue brand. He is likely to be a part of Monday Night RAW for the remainder of his full-time career. It remains to be seen if he crosses paths with Rusev on the red brand.

About the author

Ankit Verma is a WWE news writer with over four years of experience in the writing field. He graduated with a Master’s degree in Physical Sciences, but his love and passion for writing and pro wrestling led him to create content about it.

He writes his articles putting himself in the readers’ shoes, making sure it’s as simply written, informative, and straight to the point as possible while being devoid of opinion. Ankit strives to present accurate information by ensuring the source is credible and cross-checking all facts and figures.

Ankit would have liked to have managed Kane during The Attitude Era, helping to take the Big Red Monster to greater heights than his brother/rival, The Undertaker. His favorite pro wrestler of all time is AJ Styles.

When Ankit is not writing for Sportskeeda, he enjoys spending his time studying astronomy and playing cricket.

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Edited by Ankit Verma