"John Cena was always that motivation" - WWE rookie recalls how John Cena motivated him to join the business

WWE superstar Austin Theory recently spoke about his biggest motivator, John Cena.

Austin Theory has been making waves in WWE ever since he was drafted to RAW. He recently managed to be a part of the red brand's men's team for Survivor Series, replacing veteran Rey Mysterio.

The NXT call-up was on WWE's the Bump this week to talk about his appearance in the upcoming Survivors Series pay-per-view. Theory mentioned that he was in awe of Cena as a kid and even met Cena backstage on SmackDown earlier this year.

Theory also praised John Cena for posting his picture on social media after winning the Evolve championship from Roderick Strong. He stated that it was a surreal feeling to be recognized by one of the greatest of all time.

Here's what Theory had to say about his idol:

"It's crazy because Cena is the one who got me into all of this. He’s always motivating me to push through and go after everything. John Cena was always that motivation. Yeah, that was cool, you know, not being signed to the WWE and having literally the biggest star just post my photo. That was insane to me. It's surreal."

You can watch the full video here.

Austin Theory dreams of facing John Cena someday

On the show, Austin Theory mentioned that he was getting into the ring with greats such as Jeff Hardy and Rey Mysterio to prove that he could be a breakout star in WWE. He had his sights set on Roman Reigns and was confident that they would meet each other sometime soon.

However, Theory revealed that his biggest dream match would be against his motivator, John Cena.

This Sunday, Austin Theory will be in action at Survivor Series, where the top stars from RAW and SmackDown will compete for brand supremacy. John Cena briefly returned to WWE in the summer but is once again pursuing his acting career.