"You could have been something in WWE" - John Cena talks to Shaq about his AEW in-ring debut

Shaquille O'Neal was curious to know what John Cena thought about his match in AEW.
Shaquille O'Neal was curious to know what John Cena thought about his match in AEW.

John Cena thinks that Shaquille O'Neal could've had a great career in WWE if he wasn't such a great NBA basketball player.

Last Thursday on the NBA on TNT, John Cena was a guest on the show and had some high praise for Shaq, who recently made his in-ring debut for AEW.

"Man, you are one of that Mount Rushmore of sports entertainers. It's a shame that you were born so large and so gifted on the basketball court because you could have been something in WWE. I still think you can be. But you are Mount Rushmore of sports entertainers."

Shaquille O'Neal explains the thought process behind his match to John Cena

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While John Cena was on the show to promote Wipeout on TBS and the upcoming Suicide Squad movie, Shaq couldn't help but shift the conversation toward his recent AEW match.

"Yeah, I got a question for you, not about the show, about what you did or what you used to do being a wrestler. I had my first wrestling match a couple of weeks ago. Did you see it, and I would like to get your criticism on what I should have done better?"

John Cena responded by saying that he hadn't seen the match yet but asked Shaq in return how he thought he did.

"Big Shaq, I've been sequestered in a bunker here in Vancouver as they're really kind of keeping the lockdown to us. Now I heard you made your in-ring debut; I'm going to answer your question with a question. How did you feel about it? When it was all over, how did you feel about your performance?"

Shaq replied, telling Cena that he thought he did pretty good and wanted to represent all of the wrestlers he's been a fan of since growing up, including John Cena.

"Well, I really wanted to, you know, represent your guys right here, you know, giving a shout out to the Brodie Lee power slam right there, wanted to make it look good. Because listen growing up, you know, I watch you guys Junkyard Dog, Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan. I just wanted to represent you guys, and then you know he [Cody Rhodes] kind of poked me in my eye and caught me off guard and body slammed into a table. I think I did pretty good. I just wanted to represent you, wrestlers, because you guys are some of my favorite athletes. You know how I feel about your brother. I love you, big fan of yours, congratulations on everything that you're doing."

Do you agree with John Cena that Shaq could've had a great career in WWE? What dream matches would you like to see O'Neal in if he decided to wrestle again? Let us know by sounding off in the comments section below.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the NBA on TNT and provide a link back to this article for the transcription.

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