They didn’t cross pathes much during their time together in WWE, at least on our screens. But Samoa Joe and John Cena go way back. And with Cena’s final match coming up this weekend at Saturday Night’s Main Event, Joe paid tribute to his long-time friend and colleague — even though Joe was wrestling on Dynamite as AEW’s World champ.
Joe’s salute was a subtle nod to the retiring legend, delivered with a heelish look on his face so as to not contradict the story he and Eddie Kingston were telling in the ring.
It came after a slam out of a fireman’s carry on Kingston that looked a lot like an Attitude Adjustment, and after Joe locked in the STF.
While they weren’t famous kayfabe rivals, Joe and Cena go back to their days training together in a Southern California independent that’s no longer around called UWF. After Joe paid homage to Cena on Dynamite, this old picture from UWF made the rounds. This is Cena in his “Prototype” days. What an amazing haircut, but I digress…
It also reminded me of a great story Joe told our old pal Shakiel Mahjouri, now at CBS Sports:
Joe recounted how Cena and Frankie Kazarian once cleaned out his father’s fridge, each consuming six pounds of chicken breasts in an impromptu eating challenge.
Wonder if John will remember that when he gets word about Joe’s salute?
Get complete results and play-by-play from the Winter is Coming Dynamite in our live blog here.
