Why John Cena Reached Out To A Current AEW Star Ahead Of Big Match Last Year (WWE News)
John Cena told Logan Paul to study a specific ex-WWE and current AEW man's work.
John Cena told Logan Paul to study as many Claudio Castagnoli matches as he could find from the WWE and AEW archives before the pair's bout at Clash In Paris last year. Speaking via No-Contest Wrestling on ESPN, Cena said he also called the ex-Cesaro up and asked if he could borrow some of his moves for the occasion.
Claudio, who couldn't be there in attendance to see the match live due to his own commitments, was honoured by John's pitch and said he'd absolutely be fine with seeing some of his work happen on the WWE PLE. That's when Cena went to Paul and noted the similarities in stature and movement between he and Castagnoli.
Again, that's a massive compliment to Logan - Claudio has been one of the best workers on the planet for decades now, and he's someone 'Super Cena' greatly enjoyed working with many moons ago in WWE.
Amongst other things, John wanted Paul to pay close attention to Castagnoli staples like the European uppercut, his giant swing and more. He also reasoned that the celeb turned wrestler would find 'getting more stuff' handy long term: "Take it from 'Five Moves of Doom', there is going to come a time where you need more stuff!".
Cena himself worked to expand his repertoire the deeper he got into his in-ring career. Cutting chants from live crowds like, 'You Can't Wrestle' likely played a part in that, but John has always been a massive wrestling fan generally and someone who strives to improve.
He was hugely complimentary of Claudio there.