10 Wrestlers Who Blame Others For Failing In WWE

6. Alex Riley (John Cena)

Bam Bam Bigelow Diesel
WWE.com

For years, rumours persisted that Alex Riley's slide down the pecking order from promising NXT talent to under-utilised commentator owed a lot to the backstage machinations of a certain John Cena. Such rumours were given considerable fillet when Tyler Reks - admittedly a man with his own axe to grind against the Face that Ran the Place - endorsed them wholesale during a Reddit AMA following his own WWE departure.

Reks revealed that "everybody on the roster thought Cena was treating [Riley] in a way that was totally uncalled for. He was looking for a reason to get him fired."

Riley, still under WWE employ at the time, stayed strictly mum on the claims, not wanting to compromise his already limited opportunities any further. Earlier this year however, some time removed from the end of his tenure with the company, he finally lifted the lid on the subject.

"Right from the start, he didn't like me," Riley told Chris Van Vliet. "It kinda got to the point where even some of the other guys would kinda be like, 'What's up with that?' It was a tough situation."

Nevertheless, he's philosophical about the situation: "I'm not holding any grudges or anything like that. I certainly don't want it hanging over my neck for the rest of my life."

Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.