AEW Star Swerve Strickland Opens Up About Interacting With WWE's John Cena At PC

A whole host of WWE legends have passed through the company's Performance Center in Orlando, Florida to offer pointers and help guide the next generation in the right direction. One of those legends is John Cena, who — according to AEW (and former WWE) star Swerve Strickland on his "Swerve City Podcast" — would try and help as many people as possible whenever he dropped by.

"There was like a line out the door of people he was going to meet with," Strickland said. "[There was] like nine people, 'I'm going to get you all in this room together.' Boom, closed the door, and he was like 'I got like 30 more minutes left, ask away."

Strickland stated that, at times, there would be 60 to 70 people lined up in the Performance Center trying to ask Cena questions, who despite being a very busy man, wanted to make the most of his time with everyone. "He didn't want to waste anybody else's time or want [them] to feel like 'I had my moment, but I never got it,' so he just gave everybody—nine, ten people, five minutes each."

The former WWE Champion is considered by many to be one of the best performers of his generation, which has left Strickland wondering if the business will see anybody like him again in the next 10 years. "I'm not talking about just talent or [a] machine, because you can make that, but you can't create what he entails. All those extra little things, like you can't make that," he said.

Strickland was released by WWE in November 2021, leaving the company as a former "NXT" North American Champion. He debuted in All Elite Wrestling at the Revolution pay-per-view in March 2022; since then, he's won the AEW Tag Team Championships with Keith Lee and gone on to become one of the breakout singles stars for the company thanks to his feuds with Darby Allin and "Hangman" Adam Page.

Please credit the "Swerve City Podcast" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. For the transcription.