TNA Star Frankie Kazarian Opens Up About Friendship With WWE's John Cena

TNA's Frankie Kazarian has remembered his early years training with John Cena and how he was sure that Cena would become a star.

Kazarian and Cena trained together at the start of their careers at Ultimate Pro Wrestling, alongside another future great, Samoa Joe. In an interview with "Insight," he narrated his first interactions with Cena and how they later became friends.

"I had one of his very first matches. One of, not his first, but very early on. And I had already had a decent reputation of being like a pretty good wrestler, and you know, I remember walking in and was like, 'Hey man, what's going on?' He's like, 'Hey, look, I'm very green, and I know you do a lot of high-flying and stuff, but if you don't mind, can we please keep it [simple]?' I go, 'I don't do a lot of high-flying, man.' He said, 'Can we please keep it simple?' He was very honest, very self-aware. Of course, we went out and had a good one," Kazarian said. "We actually became good buds. Like, we would ride to like spot shows out in the middle of like Lancaster together and always do road trips up to Northern Cali when we were doing this feud with APW and became real friendly, and like him and me and Samoa Joe would hang out."

Kazarian recalled going to Joe's house after training, where Joe's father would cook for them. He also noted that Cena and Joe were present at every training session, and that he was convinced from the very beginning that Cena would go on to become a success.

"John's work ethic, from day one, and his attitude, set him apart, and he's had maybe the greatest run ever."

The TNA star said he was happy for his former colleague and once again reiterated what a genuinely nice person Cena is. Kazarian also expressed his appreciation for having played a small part in Cena's legendary career.