Giovanni Vinci Looks Back On 'Surreal' WWE Match With John Cena

Three years ago during a WWE live event tour in India, Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser of Imperium had the opportunity to face John Cena and Seth Rollins in tag team action. Imperium got the chance to main event the show along with standing toe-to-toe with Cena, and during a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet on "Insight," Vinci opened up about the only time in his career that he wrestled the 17-time World Champion.

"Man, it was such a surreal moment. It was announced that Cena was going to be on that show in India and it was kind of last minute. It was kind of thrown together. It was announced that Seth and Cena against Ludwig and I at the time, and I tell you that was the loudest reaction I've ever heard in my life. Like that building or the floor was vibrating. It was shaking when we were standing there. He did his entrance and then it's almost like you wear a real life VR, you know those virtual reality things," he explained. "He gets the tag and I get the tag, I'm like 'Okay wrestling John Cena now.' Crazy moment, like obviously you want to still be professional like 99% but that 1% in the back of your mind is like 'Oh this is cool.'"

It's been well documented that Cena preferred to call many of his matches in the ring with little preparation beforehand, and his match against Imperium in India was no different, as Vinci claimed that most of the contest was improvised. In February 2025, Vinci was released from WWE after breaking off from Imperium and a short-lived singles run.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.