John Cena has always made time for rookies (Picture: USA Today Sports via Reuters Con)
John Cena is primed for his WWE return and 2025 retirement tour, after well over two decades in professional wrestling.
The wrestler turned Hollywood megastar will be back for WWE’s move to Netflix on January 6, and he’s safe to say he’s left his mark on the business, as well as the careers of those in it.
For retired Welsh grappler Mason Ryan – now part of the KÀ by Cirque du Soleil cast in Las Vegas – his fondest memory of Cena was a drunken night backstage after his Monday Night Raw debut in 2012.
‘I was probably on an adrenaline high, cloud nine, my feet didn’t touch the floor,’ he exclusively told Metro of the night where he appeared and joined CM Punk by laying out Cena.
He recalled being in the locker room when the star’s driver came and said the 16-time world champion wanted to see him on his private bus.
‘I just threw my clothes quickly after showering and left my bags there because I just thought I’m just going to see John, and he’s going to say congratulations, or welcome to the team, or something like that,’ he said.
Mason Ryan has recalled his own wild night with Cena (Picture: WWE)
‘So I hop on the bus and he says, “Hey, take a seat”. And then he started bringing out some drinks. I’m thinking, “Okay, we’re going to have a beer or two.”
‘Then after an hour, he starts bringing out the whiskey. And then he starts bringing out the moonshine.’
Mason realised it was getting late and he needed to be up by around 4am the next morning to get his flight to the next show.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
‘Cena said, “Oh, don’t worry!” I had a connection, and the connection was only an hour away or so. We got my bags and instead of catching the first flight, we drove to wherever that that that second flight would be,’ he laughed.
‘And I’ll be honest, he got me pretty drunk! At one point, we were drinking a beer, a shot of whiskey, and then and washing it down with a moonshine. So it was quite the blur!
Mason was meant to have an extended run with Cena (Picture: WWE)
‘That was one of the craziest things about that [debut], getting hammered on John Cena’s bus that night.’
They saw each other the following week, and Cena admitted he was ‘starting to feel it’ but thought he was ‘in trouble’ because Mason – real name Barri Griffiths – didn’t appear to be under the influence.
‘And then he said I got up to go to the bathroom, and he saw me nearly fall over,’ he laughed.
Cena is primed for his own wrestling retirement tour in 2025 (Picture: WWE/Getty Images)
Mason, who was released from WWE in 2014, almost worked with Cena for an extended run on live events, but a badly timed injury halted the plans.
‘I tore my hamstring on on a Friday, and I went to the house shows, and I tried to wrestle, but my my leg was black and blue. I couldn’t walk, it was brutal,’ he explained.
‘On the Monday, I was supposed to wrestle Cena in the main event of Raw, and then from there, that night, I think we were flying to Australia, and I think I was going to wrestle Cena every night on that tour.
‘That could have been something [for my career]. But I tore my hamstring, and just kind of fizzled out. They tried to bring me back afterwards and make me a baby face, but they had zero plans for me.’
Mason can now be seen in Cirque du Soleil (Picture: Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Cirque du Soleil)
However, the year after his WWE release, he got put in touch with Cirque du Soleil, and the rest is history.
‘Everything works out,’ he smiled. ‘I’m working for an amazing company in Cirque du Soleil, putting on an amazing show every night.’
He teased: ‘And it’s not over yet. I’ve still got a long way to go.’
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.