Released star says John Cena praised him to WWE management
John Cena is one of the most respected wrestlers in WWE among his co-workers. In a recent interview, Javier Bernal recalled how the retiring star once gave him feedback after a match.
Bernal was let go by WWE in May after four years with the company. The 26-year-old wrestled in over 50 matches on WWE programming. He also competed in several untelevised bouts in front of other in-ring talents at the Performance Center.
On Developmentally Speaking, Bernal said Cena showered praise on him after a match at a PC Live event. The 17-time World Champion also spoke to someone in WWE management about his performance.
"He told me, 'Honestly, it's obvious that you have the most experience of the whole show and that you really are good at what you do, and you delved into your character. You are able to connect your character with what you're doing, and you had the best match of the night.' And that meant the world to me. Later on, someone in the office mentioned to me, 'Hey, John Cena's still talking about you,'" Bernal said. [30:51 – 31:27]
Bernal mostly wrestled on NXT Level Up and at NXT live events. He also made one-off appearances on RAW and SmackDown.
Javier Bernal's frustration after John Cena's praise
Although he appreciated John Cena's kind words, Javier Bernal wishes others in WWE could see his potential.
A month on from his departure, the former NXT star is unsure what else he could have done to impress WWE's higher-ups.
"It's moments like that where I think that's awesome and made me feel great," Bernal continued. "I'm like, 'But, damn, if arguably the greatest of all time sees it and you guys don't, I don't know what more I can do.' It's one of those things that gets frustrating as a talent. Again, I'm not blaming anything. I get that there's levels to everything, but it's very frustrating." [31:28 – 31:50]
Bernal's final WWE match ended in defeat against Channing Lorenzo at a live event on April 26.
Please credit Developmentally Speaking and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
