Theory On Wanting A Match With John Cena At WWE SummerSlam, Being Compared To Ce

[Liz]

In a recent interview on After the Bell with Corey Graves, Theory discussed being compared to John Cena, his goal to defend the US title against Cena at SummerSlam, and much more. You can read his comments below.

Theory on the biggest backstage influences on him in WWE: "I do want to put a lot of praise to those two [Finn Balor and AJ Styles] when it comes to live events especially. I think Finn I've worked the most on live events. That dude has helped me so much. Both of them – just the knowledge and understanding and 'don't do this, do this at this time, and listen to this.' It's just cool. MVP is somebody that's a heavy influence on me. He always gives me heavy words of wisdom. He's very good at motivating me, but at the same time, if I ever have a question or am just curious about something, that's definitely somebody I can go to. And just being around guys like Riddle and [Damian] Priest. They've been doing this for a little bit, and I feel like we're all in good spots. It's cool to know there is positive energy and everybody is trying to help everybody get better."

On being compared to John Cena: "It's just wild. Just to think that's who got me into WWE. At first, I wasn't crazy about sports entertainment, but I think I was just attached to that character of John Cena and how it motivated me. And now, to see that come to light and interact with me with where I'm at in my career, it's just amazing. Just to think, the time of day to say anything to me, that's really cool and especially what he did say on Twitter, I thought that was very interesting, and at the same time, very motivating. I'm very grateful for that. It's WWE, you never know what can happen. I feel like we do have a feeling what could happen pretty soon though."

On his goal to defend the US title against Cena at SummerSlam: "I ultimately want to defend the United States Championship against John Cena. I'm not exactly sure on a venue but for some reason, I just feel like a SummerSlam would be so cool. Just ready to SummerSlam John Cena's ass."