What’s the story?
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross spoke with former WWE superstar Alex Riley on the latest episode of The Ross Report. During their conversation, Riley opened up on an incident involving John Cena which changed the path of his career in the WWE and also spoke about his commentary stint with NXT.
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Alex Riley joined the WWE back in 2007 and spent his first couple of years in the company’s former developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling, where he went on to become the champion. Post that, he featured in the 2010 NXT season under the mentorship of The Miz and ended up in third position overall in the poll.
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During the initial period of his run on the main roster, ‘A-Ry’ made several appearances as The Miz’s apprentice but moved to singles competition after a few months. In mid-2013, Riley took up the role of a commentator on NXT and other WWE shows like Main Event and Superstars. He returned to wrestling action in 2015 and continued to compete until he was released by the WWE in May 2016.
The heart of the matter
Alex Riley told ‘Good Ol’ JR’ that he did have an incident with John Cena which affected the course of his career but he did not want to reveal much about it at present. He told Ross that he did not want to blow up anyone right now but would speak about the situation in detail at some point in the future. This is what Riley had to say:
“I'll put it this way. There was an incident and it certainly changed the path of my career. I don't want to discuss it right now, but I will one day for sure. I will one day. It was a tough situation at times, I guess we can leave it at that.
And, honestly, JR, I struggle with the morality of even talking about it and I'm not into blowing up anybody else at this point, but I promise you this, I will address it one day for sure. You don't want to know. It was a tough situation.”
Speaking of his commentary stint with NXT for close to 2 years, Riley said that he enjoyed it a lot because of his passion for the business. Although he believes that he should have competed inside the ring, he was offered to become a commentator and he decided to take the opportunity. The 35-year old stated:
“I enjoyed it. I very much enjoyed it. I wanted to, the thing with me, I belonged in the ring. I should have been in the ring. But, for whatever reason, I wasn't [in the ring] and I had skill. I had passion for the business, a lot of passion for the business, and they gave me the opportunity to be a broadcaster and I took it head on.”
Sportskeeda’s Take
Considering the kind of talent that he displayed during his early days, Alex Riley’s WWE career certainly fell terribly short of the mark. Whether or not John Cena had a role to play in his career losing track, though, is something we may only be able to determine when Riley finally discloses the details of what had transpired between him and ‘The Cenation Leader’.
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