Tyler Reks Discusses WWE Debut and Problems With John Cena

Former WWE Superstar Tyler Reks, real name Gabe Tuft, has been out of the company for quite some time now and has kept a relatively low-profile. Tuft recently spoke with WrestlingInc about various topics related to his wrestling career, which included a bit of controversy. Some of the highlights can be found below.

Tuft talked about his quick debut to the main roster and noted he probably wasn’t ready:

“Not even close, man! There’s always the question, “are you ever fully ready?” I’d have loved to have had more experience on the main roster on house shows. When I debuted, it was me, Sheamus, Yoshi (Tatsu), and Tiffany (Taryn Terrell). We were just told, “hey, you’re debuting.” We’d been on the road for like two weeks, and in front of the agents like twice a week and always just with each other. I had no experience outside of what I learned in FCW. Looking back you do that and then you’re in the ring with Chavo (Guerrero), MVP, Christian, Matt Hardy – if I’d have been able to do that on house shows and then debut– it’d be a different story.”

He also talked about his well-publicized incident with John Cena, who got made at him for using a similar version of the “Attitude Adjustment” finisher:

“Well, we were at a house show and I was working Eddie Colon, who I knew pretty well. We were second or third on the card and I was going over using the Burning Hammer. When I put him up, he’s supposed to be looking at the ceiling. It’s like a moonsault for him and a sitout DDT for me. I don’t know what we did, we were hurrying or something. He didn’t land on his stomach, he landed on his back and it kind of looked like an F-U (Attitude Adjustment.) We were like, “oh crap, John Cena is going to be pissed.” We got to the back and John Cena was looking at a monitor and was just like, “ah, Reks. You’re going to have to find a new finisher.” He kind of smirked at me and I thought he was joking. I told him, “yeah man, sorry about that. It kind of got screwed up and we’ll make it right tomorrow.” I thought he was suggesting we get it right, not to make it look like his.”

But Cena didn’t take too kindly too it when he saw the move once more:

“I used it at Bragging Rights 2010 and John was literally across the ring from me when I hit Santino Marella with it and never said anything to me then. I’d been using it for 8 months on Superstars and everything before all this. I come backstage happy after a good match with Eddie all excited and John grabs me in front of everyone and says, “what do you think you’re doing? I thought I told you to get a new finisher.” I said, “yeah, I thought you were joking John. We hit it wrong last night. I’m really sorry.” He started yelling at me asking who gave me permission to use that. He belittled me, called me an idiot, and asked me if I enjoyed working here. I told him of course I do. He told me, “find another finisher or you’re fired.” I was humiliated, I was a full-grown man, why can’t we talk about this like human beings?”

More from the interview, which further discusses the Cena incident, can be found here.

Editor’s Note

I never know what to think of Cena, because we hear stories like this all the time. Is he that egotistical? Probably not, but it does make one think.

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