Then there was the case of a match Otunga had where he teamed with Wade Barrett against Cena and Evan Bourne during a Paris, France live event on September 24, 2010. During the match, Otunga and Cena had a spot where Cena was draped on the ropes, and Otunga would pull back on them,  allowing Cena to bump onto his back. According to Otunga, Cena bumped too early on the spot, resulting in it looking bad, and subsequently launched into a mid-match tirade on Otunga.

“I turned around, boy Cena is p****d,” Otunga said. “He’s kicking my ass in there for real and cussing me out, telling me how terrible I am, how awful, I live in fantasy, this is over, I’m going back to FCW, like, this is it for me. In the middle of the match! And I’m…I don’t even know what to do with myself at this point, because I didn’t mess that up. But yet this is John Cena, and he’s cussing me out, like, he’s getting disrespectful. He’s stepping over the line pretty much. So I have to go on with this. And I remember being so embarrassed because like, people can hear this. Now I know we’re in France, but still, Evan Bourne is in there, and he’s like snickering at me across the ring. And Wade’s in there, and he’s not really saying anything. It’s awful.”

Otunga says Cena continued his tirade once they got to the back, cussing Otunga out in front of the locker room, with only Dustin Rhodes coming to his defense after. Though they worked together and had good experiences after, Otugna admits the experience had a profound effect on him, and that he briefly considered leaving wrestling.

“If I’m being honest, that changed the way that I saw John Cena forever,” Otunga said. “It actually changed the way I saw the company too, like, cause nobody ever did anything about it. I think Goldust said something to him, but like, there was never an apology.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “David Otunga” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription