Three years ago during a WWE live event tour in India, Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser of Imperium had the opportunity to face John Cena and Seth Rollins in tag team action. Imperium got the chance to main event the show along with standing toe-to-toe with Cena, and during a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet on “Insight,” Vinci opened up about the only time in his career that he wrestled the 17-time World Champion.

“Man, it was such a surreal moment. It was announced that Cena was going to be on that show in India and it was kind of last minute. It was kind of thrown together. It was announced that Seth and Cena against Ludwig and I at the time, and I tell you that was the loudest reaction I’ve ever heard in my life. Like that building or the floor was vibrating. It was shaking when we were standing there. He did his entrance and then it’s almost like you wear a real life VR, you know those virtual reality things,” he explained. “He gets the tag and I get the tag, I’m like ‘Okay wrestling John Cena now.’ Crazy moment, like obviously you want to still be professional like 99% but that 1% in the back of your mind is like ‘Oh this is cool.'”

It’s been well documented that Cena preferred to call many of his matches in the ring with little preparation beforehand, and his match against Imperium in India was no different, as Vinci claimed that most of the contest was improvised. In February 2025, Vinci was released from WWE after breaking off from Imperium and a short-lived singles run.

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

At AEW Revolution 2024, Sting wrestled his final match alongside his protege Darby Allin, when the two put the AEW World Tag Team Championships on the line against The Young Bucks. “The Icon” even won and retired as a champion, something that doesn’t often happen in pro wrestling, which stands as another monument to his legacy.

Reflecting on his final run with the promotion and the match alongside Allin at Revolution during an interview with Uncrowned, Sting expressed just how important it was to him. “When people ask me, what was the greatest moment in your entire career? … It was the very last match that I had. It was Revolution, with AEW, with Darby,” he claimed. Sting noted that the inclusion of both Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat made it even more special to him.

Interestingly, “The Icon” also called The Young Bucks the greatest opponents, and having Allin go out there with him against the brothers made it all the more unbelievable to him. “I don’t know how else to say it, but I’m convinced that without Darby – maybe I could have made it a good three and half – four-year run, but it wouldn’t have been nearly the same magnitude,” Sting admitted about Allin. “This is something like a God-ordained thing, it seems, because Darby was real quick to figure out what my strengths and weaknesses were. And of course, I knew his as well”

Sting further explained that he and Allin worked together to help one another overcome their shortcomings, and even form new creative ideas and plan in-ring segments, while also having a great level of synergy. “Man, I’m convinced that he’s the only guy I could have done it with,” the veteran further exclaimed.

Vinci had yet to prove himself as a main roster singles star, and despite his work with Imperium alongside GUNTHER and Ludwig Kaiser, Vinci did anticipate his possible release. “I was and I wasn’t [surprised], because, I mean during the summer of the year previous, I wasn’t on TV, but I knew there was a plan to come back eventually, and we did those vignettes and everything, but that didn’t last long.”

Despite that, Vinci tried to remain positive, especially when “SmackDown” changed the format to three hours. However, after being told he wasn’t needed for TV for a couple of weeks, he wasn’t surprised when he got the release call. “It was a weird mix of feelings,” he added.

Vince’s final televised WWE match took place during the September 20 2024 episode of “SmackDown,” where he faced off against Apollo Crews in a losing effort. Unlike many of the names who were released with him in 2025, he’s not had a match at all since December 13, 2024. “It’s funny because this is what I wanted to do since I was 13 years old,” he explained. “I feel like some people know what I can do, but I know I can do a lot more. And I just really … wanted to take enough time to not come back and go in halfway.”

Even with his hiatus, Vinci claims he’s open to a return, but there aren’t yet any details in place.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet,” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.