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“John Cena is the strongest guy in the NBA!”: When Shaquille O’Neal praised WWE star after their epic arm-wrestling duel

Raahib Singh
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"John Cena is the strongest guy in the NBA!": When Shaquille O'Neal praised WWE star after their epic arm-wrestling duel

Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal once proclaimed John Cena to probably be stronger than everyone else in the NBA

Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most interesting personalities to emerge out of the NBA. After having a very successful career in the NBA, Shaq continues to stay in the limelight because of the work he keeps doing. Shaq is a successful business owner, is a published author, and is an analyst on Inside the NBA.

Shaq keeps going to various talk shows to promote the latest thing he’s working on/endorsing. Once, he was on The Today Show. On the same episode, the host, Hoda Kotb also had another famous celebrity guest, John Cena.

Cena was there to promote his new book, Elbow Grease. While the two were there, they decided to find out who was stronger amongst the two. They decided to arm wrestle for the same.

Also Read: ‘Favourite diet? No diet; I like chicken wings and pizza’: When Shaquille O’Neal hilariously revealed his regimen to stay fit

John Cena receives high praise from Shaquille O’Neal

As it could be seen in the arm wrestle duel, the contest was a close one. It appeared like Shaq was about to win, when Cena used his strength and almost beat the NBA big. In the end, it was clear that there wouldn’t be a conclusion, and John Cena called it a draw.

Even though the contest was a draw, Cena called Shaq to be the stronger one of the two.

“So I’m going to go into my sports analyst moment here. Arm wrestling is all about leverage. And if you look at the immediate situation here, I’m outmatched. I’m grossly outmatched. And I think the thing to take away is we both have on fantastic blue suits.”

Shaq was all praise for the 16-time World Champion.

“John is probably the strongest guy in the NBA. He’s really strong. And he can dunk, off the vert, two hands. He did it. No stretch at all, he went two hands, knees, and I was like ‘OK!’”

Also Read: “Despite being 7’2, Wilt Chamberlain only wore size 15 shoes!”: Lakers’ legend may have been a Harlem Globe Trotter, but Shaquille O’Neal had feet 7 sizes bigger than him

Even though we never saw the two of them wrestle, but judging from that arm-wrestling match, it would be a duel for the ages.

About the author

Raahib Singh

Raahib Singh

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Raahib Singh is an NBA Journalist and Content Strategist at The SportsRush. A Computer Science Engineer by qualification, Raahib's passion for sports drew him towards TSR. He started playing basketball at 14 and has been following the NBA since 2013. His entry into the basketball world perfectly coincided with Stephen Curry putting the league on notice. Having followed the league for a long time, he decided to use his knowledge to become a sportswriter with The SportsRush in 2020. Raahib loves to put up some shots in his spare time, watch Cricket, Formula 1, and/or read a nice thriller.

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