Speaking with Shakiel Mahjouri for CBS Sports, Austin Theory discussed developing a special connection to John Cena when he was younger. The two were rumored to wrestle each other at this year’s SummerSlam. However, TV obligations kept Cena from wrestling at the big event. You can check out some of the highlights from Theory’s interview below.

Theory on wanting a WrestleMania match against John Cena: “To have that moment with him, the person that — I had to put in my own work — but somebody that got me to the dance mentally, it takes the words out of my mouth to think of that actually happening.”

Theory on what he learned from John Cena: “It’s so weird to meet somebody and pretty much have to explain to them, ‘I modeled my whole life after you.’ It’s one of those things as a kid getting bullied, my dad not being in my life a lot. Cena, I could watch him and just escape. It was the connection to his personality. That’s something I learned from him. He told me, ‘Don’t ever think people go out there and want people to connect to their performance. Nobody will connect to your performance unless they connect to your personality. I started thinking, even with that process through NXT to finally being drafted to Raw officially, it was a time to figure stuff out. How can I connect to them with my personality? This is a world in WWE where everybody can kill it in the ring. Everyone can go hard in the ring. So what’s going to set you aside from killing it in the ring? I learned that from him.”

Theory currently is the holder of the Money in the Bank briefcase. He attempted to cash-in the briefcase at SummerSlam during the Last Man Standing match between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar. However, an F-5 from Lesnar prevented Theory from successfully cashing-in.

When do you think Theory will cash-in the briefcase, and do you want to see him wrestle John Cena? Sound off in the comments section below, and follow EWN on our Twitter and Facebook pages.