2019 saw EJ Nduka secure a contract with WWE after making an impression after two tryouts. Before having a successful career as a professional bodybuilder, the Texan had a successful academic career. Nduka only competed in wrestling twice at live events, never making an appearance on NXT television.
Nduka left WWE in 2021 and was quickly signed by MLW, where he is still active today.
Speaking to the
Grapsody podcast, Nduka recalled Triple H comparing him toThe Rock:“I had a very strong influence with Dwayne [The Rock]. Even when I was at the PC [WWE Performance Center], Hunter said to me one day, I was shooting a commercial, it was a pilot for FOX, we were in Tampa, and everyone was up there; Stephanie (McMahon), Hunter [Triple H], Vince (McMahon), I’m in the ring, we’re sharing stories and talking about what we’re going to do for the commercial. I’m chopping it up with H and he said, ‘You remind me a lot of DJ [Dwayne Johnson].’ I’m having the conversation and I’m just enamoured being able to talk to H because just to be able to talk to Hunter is big.
Midway through the conversation, it clicked with me, ‘He said DJ, he’s talking about Dwayne.’ He goes, ‘The moniker he has, the hardest worker in the room, I always hear that when your name gets brought up. I have no doubt that you’re one of the hardest workers in the group.’ That kind of made me feel good because you don’t get a lot of acknowledgment, especially when you’re a recruit. You’re kind of like a shadow. You’re there to get better. At that time, you’re almost like a liability because you’re not really bringing money into the company.
To be able to hear that, that really boosted my mentality as far as what I can do in this business. That was the conversation that made me realize, ‘I can really do something here.’ For someone like that, to say that to me, I can do something,”
H/t to Fightful