EJ Nduka is one of wrestling’s top growing talents and The Judge is showing that court is in session at Major League Wrestling.
Just last week on MLW Fusion, Nduka secured his first bit of MLW gold as he and Calvin Tankman defeated 5150 to become the World Tag Team Champions. Nduka spoke with the media before Intimidation Games took place in Dallas and was asked about the kind of advice and credit he’s received from older talent in his young career.
“One of the biggest things that I like do is I like to go ask people and people that are where I want to be and I go ask the questions,” EJ told Graham Matthews of Bleacher Report. “Like I pick the mind of Cena all the time. I’m texting Edge, like after all my matches, I constantly talk to Edge, I piggyback off my boy Ricochet, Apollo [Crews], there’s a bunch of people who I text message…Odyssey Jones, these are people that I constantly talk to like ‘hey what do you think this?’ and vice-versa, they’ll bounce ideas off of me and we just create because creators create and that’s what we do. We’re in a business where you gotta constantly create or you’re gonna be passed up. So, one of the biggest things as in advice I’d ask, is ‘if you were to do this again, what are five things that you would tell yourself? What are five things of advice that you’d give to yourself?’ I’ve had [John] Cena answer that question, I’ve had a number of people answer that question and they gave me some nuggets that I’m not gonna give you for free tonight. You can subscribe to my OnlyFans [laughs] Nah, I’m just kidding, but I’ve done a bunch of things that help me define who I am.”
Did EJ find a lot of his colleagues didn’t try to pick the brain of veteran stars as often as they should?
“Not a lot of people take that opportunity,” he told WrestleZone’s Dominic DeAngelo. “So one story that already came out is when I was at the [WWE] PC, [John] Cena came and he came shortly before Mania and at the time, there was like 144 people in the PC and if you ask me why, I don’t know why there was that many people, but there was 144 people and Cena took the time out of his busy schedule to talk to us, one-on-one individually for as long as we wanted, but it was after a practice and normally, practice ends at 2. A lot of people went home. A lot of people went home, and you’re looking at a future Hall of Famer, we’re talking about a GOAT and people left! I stayed my happy ass there, I waited and I spoke to Cena, I picked his mind and this man has nuggets. He’s got knowledge, he’s been in the game for a number of years and he’s willing to give it to you. Some people think they got it figured out. Once you stop learning is when you stop growing and so that’s one of the biggest things that I’ve taken since I was a kid, my parents said it all the time, ‘You stop learning, you stop growing.’ So, I’m constantly asking questions, constantly trying to be a better person and constantly trying to be a better Judge.”
Nduka says he spoke with Cena for nearly an hour.
“Yeah, I was in there for a minute. I was like, ‘Hey, look, if I waited, I’m gonna be here. I’m gonna wait, I’m gonna wait, I’m gonna talk to my boy.’ But yeah, he was a good guy, gave incredible knowledge.”
Nduka just didn’t have veteran stars to sit under the learning tree with, but the Judge credits his one specific NXT coach for a great deal of his development.
“And we had coaches like Scotty 2 Hotty, he was my coach every day. Every day after practice, I think Scotty’s in the building right now, but every day after practice I’d go talk to Scotty and I’d be like, ‘Hey Scotty, is there anything I need to work on? Is there anything you see in me?’ He’d be like ‘Hey, only the Judge knows how to be the Judge, so keep working at it and if I see little things in here we’ll fine-tune it, but we’re not about to just revamp everything you got going, you know?’ He’s like, ‘You’ve got a lot of natural ability a lot of natural charisma now we just gotta cultivate it.'”
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