How Justin Bieber Almost Wrestled a WWE Match With John Cena

AEW’s Paul Wight, better known in his WWE days as The Big Show, revealed on a new episode of Talk Is Jericho this week that he almost wound up in a six-man tag match involving John Cena, The Wyatt Family and pop singer Justin Bieber. The match was reportedly set for SummerSlam 2014, and only fell through when WWE management dragged its feet with Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun.

“Years ago, I had worked out with a friend who knew Scooter Braun and Justin Bieber,” Wight explained [h/t Fightful]. “It was going to be John Cena, The Big Show, and Justin Bieber against The Wyatts at SummerSlam. This deal was really…Bieber was on board, he was excited and wanted to workout with John and I. This was a big deal. One of the people making decisions said, ‘I don’t see how Justin Bieber is going to relate to our audience.’ Does anyone not see the amount of eyes Justin Bieber would bring to that match? I think WWE offered to promote his album. You’re dealing with Scooter Braun, he’s all about cash. They jacked Scooter around for about two weeks and he’s like, ‘It’s not going to happen. I got the kid a million dollars to watch a soccer game and he’ll be on a private jet.”

This isn’t the first time Bieber and WWE have come up in the same conversation. Long-time fans will likely remember the rumors surrounding Bieber hosting WrestleMania XXVII, a role that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson eventually filled (he even poked fun at it in his return promo).

Instead of that celebrity match, Show was left off the card, Bray Wyatt feuded with Chris Jericho and John Cena wound up getting brutally squashed by Brock Lesnar to lose the WWE Championship. “The Beast” held that title all the way up until WrestleMania 31.

There’s a good chance this year’s WrestleMania will feature a celebrity match, as Grammy-winning rapper Bad Bunny has been appearing on WWE television nearly every week since the Royal Rumble. The rumor is that he’ll team with Damian Priest to face The Miz and John Morrison in a tag match, something that was all but confirmed this week when Miz cracked a guitar over Bunny’s back.