John Cena and Brock Lesnar, despite having few actual matches with each other, have been synonymous with one another dating back to their time in Ohio Valley Wrestling, where they emerged from an all-time-great class of recruits and rookies to become WWE champions and defining Superstars of an era.

Mikey worked on the independent scene under the ring names 'American Ninja' and 'Suicide Kid', primarily competing for OVW, UPW and APW. He would never be offered a contract by WWE, although he did work several more dark matches for the company. These included a March 2001 rematch with The Prototype (Cena) which he lost.

WWE world champion John Cena seemingly doubled down on refuting reports that he requested the return of Brock Lesnar.