Wrestling superfan catches hero John Cena's attention after breaking world records

A wrestling superfan got the attention of his hero after breaking a marathon record while dressed as him.

Matthew Akpan (UK) donned his best John Cena-inspired look when he ran the fastest marathon dressed as a professional wrestler (male) in an impressive 2 hours 56 minutes 48 seconds in October 2021.

He returned the following May, dressed as Cena again, to run the fastest half marathon dressed as a professional wrestler (male) in just 1 hr 24 min 54 sec.

And when his incredible achievements got some media attention, the stories found their way to Cena, who posted on X:

Matthew, 36, who is on the autism spectrum, also holds the record for most WWE wrestlers identified by their entrance music in one minute with a total of 21.

His record-breaking journey began as a way of paying tribute to his late dad Innocent, who passed away from kidney failure at the age of 63 in 2021.

He’s since raised over £1,500 for charity, been invited to speak at a convention, attended celeb-filled events, been an extra in a Hollywood film, and been nominated for awards.

Matthew told us that he used to watch wrestling with his dad all the time, and that they were both huge fans.

He’d been running six days a week for over 10 years, so knew that was the route he should take to break a record.

Matthew said of breaking his first record: “It felt amazing inside to achieve this as I was now a record breaker but the effort was so intense, I was shivering for the first 30 minutes afterwards, I had pain where I never have had before and for a few seconds lost half of my hearing.

“But the thought of my father kept me going to the end.”

Matthew says he knows his dad would have been proud of him for crossing that finish line.

And of course getting attention from Cena was the icing on the cake.

“It felt amazing,” Matthew said. “A man who I had watched growing up and is arguably the greatest champion the WWE has ever had has congratulated me, even some of his colleagues in WWE have not had that backing from him so this felt like an honour for him to send me this.”

Matthew was diagnosed with autism in 2013 after he’d failed his second year of university and he and his mother reached out for a diagnosis.

After getting the help he needed, Matthew was able to complete his degree, and he now wants to encourage others with autism to never give up on their goals.

He said: “The message is the same as always - believe that you can, no matter what you have to push towards your goals and do not let anyone say you cannot and never give up.

“Support networks are there so plan and push and eventually using this your dreams can come true. Have faith in yourself and your journey.”

Matthew is hoping to break another record when he takes part in the Great North Run – a half marathon in the North East of England – later this year.