SAUGUS, MASS. (WHDH) - The North Shore was represented in more ways than one at WrestleMania over the weekend as John Cena sported some sick kicks that even caught their creators by surprise.
During WWE WrestleMania 39, the West Newbury native wore a pair of special sneakers made in collaboration between a local artist and Kowloon Restaurant.
The red, black and gold sneakers were released back in February after Kowloon teamed up with Sway of blueswaydshoes to make some 100, hand-painted Nike Air Force 1 sneaks inspired by the restaurant.
Posting to Instagram, Sway shared his surprise when the sneakers made a cameo during a Cena match, stating “@johncena rocking that blueswaydshoes custom, mind is blown right now 🤯”
“That was quite incredible,” said Kowloon Restaurant co-owner Stanley Wong. “I mean, we’ve had a friendship with the Cena family for over 20 years.”
On top of the long-running relationship with the Cena’s, Wong added that Kowloon has been a familiar stop for wrestlers looking to refuel over the years. The restaurant itself features a wall filled with autographed photos of wrestling stars, from The Rock to Hulk Hogan.
“My brother, Andy, he’s a big wrestling fan – all of the wrestlers have been coming for years – when The Rock was wrestling and when John was wrestling full-time – they were always coming in after their matches in the local area,” he said.
So when the sneaker project came together, Wong said the restaurant went out of its way to send a complimentary pair to one of their longtime customers.
“We thought it would be good to give back and send him a pair of sneakers since he wears sneakers in the wrestling matches,” he explained. “Not in my wildest dreams did I think he was going to wear them (at WrestleMania). I just want to thank John and the family and everybody for being so kind to my family – it’s been really, really tremendous, the relationship.”
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