'I asked her for her number': John Cena gets candid on his first interaction with wife Shay Shariatzadeh

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: John Cena has recalled how he was at the wrong place at the wrong time when he first met Shay Shariatzadeh.

During an appearance on SiriusXM's 'The Howard Stern Show' on Wednesday, February 21, the legendary wrestler shared that he met Shariatzadeh, his wife of nearly four years, at a Vancouver bar in British Columbia, Canada, while watching the New England Patriots play in Super Bowl LIII on February 3, 2019.  

What did John Cena say?

"I wasn't looking, but damn, man, it just found me," the Massachusetts native said of how he found love after he got out from his Vancouver apartment when a friend invited him to watch the championship game at a bar.

"So we watched the game, and then the table sitting right across from us — this group of five people walked in," he said, as per People. "Man, I stopped watching the game. I didn't even know it was over," he added.

John Cena said he noticed Shay Shariatzadeh first when she was with her friends

Cena said that he noticed Shariatzadeh first while she was with her friends and did not gather up the courage to talk to her until one of her friends asked to take a photograph with the actor and WWE star.

"I was such a dick, I was so bad. Here I am — hell this was half a decade [ago] — I'm 40 and I'm too scared to approach this girl," he recalled, when Stern asked how Cena introduced himself. "So I got a picture with her, and then she brought by my wife-to-be over, we have our first fan photo, which we hang proudly where we hang our hats. It's awesome," Cena told Stern.

"I asked her for her number and she gave me her number, and I didn't wait like the two days [to reach out]," he continued, adding "I left the restaurant and on my walk home I [texted], 'It was so nice to meet you, you're beautiful, I'd like to get to know you more if you have any free time coming up I'll make time for you.' She's like, 'You want to go out this weekend?' I said, 'Sure.'"

John Cena was first spotted spending time with Shay Shariatzadeh in March 2019

Cena was first spotted spending time with Shariatzadeh in March 2019. Their relationship began roughly one year after Cena and his ex-fiancee, Nikki Bella, called off their wedding just weeks before they were scheduled to tie the knot in 2018.

When did John Cena propose Shay Shariatzadeh? 

Cena told the talk show host that he decided to propose after just one year of dating while speaking with Stern about Shariatzadeh. "And I would have done it in three months," he said of when he knew he wanted to marry her. "It might have been a little weird, yes. I don't want to speak for her, but she didn't say no when I asked," he added.

The couple got engaged sometime after Cena finished filming his 2021 movie 'The Suicide Squad.'