The story behind WWE star John Cena's 'Abdulmalik' Instagram post

How one of wrestling's biggest stars paid tribute to a Saudi Arabian graphic designer

Saudi Arabian graphic artist Abdulmalik Ali Al-Muwizri was honoured in an Instagram post by John Cena. Sarah Dea / The National 

John Cena’s Instagram is as bizarre as they come, with random images regularly posted without context or seeming relevance to him.

On Monday morning, fans may have noticed an obscure post from the former WWE champion, which simply showed the name “Abdulmalik.” It was a puzzling moment for most of his followers, but for one of them, it was a moment to celebrate.

That Abdulmalik refers to Abdulmalik Ali Al-Muwizri, a Saudi Arabian graphic designer who has been a fan of wrestling since childhood. He is known on social media for the striking works he has created, inspired by some of professional wrestling's biggest names.

It all started on Sunday night, when Cena reposted one of Al-Muwizri's images showing WWE wrestler R-Truth in costume as "Peacemaker" – the character Cena will play in the coming film The Suicide Squad.

The image is a play on R-Truth's shtick, in which he says “Cena is his childhood hero” – despite being six years older than Cena. Al-Muwizri, 23, just figured it would be a funny thing to put together.

However, despite the excitement of having his image shared, there was one thing missing: credit to Al-Muwizri for his work. His watermark had been cropped off, meaning that no one would know it was his piece.

Even though Cena is one of WWE's biggest stars, the designer wasn't going to let him get away with not crediting the artwork. He commented under the post, asking to be tagged and for proper credit. He even jokingly stated he would start a "Cena sucks" chant during one of his matches if he didn't.

At first, Al-Muwizri worried his appeal would fall on deaf ears, and some people suggested he should be happy the image was shared at all.

“Unfortunately, this happens to me all the time," he says. "I thought I could become accustomed to it as I’ve designed now for years. My work gets stolen all the time, but sometimes it hits me big when someone like John Cena reposts it without your logo."

However, just a few hours later, Cena posted a newly cropped and zoomed in close-up photo of his watermark, which just read “Abdulmalik”.

"I was shocked and speechless," Al-Muwizri tells The National. "I saw one of my friend's notifications and I thought it was him telling John to tag me on his post because I read it too fast. But then when I opened Instagram and saw that John actually posted my logo in a [standalone] post, I was full of every expression you could think of," he says. "I was shocked that he did it, but at the same time I was so happy."

But that wasn’t even the best part. Cena also took time to personally send a direct message to Al-Muwizri. While he won't reveal what it said  exactly, he said the message was “beautiful, motivating and sincere”. Cena also explained that the photo had first come to him with the watermark cropped off and he wasn't originally aware it was missing.

Al-Muwizri said he was so touched by the message, he is planning to create a new artwork piece in tribute to the 16-time WWE world champion.

"I want to thank Cena so very much for what he did. You might think someone in his position wouldn't even pay attention to me, but you can see that he wouldn't have made it as a megastar without being humble," he says.

“It must be one of the top moments ever in my career," he adds. "To fight so hard for what I deserve and almost break down, to at the last minute being given the biggest reward possible from the biggest star in the world, who also turned out to be one of the nicest people.”