WWE tough guy John Cena thinks South Korean boy band BTS is dynamite.
And the admiration is mutual, it turns out.
The incongruous pairing was revealed during an interview Tuesday on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” — the late-night host’s first in-person chat since the coronavirus sidelined his 30 Rockefeller Center studio last spring.
Cena’s appearance was perfectly timed to coincide with BTS’ virtual weeklong “residency” on the show, including performances of their songs “Idol,” “Home” and their latest hit, “Dynamite.”
“I love what this band has done,” an effusive Cena, 43, told Fallon, 46, while praising both the “Dynamite” singers’ rapping skills and their messaging.
“I got interested in the music, and then I got interested in what the music stood for. They advocate self-love, they advocate, ‘Don’t be afraid of failure,’ they advocate that you are enough. They kind of are trying to shatter all the stereotypical difficulties and uncomfortable situations that we go through. And they are catering to an audience that is living that: young people.”
Cena also lauded BTS for donating $1 million to the Black Lives Matter movement over the summer — resulting in a matching donation by their “global army” of fans — following the death of George Floyd, a black Minneapolis man killed by a white police officer in May.
“That’s work and that’s purpose. And that’s f - - king changing the world,” he said. “That is impressive.”
The K-pop stars “floored” Cena when they told Fallon that they would love to meet the pro wrestling champ. That revelation “stopped my heart,” said Cena, who continued to heap praise on them.
“How they conduct themselves as human beings and the message they send to the world? Man, that’s something special,” he said.
Cena previously opened up about his fanboy status last January during an appearance on “The Late Late Show With James Corden,” in which he joked that he tried out to be their bodyguard but didn’t make the cut. He also shared his jealousy of Corden’s other guest, actress January Jones, who once met BTS — and had a photo taken with them — even though she had no idea who they were at the time.
“You are so lucky,” the envious action star told her, adding that band members RM and J-Hope are his favorites in the seven-member group.