“What makes you think you can walk out to the ring and face the very best in the business,” Kurt Angle mocked a young wrestler with weird hairdo. “Ruthless aggression,” the kid replied followed by a punch to Angle’s face. Ladies and gentlemen, John Cena had arrived.

Almost 17 years after his debut, John Cena is a 16-time WWE world champion, a feat shared by legendary Ric Flair. During his illustrious career, John Cena has held multiple championships including United States Championship and Tag Team Championship. He is also two-time Royal Rumble winner.

John Cena is credited for helping WWE transition from the “Attitude Era” to more children-friendly “PG Era”. With baton passed to Roman Reigns, Cena is now a part-timer and makes sporadic appearances on WWE events. The 42-year-old Cena, however, still looks energetic and ready to deliver 5-star classic matches or pushing young talent over whenever required.

The debut

On SmackDown episode that aired on June 27, 2002, John Cena made his official WWE debut against Kurt Angle. Cena had an impactful debut. Angle had to make an effort to pin the debutante. Interestingly enough, Angle pinned Cena without his orthodox Angle Slam. Shortly after the match, Cena had earned then champion UnderTaker’s respect.

Master of Thuganomics

In his early WWE stint, Cena turned into “Dr. of Thuganomics” as a freestyle rapper. As a villain, he insulted and mocked his opponents through rhymes. Some of his promos were extremely funny. He also coined new finishing moves like F-U, a spinoff of Brock Lesnar’s F-5. Despite a heel character, people cheered for the Dr. of Thuganomics. It’s still one of the most famous heel characters in WWE.

Superman mode

Cena is often crictised for his Superman” like persona. Shedding the image of Doctor of Thugonomics, Cena started promoting “Hustle, Loyalty and Respect.” While people initially loved the new good boy image but a big section of crowd started booing him. Cena will initially lose the match only to bounce back at the last minute to secure victory. Still, crowd chants “John Cena Sucks” with his entrance theme.

The elusive heel turn?

John Cena hasn’t had many different personas in WWE. With his character hitting saturation for some time, Cena has hinted at turning heel several times. At WrestleMania 35, Cena brought back his “Doctor of Thuganomics” character when interrupting Elias’ promo. Will this be a regular?

First Published: Apr 23, 2019 13:32 IST