10 Amazing WWE WrestleMania Pitches That Never Happened
2. John Cena And Jay-Z’s Rap Battle - WrestleMania XIX
John Cena's first match on the Grandest Stage of Them All was at WrestleMania XX, beating Big Show for the US title before finding his comfortable spot in the main event the very next year. However, Cena’s first WrestleMania appearance was originally something else entirely.
By the time of WrestleMania XIX rolling around, Cena's Doctor of Thuganomics rapping gimmick was well and truly over. WWE wanted to turn this into a draw in itself and it made sense to use this as a spot to bring a mega-star on the show.
The idea was for Cena to have a rap battle with Grammy winning icon Jay-Z, with Fabolous also in Jay's corner. However, things didn’t wind up going ahead due to a clash of commitments just weeks beforehand.
According to Cena, Fabolous pulled out on the day itself whereas the rapper actually tweeted that he doesn’t even remember being asked by the WWE to take part.
The idea got far enough along that Cena had no other plans to pivot to. Instead, the Doctor went ahead with the battlerap on a segment filmed for Sunday Night Heat against cardboard cut-outs of his previously planned opponents.
If Jay-Z had made the show it would have been one of the biggest celebrity gets in WrestleMania history.