10 Things We Learned From John Cena On Stephanie McMahon's WWE Show
5. He Knew He Was Sinking “Straight Away”
Given the show's short length, it's no shocker that Stephanie's Places blazed through Cena's pro wrestling training in California and even his work in WWE developmental wing OVW before hitting the main roster. That entire portion of his life and career was condensed into approx 45 seconds, so there wasn't much time to focus on his time as part of a standout class that also included the likes of Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton and Batista.
Shortly after debuting with a bang vs. Kurt Angle in June 2002, Cena started to realise that his character was far too generic. Deep down, he knew that he was struggling almost immediately, and that he “sucked” in-ring to boot. Something had to change. Despite being a young spitfire babyface people were supposed to like, fans were telling him he was rubbish every single night.
What's more, he agreed, but John was more stressed out about having zero direction on-screen. If he could only find a gimmick/hook, he’d feel better about things. That’s when the rap persona saved his skin. It was a chance encounter with Stephanie on a WWE tour bus that changed his fortunes. She was impressed by Cena's rhyming, and asked if he'd like to do some of that on TV.
He then appeared dressed as Vanilla Ice for a SmackDown Halloween party, and the rest is history. Hearing John outright admit that he thought he was on the WWE chopping block is insane. He'd become a made man in the company just a few short years later.