10 Things WWE Fans Need To Know About Brock Lesnar & John Cena's History

8. Their WWE Debuts Were Three Months Apart

The careers of Lesnar and Cena are so parallel that even their debuts were only within three months apart of each other. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPdETJuYYBE Lesnar's television debut was on the March 18, 2002 edition of Raw, which was the night after WrestleMania 18. He showed up to destroy the likes of Al Snow, Maven and Spike Dudley. It was very impressive watching Lesnar destroy Spike with three consecutive Powerbombs in a row while Paul Heyman encouraged him from ringside. Jim Ross wondered what it meant on commentary. It meant a new star was born. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10ivQ3ogO1M The debut of Cena happened on the June 27, 2002 edition of Smackdown against the great Kurt Angle. Kurt issued an open challenge that was answered by this newcomer named John Cena, who walked to the ring in red tights and red boots. Cena told him his name and that he possessed "ruthless aggression." That was a big WWE saying at the time. They had a competitive match that Angle won, but Cena was very impressive in his debut. That same year also saw the debuts of other future main eventers in Randy Orton and Batista as well. Clearly WWE was looking towards the future knowing that Steve Austin and The Rock were both winding down as the guys that were carrying the company.