Before adopting the ever-present jorts and trucker caps that have defined his image for over thirteen years, Cena was just an animated guy in bicycle shorts and regular boots, memorably debuting against Kurt Angle in June 2002. He quickly fell into a feud with Jericho, who had been migrating back toward the midcard since his WWE Championship loss at WrestleMania 18. Jericho would later claim that he offered to put fresh-out-of-the-box Cena over at Vengeance 2002, and really put the screws to Vince McMahon, convincing him to let him have his way. Cena's initial push didn't last too long beyond Cena's clean victory, but at least Jericho gave him a concrete win on pay-per-view as part of a solid foundation.
Justin has been a wrestling fan since 1989, and has been writing about it since 2009. Since 2014, Justin has been a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine. Justin also writes for History of Wrestling, and is a contributing author to James Dixon's Titan series.
