10 Wrestlers John Cena Couldn't Get Over

5. Kevin Federline

Tensai John Cena
WWE.com

The irony here is that the one guy nobody wanted to get get over, John Cena actually put over.

Kevin Federline was not a wrestler. He wasn't strictly anything, really, except a minor celebrity by virtue of his marriage to Britney Spears. Because of his very poor rap career, WWE wagered that involving him in John Cena's programme with Umaga would project Fed's limited mainstream renown onto the feud. This culminated in an actual match involving the two, on the 1 January 2007 episode of Raw. Thanks to an assist by the Samoan Bulldozer, the crap-rapper sensationally earned the pin - something few up-and-comers would ever have the privilege of experiencing.

This was a failure on so many levels. It made Cena look like a chump for getting beaten by a nobody (though he did hit Kev with an FU later that night), and the intrusion simply detracted from any interest in the Umaga feud fans otherwise had. Who was tuning into Raw to watch Kevin flippin' Federline?

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.