10 WWE Stars Who Went From Undesirable To Undeniable

The story of John Cena almost not making it beyond his first year on the main roster is WWE folklore by this point.

Arriving on the main roster in the summer of 2002, the sixteen time World Champion was as bland as a create-a-wrestler on a video game, with the express purpose of getting Vince McMahon's 'Ruthless Aggression' branding over. It worked, for a few weeks, but it didn't take long for the dull character to wind up as a Velocity mainstay. Rumour has it, he was for the chopping block before one of the biggest sliding doors moments in wrestling history.

The story goes that Stephanie McMahon heard John Cena freestyling on a WWE bus and was so impressed, she urged him to do it on the Smackdown!, where she was the GM. At the Halloween episode, Cena was dressed as Vanilla Ice, spat some lyrics and it became his gimmick.

'The Doctor of Thuganomics' was born.

An over the top, loud mouth white rapper who wore oversized clocks around his neck and spat disses at his opponents. It caught fire like it was doused in petrol. Within a year, the crowd turned him babyface. Just over another year later and he won the first WWE Heavyweight Championship of his legendary career. The rest is history.

Like the previously mentioned Roman Reigns, the 'Leader of the Cenation Army' was rejected for years by a fanbase that wanted something different, but there is no denying that Cena turned himself into one of the biggest stars the business has ever known.