5 Times WWE Failed John Cena At WrestleMania

3. Keeping Him Off 'Mania XIX's Card

In the Spring of 2003, few young WWE stars had as much potential as John Cena. He'd found his niche as a bad-boy rapper and would eventually challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Title post-WrestleMania XIX. It doesn't make sense then that WWE's plan for Cena at 'Mania involved a pre-show "Battle Rap" against cardboard cutouts of Jay-Z and Fabolous.

OK, so the rumoured plan was for both rappers to be there in person, but WWE still could have done a better job of promoting Cena's first ever WrestleMania gig. Finding a pic of Cena at 2003's biggest event is also more difficult than it should be. That's probably because he was left off the main card and plonked onto Heat. Surely, WWE had something better for Cena at 'Mania XIX than this. He was, after all, one of the hottest new faces on the roster, was about to gun for the top title on SmackDown come Backlash, and had shown his chops as a tough-talking heel.

Apparently, a pillow fight involving Torrie Wilson, Stacey Keibler and some girls famous for Miller Lite cat fight commercials deserved the main card screen time more than WWE's future 16-time World Champ.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.