8 Wrestlers Who Saved Their WWE Careers (By Being Awesome At Something Else)
7. John Cena - Rapping
John Cena was floundering as the voice—not the face—of the ‘Ruthless Aggression’ Era in 2002.
He fit the visual remit of a WWE Superstar—he was not initially billed as the ‘Prototype’ by coincidence—and while he could talk, he didn’t do so with much personality. His gimmick was that of a plucky upstart, which only works at the beginning of one’s career. His wasn’t a persona but rather the manifestation of Mr. McMahon’s value range ‘Dawn of the Attitude Era’ announcement, and after a hot introduction in which he took John Cena to the limit, by October 2002, he found himself amid a bland, grunting heel turn in a 50/50 nothing series with Kidman.
The trajectory of his career, and indeed the company, changed when Cena unleashed his freestyle rap skills on a tour bus in earshot of Stephanie McMahon. Impressed, this compelled WWE to develop his star-making ‘Doctor of Thuganomics’ character. He got it over big; Cena could rap well, in as much as pro wrestlers can act well. He wasn’t about to grab Jay-Z’s throne, or anything, but then, Shawn Michaels wasn’t going to get an Oscar nod over Daniel Day-Lewis.
Cena’s natural charisma erupted in the role. The booming call-and-responses and cool factor convinced WWE to strap the rocket to him, and Cena very quickly became a hero to millions of young children after proclaiming his flow to be “sicker than AIDS patients”.