Published 14:33 IST, February 19th 2020
John Cena believes ‘Ruthless Aggression’ was the biggest MISTAKE of his WWE career
WWE: Recently, John Cena explained why he thinks many people are wrong when they say that he was the biggest superstar of the Ruthless Aggression era.
The Ruthless Aggression Era introduced many superstars. However, John Cena emerged as the face of the company. The Champ won many titles and broke many records in a very short time. However, he still believes that The Ruthless Aggression Era was the biggest mistake of his WWE career. In the recently released Ruthless Aggression documentary series, John Cena explained why he thinks many people are wrong when they say that he was the biggest superstar of that era.
The explosive debut of John Cena
In the 2000s, WWE officials were looking for the next big thing. They were looking into the tapes of their wrestling show which trained new superstars like Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, Batista and many more. While looking at the OVW tapes, WWE head writer Brian Gewirtz became attracted to John Cena. He liked his in-ring skills and promos. Gewirtz called John Cena and took him to Vince McMahon. McMahon signed John Cena and he too saw a lot of talent in the rookie. From then, John Cena started his WWE career and started featuring in live shows. He gave up his OVW name (Prototype) and was called by his own name John Cena. However, his big TV debut was yet to happen.
In 2002, the brand extension came into effect. Shortly after that, Vince McMahon officially referred to the new era as ‘Ruthless Aggression’. Vince McMahon said that he wants someone to grab the opportunity which was being presented to the wrestlers. Three days later in WWE SmackDown, Kurt Angle entered the ring and challenged the WWE roster to show him some 'Ruthless Aggression.'
John Cena made his WWE debut and showcased incredible skills against the Olympian. Though he lost the match, he grabbed a lot of attention. Even The Undertaker shook Cena’s hand after the match.
The biggest bump of John Cena’s career
After his incredible debut, many people started watching WWE SmackDown because of John Cena. However, after some time, John Cena was not able to attract many people. In the documentary, John Cena stated that he was served with an opportunity and he ruined everything. He said that he was not able to create a character and that’s why people started hating him. Fans were not able to relate to John Cena and that’s why they started booing him. Within a few months of his debut, WWE officials called John Cena and said that his contract will be ending in November 2002.
John Cena didn’t say anything because he knew he was not able to attract any fan base. However, during his ‘so-called’ last road trip, John Cena found his persona. John Cena said that he was sitting in the bus next to Stephanie McMahon, thinking of his future. Right then, he heard Rikishi and Rey Mysterio freestyle in the backseat. He joined the two and started freestyling about his WWE career and anything he used to see on the road.
Stephanie McMahon was impressed with John Cena and asked him to freestyle about the tuna she was eating. John Cena freestyled about a can of tuna for almost two-minutes. Stephanie asked Cena whether he would like to freestyle in WWE. John Cena agreed to it. In the Halloween special of WWE RAW, John Cena was seen freestyling and it impressed many. After that, John Cena was introduced as The Doctor of Thuganomics.
The Doctor of Thuganomics persona resonated with the hip-hop generation of the 2000s and attracted a huge fan base. WWE officials liked the new persona of John Cena and extended his contract. After that, John Cena didn’t stop and became the greatest superstar introduced in the Ruthless Aggression era.
Updated 15:09 IST, February 19th 2020