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Watch: Revisiting John Cena's Iconic WWE Debut 22 Years Later
John Cena made his debut in the WWE on this day 22 years ago. Know what Cena has to say about it, and what is that one thing he regrets about his debut.
John Cena made his WWE debut exactly on June 27, 22 years ago. It was against Kurt Angle, the Olympic gold medalist who was a big name in WWE. Cena had emerged from backstage in response to Kurt Angle’s challenge.
Staring into Angle’s eyes, Cena called himself “ruthless and aggressive” as he went on to slap the former WWE Champion. They both squared off then, but within ten minutes of the match, Cena’s charm fizzled out, and the crowd knew that another jobber was on the cards.
However, Cena knew where he was wrong and so he worked on it. Within the next two years, he had established himself as one of the biggest faces in the company. Years later, Cena talked about his match and possibly the thing which he regrets to this date.
What does Cena regret about his debut?
Speaking on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast, Cena said that his ruthlessness and aggression weren’t going to work because he couldn’t show it in the ring.
“So when I come out and I slap Kurt Angle in the face and say, ‘Ruthless Aggression,’ everybody’s like, ‘Great!’ And then ten minutes into that match, one of the rowdiest buildings in the world, The Rosemont Horizon, everybody’s like this [mimics silent and bored face.] And that... I… It just wasn’t going to work,” Cena said.
He mentioned that he needed to believe and convince himself first, and then the audience would have connected with him. He said that he understood it later and applied it. Cena confessed that the audience didn’t connect with him initially because he didn’t give himself to them.
Cena becomes WWE Champion in 2005
By 2004, John Cena’s rapper-boy gimmick worked, as he defeated Big Show at WrestleMania 20 for the United States Championship. In 2005, he beat JBL to win the WWE Championship, and from then on, he went on to clinch the title 16 times in his career.
When Cena entered the WWE stage, nobody and not even Vince McMahon, would have anticipated that Cena would become the phenom that he is today. It was also the time when The Rock was transitioning to Hollywood, Stone Cold Steve Austin was on the verge of his retirement, Hulk Hogan was in the last leg of his career, and there was probably no face in the company. Triple H was a longtime heel, and Randy Orton and Batista too were on the same path.
Cena recently also teased winning the title for the 17th time, thus breaking WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair’s record. But how and when it will happen is something only Cena knows, as the Cenation leader is currently focusing on his Hollywood career and, in the last few years, has been making only sporadic appearances in WWE.
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