WWE’s “#CenaMonth” celebrating John Cena’s 20th anniversary continues with the latest edition of WWE Playback, which includes Cena reflecting on his official WWE TV debut.
WWE had Cena watch his defeat against WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle on the June 27, 2002 edition of SmackDown, as shown in the video below.
When Cena learned about the bout, he shared what WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon stated.
“I found out at 2:45 in the afternoon that I would be wrestling Kurt Angle,” Cena said. “I had one meeting with Mr. McMahon before this, and I was pushed into his office, and Michael Hayes asked, like, ‘What to we do with this?’ And Mr. McMahon’s first sentence to me, it was a short meeting, he said, ‘Cut his fucking hair!’ And then I was out of the office.”
Cena remembers his debut at Chicago’s Allstate Arena and the crowd’s reaction.
“Man, what an arena to debut in, too,” Cena stated. “The Allstate Arena is loud and outspoken, that is for certain. I did not expect them to know or care who I was, but I think Mr. McMahon’s performance, combined with Kurt’s performance, got them a little interested, but I think it was a little bit more than ‘meh’, which is great.”
Cena continued, “You look back on stuff like this, and I definitely could’ve done better with the idea of Ruthless Aggression and been… uh, embodied it more, rather than just wear boots and tights, which is a rabbit hole we find a lot of ourselves going down. My look will identify my character, which is a bit of it, but it’s also demeanor, and nuance, and all that.”
Cena also mentioned something he would have done differently.
“I think I would embody the words ‘Ruthless Aggression’ more,” he explained. “Like, I came out looking like a normal person, doing normal stuff. The beginning of the match seems to be pretty aggressive and ruthless, and fast. Thank you to Kurt for making me look so good, so quick.”
The legendary Cena provided further unique insight into numerous aspects of the match, as well as discussing why he is appreciative and grateful for the match, among other things.
Cena is scheduled to make his WWE TV return during the June 27 RAW from Laredo, Texas. There is no news yet on what he will be doing that night, but stay tuned to PWMania.com for more.
