WWE continues to celebrate “#CenaMonth” for John Cena’s 20th anniversary as the latest episode of WWE Playback features Cena looking back at his official TV debut for the company.
As seen in the video below, WWE had Cena watch his loss to WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle on the June 27, 2002 edition of SmackDown.
Cena revealed when he found out about the match, and what WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon said.
“I found out at 2:45 in the afternoon that I would be wrestling Kurt Angle,” Cena recalled. “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 recalled debuting at the Allstate Arena in Chicago and how the crowd reacted.
“Man, what an arena to debut in, too,” Cena said. “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 also commented on one thing he might’ve done different.
“I think I would embody the words ‘Ruthless Aggression’ more,” he said. “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.”
Cena later 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.”
The legendary Cena gave more unique insight into various parts of the match, and talked about why he’s thankful and grateful for the match, and more. You can see the full episode below.
Cena is scheduled to return to WWE TV during the June 27 RAW from Laredo, Texas. There is no word yet on what he will be doing that night.
Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more. You can see the full WWE Playback episode with Cena below:
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