Cena vs. Rock – Cena Goes Old School!

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Wrestlemania Season inspires fond memories like the Holiday Season.  For the fans it’s a time for you to get more excited then any other time of the year.  For the WWE, it’s a time for them to pull out the big guns.  For the wrestling business it’s a chance to shine and remind us why we all love it. Last week, The Rock returned recapturing the imagination of the fans.  The 2/21/11 vignette lead to the return of The Undertaker and Triple H.   And last night on Monday Night Raw, we saw the return of John Cena rapping.

John Cena has been THE guy in WWE since 2005 when he was moved to the RAW brand.  It was in that time period that Cena transitioned away from the rap character into the more modern day version you see today.  John felt to broaden his character he needed to get away from the one-dimensional rap gimmick that grabbed the attention of fans.  I agreed with the decision but like a well planned stipulation match, it has it’s a place for a one-off returns.  Last night on RAW was the time.  Rock had punked out Cena and Cena’s first response was crucial.  This was not PG Cena.  And all those deep base “Cena Sucks” voices were cheering along with him again.

The period that Cena rapped every week on Smackdown in 2002-2003 is a time that showed that patience, consistency and believing in a character paid off.  Before that, Cena would call himself “Johnny Boots and Tights” as the most distinguishable thing about his character was his constantly changing tights based on the city we were in.  It was on an international tour in 2002 where a battle rap on a bus between Cena and another Smackdown talent was heard by Bruce Prichard, Stephanie McMahon, Seth Mates, Paul Heyman and myself.  It wasn’t fireworks going off at the time.  We all didn’t look at each other and say “This is exactly what the WWE needs.”  It was a collective decision to say, “Let’s try it.”  And on a Halloween edition of Smackdown in 2002, we did.

Every week, John would create these raps dissing his opponent.  No matter who it it was.  It was consistent and his momentum built.  There were those on the inside who said “you’re killing this kid with it”.  But the secret to this success was in the hands of John Cena.  I’d suggest a scenario for the rap and he’d go off and create it and then we’d produce it.  In one year, he went from being “Johnny Boots and Tights” to the most talked about newcomer in the WWE.  His matches in 2002 with Brock Lesnar, Undertaker, Eddie Guerrero, and Kurt Angle as a heel got him hot enough for the fans to be clamoring for him to be their hero.

At No Way Out 2003, Cena was scheduled to face Kurt Angle.  Earlier that day, Cena and I went outside to produce this segment to air on the Sunday Night Heat show prior to the pay-per-view.  All I told John was there would be a fan challenging him to rap, the fan would rap John and John was to retort.

John just seized the moment and created something memorable.   Even watching it nearly eight years later, it still is cool to me.  Yeah, it was for a PPV pre-show but it set the tone and showed how much passion he really had.   It was one take and couldn’t have ever been duplicated.  Later that night, it did air on Heat but did not air to the live house.  A discussion with the executive producer revealed he didn’t play it to the arena because “it was too good… would make John too much a babyface live”.  Seems the people already started to make up their mind on that.  The match featured a split audience in Baltimore chanting “Let’s Go Angle… Let’s Go Cena…”  John Cena was turned babyface three weeks later.

John Cena vs. The Rock – simply as a confrontation is one of the great elements WWE has brewing for this years Wrestlemania. We don’t know what we’re going to see and isn’t that the secret to what we want out of wrestling?  To be hyped up for whatever does happen?

Favorite Cena Raps from the 2002-2005 Era

And a personal favorite of mine.  The music video released to promote his album.

David Lagana / IWantWrestling.com

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