Kevin’s Random Reviews: The Rise of John Cena Part One

The Rise of John Cena
WWE Network Collection | Part One

It’s my second foray into the world of the WWE Network Collections section. Last time, I watched the one for Trish Stratus and Lita. This time, I take a look at John Cena’s rise from Mr. RUTHLESS AGRESSION to the top of the company. Now, this won’t feature the matches from after he started having consistently great performances, but it’ll be interesting to see flashes from his earlier days. As with the other collections, I’m only doing the matches, but will note the segments. There are eighteen things included, so I’ll cut part one off after nine.

It Starts With A Prototype | UPW When Worlds Collide | Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana, CA | 3/14/01
CW Anderson vs. The Prototype
Ah, so this starts even before RUTHLESS AGGRESSION. I always liked CW in ECW, so this is kind of cool. CW got overpowered early, so he went to work on the arm. Classic CW. The arm work was methodical and used to wear down the future WWE Champion. Prototype turned it around a bit by dropping CW onto a chair in a modified low blow. CW’s spinebuster got the best pop of the match. Prototype responded with the Proto Bomb to win in 6:33. Nothing special, but fun to see the early days of Cena. [*½]

A Rivalry Begins | OVW TV | Davis Arena in Louisville, KY | 1/19/02
The Prototype vs. Randy Orton
A rivalry I wish never happened. Jim Cornette was on commentary. This was Randy Orton’s farewell from OVW, though Cena would join him on the WWE roster by the summer. A fan chanted “boring” while the guys moved at a quick pace. Prototype has awful hair here. He took a funny bump on a DDT and the fans were firmly behind Orton. Orton missed a big flying cross body and took the Proto Plex to lose in 4:47. They kept it short, which was for the best. Neither guy seemed ready. [*½]

An Early Taste of Gold | OVW TV | Davis Arena in Louisville, KY | 2/23/02
OVW Championship: Leviathan [c] vs. The Prototype
I love WrestleMania 26. Before the match, commentary recapped the previous week. Prototype cut a promo about David Flair, saying Ric would want to adopt him as the “perfect son” when this match was over. Then, Prototype vs. David was joined in progress a week ahead of Prototype’s title match. Flair won via rollup to score his first TV win in an upset. That was followed by clips of how dominant Leviathan had been. By the way, Leviathan is Batista, for those unaware. Prototype entered this with just the loss to David Flair under his belt, but mostly got dominated by the champion. Ha, Cornette said Leviathan only had two career losses and they were to Kane and VAL VENIS. Prototype resorted to underhanded tactics to turn the tide. He used a briefcase as a weapon, but it got no sold. Their managers brawled outside, allowing someone to sneak in use the dreaded ETHER on Leviathan after he hit a powerbomb. Prototype put his arm over and got the three count in 7:09. Better than the other matches, but it dragged as they were still learning. Not bad though. [**]

A Ruthless Debut | Smackdown | Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL | 6/27/02
John Cena vs. Kurt Angle
The infamous segment. Kurt Angle cut a promo where he challenged anyone who he never faced before. The dumb fans chanted for “Rocky.” John Cena made his debut to answer, coming out to the “Beautiful People” Smackdown theme. Why does he think he can face Kurt? Because of RUTHLESS AGGRESSION. With a slap and a tackle, the match was on. Lots of fire from Cena right from the start. Cena countered the Ankle Lock, but ate a German to stall his momentum. Kurt took over, with Cena only getting stuff in out of desperation. He nailed a huge spinebuster for two. Arn would be proud. Cena got several more near falls before Kurt put him in a chicken wing and rolled over into a pin to win in 5:38. Hell of an effort from Cena. There was almost no personality behind it (yet), yet he showed loads of potential. Being in there with the best certainly helped. [**½]

They kept the post-match segment where a bunch of guys backstage put Cena’s effort over. Including the Undisputed Champion, the Undertaker.

No Respect Intended | Smackdown | Fleet Center in Boston, MA | 7/4/02
Chris Jericho vs. John Cena
It’s just a week later and Cena’s against another former WWE Champion. Cena’s generic shorts were a strange look. Again, Cena brought a lot of fire and energy to his bursts of offense. When he had to sell, it didn’t work nearly as well. I got a kick out of his overly giddy Stinger Splash. Jericho nearly got the Walls on, but had it countered into a small package for a great near fall. Jericho survived a spinebuster and stole the win with his feet on the ropes after hitting the flash back at 5:07. Another good outing by Cena. I liked how he showed flashes again, but was beaten by the cagey vet. Interestingly, this would be Jericho’s only TV win over Cena in history. [**¾]

Breaking Down The Walls | Vengeance | Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, MI | 7/21/02
Chris Jericho vs. John Cena
After their TV match on 7/4, Jericho offered a handshake ,only to ambush Cena. That backfired and led to this match, which marks the PPV debut of Cena. They met again a few days before this, with Jericho getting himself DQed. Jericho went to use a chair during Cena’s entrance, but got overpowered. For a guy who was Undisputed Champion at the start of the year, Jericho sure had trouble with young Cena. It forced him to resort to cheap tactics throughout. The best spot came when Jericho caught a leaping Cena with a great dropkick. He tried the same cheap pin from SD, but failed. Jericho hit the Lionsault and instead of covering, talked trash. He wanted to sue the Walls. However, Cena countered it into a small package for the first of many, many PPV wins in 6:21. About as good as their SD match. It followed a similar story, except that Jericho got too cocky and it cost him. [**¾]

A Different Set of Skills | Smackdown | Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, MI | 10/31/02
Ah, the night it all changed for Cena. At a Smackdown Halloween party, he dressed as some kind of Vanilla Ice and went around rapping various things at everyone, including Smackdown General Manager Stephanie McMahon. It’s short, but was the thing that made people see there was more to him than white meat babyface. From there, he got rocketed to the moon.

Challenging the Next Big Thing | Various Smackdown Episodes
With his rapper gimmick in full swing, this was a series of promos and vignettes that Cena cut in effort to call out Brock Lesnar. If you enjoyed this incarnation of Cena, it’s worth a look as some of his lines were quite funny.

Battling the Beast | Backlash | Worcester Centrum in Worcester, MA | 4/27/03
WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar [c] vs. John Cena
Fresh off a WrestleMania win where he regained the WWE Title, Brock Lesnar gave John Cena his first crack at the top prize. Though this match was in Cena’s home state, to draw heat he wore a Yankees jersey. Brock threw Cena around like the midcarder he was at the time. Michael Cole mentioned that Cena wouldn’t get it. We’d go on to hear that a ton for the next decade plus. Cena tried using a chair, which I’d be okay with, but it was dumb because the referee was watching. That would get you DQed in a title match. However, sending Brock into the steel steps works better. Brock got busted open, adding to the visuals of the match. Brock sold being in trouble rather well. There was a great shot of Cena holding Brock in a rear naked choke, with Brock’s blood dripping down Cena’s arm. Brock powered out, leading to some awkward exchanges. Cena got stopped from using his chain as a weapon and Brock hit the F5 to retain in 15:14. Another solid match that didn’t really hit the next level. It was clear that Cena wasn’t ready yet, but he did well in his first title shot. It’s good that it took two more years before they put the title on him. [**¾]

5.0

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

Yea, this went how I expected. The appeal of John Cena wasn’t in his ring work early on. Most of his early stuff was just a ton of raw potential and nothing more. That’s what we got here. If you’re a Cena fan, it’s a cool look back at his early days.