Vince McMahon almost kicked John Cena out of WWE because of his appearance.
After Cena made his impactful debut by slapping Kurt Angle in the face, the 16-time World Champion was struggling to regain the momentum he had after the memorable first match. Cena would however eventually find himself after showing off a hidden talent to a higher-up in the company.
Cena’s dad, John Cena Sr., recalled the early days of the Dr. of Thuganomic’s career while appearing as a guest on Pancakes and Powerslams. Cena Sr. recounted the more well-known tale of how Cena freestyled in front of Stephanie McMahon to breathe new life into his persona:
“I think they were coming back from a show, and he was rapping on the bus. And, Stephanie [McMahon] heard that, and asked if he could do it on TV. And, of course! You know? So, we did it on TV, and I think you saw it. I saw it. It was the Thanksgiving Day thing, where the gimmick was Vanilla Ice. And, from there it just seemed to take off…
What is less well-known is what Vince McMahon thought of the future Hollywood star at the time. The Chairman was under the assumption that Cena was using steroids and was going to fire him before his close advisers told him that those claims were false:
[Bruce Prichard] and Vince [McMahon] were standing [in the locker room] and John walked by. Vince said, ‘we gotta get rid of this dude. I can’t have a steroid freak walking around here.’ [And others said], ‘The guy’s legal. We test him every day, you know, he’s there.’ That’s how it all became, and then, I guess they got down, they sat down, and they worked out the Doctor of Thuganomics.”
Vince McMahon Takes A Step Back
While McMahon was integral in creating Cena’s gimmick and was responsible for the success of the 16-time World Champion, the corporate structure has shifted drastically since then. Following the merger with the Endeavour group, it has been reported that Triple H has been effectively “knighted” as the one overseeing nearly all of the operation and Vince McMahon is no longer believed to be involved in creative.
H/t to Wrestling News.