Though it may be hard to recall now, as he's since gone on to have one of the greatest in-ring careers in WWE history and has all but locked up a spot on the promotion's Mount Rushmore, you wouldn't know it by the way John Cena debuted all the way back in 2002, as his proclamation of “Ruthless Aggression” to Kurt Angle left fans wondering what in the heck he had going on between the ears.
Now, to Cena's credit, he was able to rebound in a major way, crafting compelling characters that befuddled fans for completely different reasons on the way to a guaranteed Hall of Fame caliber career, but even now, when discussing his career on a macro level, he still gets asked about his premortal stats as the “Prototype,” as was the case in his interview with Chris Van Vliet promoting Ricky Stanicky.
Asked what advice he would give to a younger Cena from 20 years ago, “The Face That Runs the Place” laid it out simply: he needed to make people believe in the gimmick he was portraying.
“I think the things that they share in common are gratitude, grit, perseverance, and humility. I think the difference is the younger version lacks self-worth, and the younger version lacks wisdom. So John Cena in 2002 gets to go out and fight Kurt Angle under the impression of two words, Ruthless Aggression. It was a failure because I was neither ruthless nor aggressive, and I wasn't able to see the opportunity. My blinders were, you're getting a chance to go out there, do everything you can, and show them you can wrestle,” John Cena told Chris Van Vliet via Fightful.
“No, I was given a golden ticket and a gimmick. Ruthless Aggression, and sure, I wasn't ready. The match was at the last second because Undertaker was sick. So the gear doesn't match, but neither did the attitude at all. Like sportsmanship and grateful, especially after I slapped the guy, I should have been doing more in the match to gouge out an eyeball, or rip at his tights, or be the exact opposite of ruthless aggression. Be a pacifist, whatever it is, but I didn't dive into the opportunity I was given. I just went out there to do stunts. Even the handshake thing with The Undertaker, somebody who's ruthlessly aggressive would have slapped him like he slapped Kurt Angle and now you're like, ‘Who the f**k is this guy’, but I didn't understand because I had blinders on about what the business is about. Now, I love to go to NXT because everybody has a different personality. I was like, ‘What would I do? Have you ever thought about this idea’, but people are thinking the same way I was, that I just want to go out and do these moves. Man, you need that, but you got to also get them to believe.”
While his initial “Ruthless Aggression” gimmick didn't really work, Cena stuck it out and eventually landed on ones that did, with the “Doctor of Thuganomics” and “You Can't See Me” becoming staples of WWE television for years. That determination, when coupled with his improved confidence, is largely why he will go down as a WWE all-timer.
John Cena still considers himself a WWE Superstar first.
Elsewhere in his appearance on Insight, John Cena was asked how he views himself in 2024, as a professional wrestler or an actor. On paper, the answer feels fairly simple, right? Cena has been acting far more often than wrestling over the past half-decade and when he does get into the squared-circle, he largely spends the time talking about how his career is almost over.
And yet, after spending 20 years in WWE, Cena still feels connected to his roots and considers himself a wrestler first and foremost.
“I don't think I'll ever not be a member of the WWE family first. So, to answer that question in my perspective, the switch has never happened,” John Cena explained. “You know me. I always speak fondly of WWE in my time and experience there. I can't tell you how much the audience has made me the man I am today. Having to deal with all the polarizing audiences, we've seen a lot of performers not be able to do that and to have to do that for so long, it teaches you about you and you really go through a journey of self-worth. So I don't think I'll ever not be WWE family first.”
As fans are learning now with the return of The Rock, if a former Superstar wants to come back to the promotion, they usually can with full support from both the crowd and the boys in the back. Even if Cena becomes the biggest actor in the world, overcoming Dwayne Johnson and all others to become the top box office draw, there will always be a spot in the WWE Universe for the Boston-born Superstar, so why bite the hand that feeds in favor of looking like an acting hipster?
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