John Cena has reflected on his iconic WWE debut against Kurt Angle, calling his portrayal of the “Ruthless Aggression” character his biggest failure. Speaking on The Bill Simmons Podcast, the 17-time World Champion explained that while the slap and the match were effective, his behavior immediately afterward undermined the persona he was trying to establish.
The Setup For The Debut
Cena recalled that his opportunity to debut on SmackDown in June 2002 only came about because The Undertaker was ill. He was thrown into a segment with Kurt Angle at the Allstate Arena (then the Rosemont Horizon), where he famously slapped the Olympic Gold Medalist.
“So here I am, a young whippersnapper, debuting in Chicago because The Undertaker is sick. I get to challenge Kurt Angle to a match on SmackDown in front of a sold out house at the formerly known as the Rosemont Horizon,” Cena said. “The Olympic gold medalist says, ‘What makes you think you can stand out here with anybody else? What do you have that I don’t?’ ‘Ruthless aggression,’ I slap him in the face, that’s aggressive. Then the match we went on to have was pretty ruthless.”
Undermining The Gimmick
Despite the strong start, Cena believes he failed to maintain the character once the bell rang. He pointed out that his reaction to losing the match via roll-up was that of a “good sport” rather than a ruthless competitor.
“But then he won, but with a roll-up pinfall, then the aggressive, ruthless young kid goes ‘Man, you only got me by that much’,” Cena criticized. “This is what I mean by being ready for opportunity, that gimmick, those two words, that personality, I could either lean into being aggressive and ruthless – we all have an idea in our head of what is ruthless and what is aggression – or I could do a 180 and be passive aggressive.”
The Mistake With The Undertaker
Cena highlighted a specific backstage segment with The Undertaker later that night as the moment the character truly fell flat. In the segment, The Undertaker shook Cena’s hand, and Cena reacted with admiration rather than the attitude the gimmick required.
“The next thing they did was a backstage taping with The Undertaker, where the ruthless, aggressive kid is so starry-eyed that The Undertaker is giving him advice, shakes The Undertaker’s hand, that is neither ruthless nor aggressive,” Cena explained.
Lacking The Technical Ability To Compensate
Cena admitted that at the time, he did not have the in-ring prowess to overcome the character inconsistencies. He feels he was handed a perfect introduction but failed to understand the assignment.
“I was neither, and I didn’t have the technical ability of my peers,” Cena stated. “They gave me this beautiful moment on a silver platter, no one told me it was an attitude, but I didn’t take advantage of it.”
Cena’s final opponent for his retirement match at Saturday Night’s Main Event will be decided tonight on Friday Night SmackDown. Gunther and LA Knight are set to collide in the finals of the “Last Time Is Now” tournament, with the winner earning the right to face Cena in Washington, D.C., on December 13.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit The Bill Simmons Podcast with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. You can listen to the full interview on The Ringer podcast network.
