Wiseman Zondi

Editor’s Note: I’ll be reviewing the career of John Cena through various signature matches he’s had. I’m trying to create a career narrative for the Greatest of All Time – let’s go!

It is October 2003. John Cena is a cocky young upstart who raps obscenely about his opponents & who sees himself as “an American icon”. Funnily enough, he sees himself as more of an American icon than a man who won a gold medal for the U.S with a “broken freakin’ neck”, Kurt Angle.

And from the video package, that’s about all the story we got. An interesting wrinkle was the framing of said package – Cena was the star of the package, and Angle seemed to be seen as an antagonist of sorts, despite being the veteran babyface who wants to beat some respect into this young upstart who can’t shut up.

During the match, the crowd goes LET’S GO ANGLE! before erupting into LET’S GO CENA! and the crowd almost fighting with itself over who the face of the match is. With those elements, it was clear that Cena was about to turn face. His act was gaining steam with the fans, and he was too cool to boo. In the match, I got to see why. 

Cena performs this entire match with a self-assured swagger that radiates through his every movement. The stomps, the wicked clotheslines that would form part of Cena’s moveset going forward, the intense look on his face that never goes away.. it all tells the story of an arrogant cocky young upstart who’s just so hungry, and so confident in his hunger, that one can’t help but see him as a star in the making.

Angle gave Cena a good chunk of the match to show off what he could do, and Cena delivered. We saw a glimpse of what would be core elements of the John Cena in-ring product: inconsistent selling/forgetting to sell. Clunky unorthodox movements that one couldn’t help but enjoy seeing nonetheless. The “finisher – kickout – into the other person’s finisher – kickout” sequence that would be a staple of so many Cena main event matches. 

Ultimately, Cena gets his padlock chain from the corner, the ref throws it out, Cena gets Angle’s gold medal & hits him with his own memorabilia for a kickout. Soon after, Angle counters into an Ankle Lock. He grapevines, and Cena taps out for an Angle victory. 

Great match which highlighted Cena’s impeccable character work and ability to go toe-to-toe with one of the best wrestlers in the world at the time. From watching this, it was clear that Cena was developing the skills that it’d take to be a successful babyface – it might’ve been unknown just how successful he’d end up becoming when he put it all together.

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