5 Current stars who would have been great in the Attitude Era

#4 John Cena

It's easy to forget Cena started his rise up the card has a more Attitude-style persona.

John Cena is the poster child for WWE’s PG Era, for his kid-friendly antics and herculean physique that facilitate him coming across as an All-American good guy, superhero type. However, for all of Cena’s success and the degree to which he has defined the WWE product over the last fifteen years, it is worth remembering that he didn’t make his initial rise through the ranks with such a squeaky clean image.

In particular, Cena’s first heel run in WWE was largely defined by his freestyle rap antics which would often skew pretty dirty. Indeed, the big face turn that would ultimately lead him to become the face of WWE was still anchored around a combination of making lewd jokes about his heel opponents and using a steel chain to cheat to win against overwhelming heels like The Big Show.

Cena’s the kind of star who probably could have adapted to thrive in just about any historical period of wrestling. In the Attitude Era, he could have stuck with the skills that ‘brought him to the dance’ and may never have faced the hardcore fan backlash he did for his more wholesome persona.