Michael Cole acknowledges controversial past name that John Cena had to change

(Pictures Courtesy: WWE on Netflix)
(Pictures Courtesy: WWE on Netflix)

John Cena has had a couple of moves over the years that have either been altered entirely or simply had a slight change. One of those "controversial" past names was acknowledged by Michael Cole on commentary at Wrestlepalooza 2025.

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At Wrestlepalooza, the opening match saw John Cena and Brock Lesnar run it back one last time, with the outcome unfortunately seeing Cena facing a shocking burial at the hands of his old opponent. It was reminiscent of their match against each other at SummerSlam 2025. What was brought up by Michael Cole was the history of Cena's finishing move, the Attitude Adjustment.

What many younger fans may not know is that the Attitude Adjustment used to have a controversial name, the "FU". This was something he called it in the early stages of his career, and it was meant to be a direct shot at Brock Lesnar's F5. Michael Cole acknowledged the history of this name.

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Of course, the Attitude Adjustment is a much more kid-friendly name, and the change happened around the time Cena rose to the top in 2005/06. Similarly, his submission was called the "STFU", which, as you know, is a short form of an insult. That was aptly labeled as the "STF" and has remained that way ever since then.

Ultimately, no amount of "FUs" would be enough to put Lesnar away, as he immediately bounced back to hit multiple F5s himself. It was quite surreal to see them run it back, and it looked like Lesnar hadn't lost a step. However, the match was not a very long one, and it lasted for a little under nine minutes.

The end of the match was an emotional one as the crowd in Indianapolis was quite obviously pro-Cena, but they were heartbroken to see their hero lose to Lesnar.

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Edited by Rohit Nath
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