Stephanie McMahon's WWE decision that changed John Cena's career explained

John Cena has credited Stephanie McMahon for saving his WWE career by making a bold decision. The Billion Dollar Princess recently opened up about why she did that.

The Franchise Player joined WWE's main roster in 2002. Although his first match against Kurt Angle caught fans' attention, they quickly lost interest in him as he played a generic character. The 48-year-old legend previously recalled being told he was being released before Stephanie McMahon heard him rap on the company's bus.

Speaking on Stephanie's Places, The Billion Dollar Princess disclosed what led her to support the Last Real Champion. She recalled being impressed by him making up a rap about her tuna sandwich on the bus.

"One day, John was freestyling on the WWE bus.. I was blown away when he impromptu rapped for me about the tuna fish sandwich I was eating. I was part of the WWE creative team at the time and thought this talent could be exactly what he needed," Stephanie said.

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Stephanie allegedly convinced then-WWE Chairman Vince McMahon not to fire Cena. The veteran's character was later changed to the Doctor of Thuganomics, and the rest is history.

John Cena tried to become a cop before joining WWE

While working at Gold's Gym earlier in his life, John Cena considered pursuing other jobs as a long-term plan. In his interview with Stephanie's Places, the 48-year-old revealed that he tried to join the police force. However, he failed the CHP exam.

The 17-time world champion then thought about joining the United States Marine Corps:

"So, I chose the Marines because I failed at everything else. I tried to apply my degree and no strength company would take me or fitness company would take me. I tried to be a cop. I failed the CHP exam. I was like, 'Man, I [am] kinda just working at the front desk of Gold's Venice. And that's enough, like, I get to train every day. It's cool. I'm well fed. I'm good. But I gotta think more long-term. Like, what's the next play?' And I wanted to remain physical. I wanted to keep myself in a top-level of performance. I'm like, 'These the Marines, they pretty much seem like they would do that," Cena said.

Right before Cena enlisted in the U.S. Marines, a friend invited him to train with him, which changed his direction and led him to become a wrestler.

Please credit Stephanie's Places and give an H/T to Sportskeeda if you use the above transcription.

About the author

Ahmed Hamdy is an Egyptian journalist with a decade of experience in sports journalism, specializing in pro wrestling and football.

Hamdy kicked off his career as a sports reporter for Al-Ahram Weekly. He then became a producer/reporter for Mal Masr TV program on the Egyptian channel ON TV. In the following years, Hamdy worked as a reporter for several international news outlets, including Deutsche Welle (Germany), As-Safir (Lebanon), and Al-Monitor (U.S.A).

In 2014, Hamdy joined leading Egyptian newspaper Al Masry Al Youm, where he is now a Senior Sports Editor. In addition to all that, the Egyptian also worked as a sports editor for Sport360 and feature writer for Manshoor.com.

Hamdy has covered several sports events throughout the past few years, including WWE's tour in Egypt and the 2019 African Cup of Nations.

The experienced journalist joined Sportskeeda's pro wrestling feature writers team in early 2021. Since then, his work has managed to get millions of reads.

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Edited by Pratik Singh