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Was John Cena Funny Hosting ‘SNL’?

By Rob Wolkenbrod

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Did John Cena succeed as host of “SNL” on Saturday, December 10?

On December 10, John Cena starred as the host of NBC’s “SNL” for one night. This would be his first go-around in this role, something that played off the acting gigs he has received praise for over the past 1-2 years. It’s all while he has performed as a WWE Superstar, albeit on a part-time basis at this point in his career.

Well, Cena’s hosting duties would come and go on Saturday night. He did a handful of skits, some of which were funny, while others were not. Did any of them touch on wrestling? Were any of them sports-related?

Trolling Alabama

Probably Cena’s best skit of the night saw him troll Alabama’s football program. He had to take part in a college class with two others who were seemingly presenting their science experiments. Cena played the “dumb jock” role and pulled it off well by using the deep, movie-like voice that you hear athletes speak in. He used it well as he described the “complexity” of his experiment, which seemed to be the stages of a banana as it ripens.

This came around the quarter point of the show, which seemed to have some of the Face That Runs the Place’s best work. He had a few more positives along the way, including being Rob Gronkowski on a show about athletes trying to save money.

John Cena as Sammy Knox

One segment saw John Cena play the role of Sammy Knox, someone who took on the Karate Kid. He used an ironically wimpy voice as he towered over his scrawnier opponent, and it worked well. It wasn’t bad or great, but it had its moments.

Those Final Two Segments

If you tuned out of the final two segments with Cena, it wouldn’t have been the worst thing. This saw Cena with an owl that started vomiting and as a Fabio-esque employee for a bookstore. Both didn’t do much to show off Cena’s comedic skills and was something you could have avoided watching. It ended his night on a bit of a low note.

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Where’s the Wrestling?

From the promos used to hype Cena hosting the show, it seemed wrestling heavy. From the “Unexpected Cena” memes, to him dressed in his wrestling gear, it looked like “SNL” would touch on his wrestling career throughout the 90-minute show.

More from WWE

Well, in the opening segment, Cena focused plenty on his WWE career, mostly due to other “SNL” cast members interfering. They all wanted to fight him in their own personas, until Cena got so fed up that he wanted to fight Keenan Thompson. This play at his main job came off well and wasn’t anything too heavy about it. However, this would be the only time wrestling got brought up throughout the show.

While staying away from wrestling could have been either Cena not wanting to harp on it much, it seems like making at least one joke about what he does in the ring could have been made. A short skit could have worked too. It seemed like a given to fit into the other 80 minutes of the show, but not once did anyone reference the squared circle. Did it take away from Cena being funny or not? No, but there seemed to be a missed opportunity to take a jab or two at the profession.

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Did you think John Cena was funny on “SNL”?

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