John Cena on Thuganomics Gimmick: ‘It would bomb right now’
John Cena is the greatest WWE Superstar on the stick today, and it’s a major reason why he’s been able to be at the top of his game for so long. The man will take your best shot, and he’ll spin it against you. His quick wit was especially captivating when the WWE carried a TV-14 label, but Cena recently spoke about why “The Doctor of Thuganomics” gimmick wouldn’t be nearly as successful today.
At WWE WrestleMania 34, John Cena runs the serious risk of going to the “Show of Shows” as a mere fan. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with that, per se, because if he brings enough beer and beach balls, all will be forgiven (that is, until Cesaro finds out about the beach balls and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin steals all the beer).
Cena has been busy trying to call out the Undertaker every week, but ‘Taker still hasn’t responded. In a desperate attempt to get the Phenom to respond to his challenge on the final Raw before WrestleMania, Cena turned the crowd in his favor to urge the Undertaker to come out and play. It didn’t work.
Some fans wondered if this Cena vs. Undertaker match could have came with a twist. With Kid Rock set to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year, there’s rampant speculation that the Undertaker could appear at WrestleMania as the “American Badass”. A few members of the WWE Universe took things a step further and wondered if Cena could appear as “The Doctor of Thuganomics” again to counter the American Badass.
“The Doctor of Thuganomics” was one of the most savage characters in WWE history. Nobody was spared a lifetime’s worth of insults at Cena’s hands, whether it was Lita, Edge, Kurt Angle, Stephanie McMahon, the Big Show, or even Vince McMahon himself.
However, Cena recently spoke with the Screen Rant, and the topic of conversation was the previous iteration of his character. Cena was definitely entertaining as a loudmouthed white rapper who spared no expense when it came to verbally eviscerating others, but he believes the character wouldn’t work today, specifically because the TV-14 era wouldn’t be appropriate in the WWE’s current environment.
"“You take the tools that you have to fix the problems in front and everybody’s like, hey, would you bring back the rap guy? It would bomb right now. It would bomb. One, because all those punch lines are inappropriate. Especially, for now, they’re not P.G. so if I were to still come out in the outfit, I did, I managed to sneak one in against the Rock. Man, was it difficult to write those lines and I even had to say before I cut the promo, okay, sometimes you have to fight fire with fire so I’m sorry that I have to do this but it’s got to be done.”"
The above quote is just a taste of what Cena told the Screen Rant, and I would highly recommend clicking the link for his full response.
I have to agree with Cena here, even if the Doctor of Thuganomics was easily one of my favorite characters in WWE history. The gimmick just wouldn’t come off today, even if there could be instances where it would work in the context of a feud as a one-off, such as when Cena brought back the savagery in his all-out feud with The Rock.
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It’s a new era in WWE, and there are other ways a superstar can get themselves over and entertain the crowd. I mean, just look at what the likes of the New Day, Elias, Alexa Bliss, The Miz, the Velveteen Dream, and the Fashion Police do each and every week. They don’t need to cross the line in order to be heelish, ridiculous, entertaining, menacing, or just downright hilarious.