Stephanie McMahon has revealed the behind-the-scenes moment that launched John Cena’s iconic Doctor of Thuganomics persona.
In a candid interview with WWE before Survivor Series: WarGames, McMahon shared the famous tuna fish freestyle story that helped transform Cena from a struggling rookie into a cultural phenomenon.
McMahon recalled that early in Cena’s career, WWE knew he had potential but couldn’t quite identify what would connect him with audiences.
I remember when he first started. And I remember always thinking he had something, you know? He always seemed to have something, but we couldn’t quite figure out what it was. It wasn’t registering yet with the audience.
The turning point came during a European tour. McMahon was on a plane eating a packet of tuna fish when she decided to test something she had heard about the young wrestler.
I was eating the bag of tuna fish. And he was walking by and I said, ‘John, I was told that you can rap.’ And he goes, ‘I can.’ And I said, ‘Well do it.’ And he goes, ‘What, right now?’ And I said, ‘Yes.’ And he started rapping about my tuna fish.
McMahon was immediately impressed.
It was so good and clever and smart and like, had a good beat to it. I mean, it was so impressive. And I said, ‘John, have you ever thought about doing this on television?'
She was careful to credit Cena for developing the character that followed. “It wasn’t like, oh, I had this great idea and suddenly he was the Doctor of Thuganomics. That’s all him. But I was, I guess, the first person to support him actually doing that on television.”
Looking back on Cena’s rise, McMahon reflected on what it means to see talent connect with audiences.
It’s just the best feeling in the world to watch our talent rise, you know? And nobody rose higher than John Cena.
