5 Wrestlers WWE almost fired and 5 they almost hired

#2 WWE almost fired: John Cena

Stephanie McMahon Congratulated John Cena for winning the championship at mania pic.twitter.com/ToHhjBoc4b

— Ashar Shehzad (@GoodAshar) April 9, 2013

16-time World Champion John Cena is one of the biggest and most polarizing Superstars in WWE history. He carried the company throughout the PG era and has put over many up-and-coming stars along the way such as Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and more.

John Cena captured many titles in WWE and had many great matches with a lot of Superstars. If it hadn't been for Stephanie McMahon, however, none of that would've happened. Early on in his career, John Cena was about to be fired by WWE, but Stephanie McMahon didn't let it happen.

Speaking on episode two of the WWE Network's Ruthless Aggression documentary series, Cena revealed that he was told that he was set to be released from his contract in 2002.

"I was told that I would be getting my release in Christmas Cuts, because it just wasn't working. We travel as a community, so we’re all on the same bus. So I heard a bunch of guys sitting at the back of the bus like Rikishi and Rey Mysterio kind of leading the charge and they were all freestyling. And I remember just being like, “Let’s go try this!” Just drove right in, and it was like it resonated with me."

Stephanie McMahon couldn't believe Cena was able to freestyle, so she challenged him to rap about the tuna she was eating.

"In two seconds, I made a small rap about the tuna fish, the jetway, the plane we were about to go on, and the destination and then closed it with a comment about Stephanie. She said, 'Would you like to do this on television?' I said, 'Absolutely'".

Just weeks later, The Doctor of Thuganomics was born and as they say, the rest is history.

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#1 WWE almost hired: Kenny Omega

Omegaman time @KennyOmegamanX #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/k9Bz73O2SD

— All Elite Wrestling on TNT (@AEWonTNT) April 23, 2020

Kenny Omega was a big name in Japanese wrestling and his matches with Kazuchika Okada are considered by many fans and critics to be one of, if not, the best in modern wrestling. Omega also held NJPW's top prize the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

With accomplishments like this, it isn't hard to fathom why WWE was interested in signing him. The company approached him with a contract several times and he turned all of them down, but after leaving NJPW in early 2019, Omega and WWE were in discussion for a deal. The company reportedly gave Kenny Omega a 'fantastic offer' to convince him to sign.

The Best Bout Machine, however, signed a four-year contract with AEW instead as a wrestler and an EVP. Omega revealed that he was considering joining WWE, but AEW offered him something that WWE couldn't, which was creative control.

“I had always felt when I had full creative control of my own person and own ideas that I could be the true me and show my full potential. I was actually considering going there earlier in the year, but AEW just seemed right for me. I always get really excited at the idea of having full creative control and just doing new things.”

Omega is currently signed to AEW, but in professional wrestling, anything can happen. We might see him in WWE in the future.