5 Superstars Whose WrestleMania Debut Deserves a Do-Over

#2 John Cena

You can't see [how poorly this match was rated by critics at the time]

Cena's unofficial Wrestlemania debut was at Wrestlemania XIX, where he "rap battled" a series of cardboard cutouts of some of the biggest hip-hop superstars of the day (rumor and innuendo would have you believe that some of these men, like Jay-Z, Eminem, and Fabulous, were seriously considered for appearances and were offered considerable sums to battle Cena).

His in-ring debut at WWE's Super Bowl came a year later, as the rapper gimmick had gotten Cena over huge with crowds and propelled him to challenge The Big Show for the United States Championship to open Wrestlemania XX.

Big Show's weight and level of effort have swung through various extremes in his long career; at Wrestlemania XX, the former was at its highest while the latter was low

The match isn't terrible, and the Madison Square Garden crowd is very gracious with their cheers (odd to say that a New York crowd's support of John Cena buoyed a subpar match, when it's usually their disdain for him which threatens to derail a well-worked contest); however, Show was far from mobile at this point, and Cena showed little offense outside his signature moves and a shot with his chain-and-padlock necklace.

It's exactly the match one would expect from Paul Wight in 2004, but not the debut one would expect from the man who defined WWE for the next decade, at least.

Well-received, but John Cena didn't have to do much to get a massive pop at this point in his career

He'd Get It Right When:

At Ford Field in Detroit, MI, in 2007, John Cena and Shawn Michaels closed out WrestleMania 23 with a classic encounter, a huge step in trying to silence many of the "you can't wrestle" doubters. Cena and Show would put on a far better contest as part of a Triple Threat (also featuring Edge) at WrestleMania 25, where Show would be slimmer, balder, and trying much harder.