5 Things John Cena does better in 2018 than in 2002 and 5 things he does worse

On the 25 June 2002 taping of SmackDown, Kurt Angle issued an open challenge for anybody in the locker room to face him in a match. After a short delay, some generic music hit, an unknown rookie made his way to the ring, and the WWE Universe was introduced to John Cena for the very first time.

Angle asked the youngster to name one quality he possessed that made him think he had what it took to hang with the best in the business, to which Cena famously replied, “Ruthless aggression!” before slapping his opponent in the face.

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The two went on to have an impressive five-minute match, which Angle won via a unique pinfall, and the man we now know as “Big Match John” was later congratulated on his performance backstage by locker-room leader The Undertaker.

Fast forward 16 years and Cena has broken multiple WWE records, becoming one of the most well-known wrestlers of all time in the process, but there are still sections of fans who preferred his character a lot more when he first started out.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at five things that the 16-time world champion does better as a WWE Superstar in 2018 than in 2002 and five things he does worse.

#10 Worse in 2018: WWE schedule

In 2008, full-time WWE Superstar John Cena criticised The Rock for claiming to love the wrestling business when, at the same time, he would disappear from WWE television for long spells and spend most of his time making movies.

Ten years later and, ironically, who now finds himself disappearing from WWE television for long spells and spending most of his time making movies? Cena, of course.

In fairness, he has since admitted that his comments about The Rock were “stupid”, but that doesn’t change the fact that his WWE schedule is a lot lighter now than it was when he debuted in 2002.