Backstage details on how Vince McMahon created an iconic gimmick revealed (Exclusive)
Jimmy Korderas is one of the most recognizable referees in the history of pro wrestling. The legendary referee worked for WWE from 1987 up until 2009. Jimmy Korderas was recently a guest on Sportskeeda's UnSKripted along with Dr. Chris Featherstone. During the interview, we asked Korderas about John Cena's early days in WWE and whether it was evident early on that he would go on to be one of the faces of the company. We all know the story of Stephanie McMahon spotting John Cena's talent as a rapper. Korderas also described how Vince McMahon got Cena to incorporate it into his character.
Jimmy Korderas on Vince McMahon's role behind John Cena's rapping gimmick
Speaking of John Cena, Korderas said that it was clear early on that Cena had something about him. He went on to talk about how John Cena got his gimmick as a rapper, attributing it to the Halloween segment on SmackDown where Cena dressed up as Vanilla Ice. Korderas added that as soon as Vince McMahon saw it, he wanted Cena to incorporate the rapping as a part of his character:
We knew something was there. He was...John was just a cool dude. He was just so good. Then, you know, he started doing this rapping thing backstage. It was just fun to entertain the boys and stuff like that and you know, obviously people catch wind of it and they, we gotta use that in some form or fashion and then came the Halloween show where he did the Vanilla Ice deal and...off to the races. it was like... Vince said we got to integrate your rapping into this.
Jimmy Korderas also described how Cena often had rap battled with people on flights during overseas tours:
We'd be on these chartered flights to overseas and stuff like that and he'd have these rap battles with different people and like wow, holy cr**.
John Cena went on to become one of the biggest stars in WWE history, going on to equal Ric Flair's 16 world championships.
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