"Complete rip-off" - Former WWE Superstar claims John Cena stole his gimmick
Wolfie D believes John Cena’s Doctor of Thuganomics WWE gimmick was a “complete rip-off” of his rapper character.
In the 1990s, Wolfie D worked alongside J.C. Ice (a.k.a. James Dundee) as the tag team PG-13. The two men rapped their way to the ring during their stint as Nation of Domination members between November 1996 and June 1997.
Speaking to Monte & The Pharaoh on the LI#1 Pro Wrestling Broadcast, Wolfie D accused Cena of copying PG-13.
“I agree with that [John Cena being WWE’s last truly great superstar]," said Wolfie D. "I just have a personal bias to it because that guy right there standing behind you with the shorts and the tennis shoes and all that, I was the first guy to do that gimmick. I think that John Cena is a complete rip-off of PG-13, Wolfie D, whatever you wanna say."
Wolfie D also claimed that Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock) and Too Cool (Grandmaster Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty) copied PG-13.
The origin of John Cena’s Doctor of Thuganomics persona
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John Cena introduced his rapper gimmick (pictured above, next to PG-13) in October 2002 when he dressed as Vanilla Ice on SmackDown. Nicknamed The Doctor of Thuganomics, he often made derogatory comments about his opponents when he rapped during his entrance.
In reality, Cena was due to be released by WWE around the time his new character debuted. On an episode of the WWE Network show Ruthless Aggression, the 16-time World Champion explained that his babyface gimmick had not worked out as planned.
“The WWE, they used to make a series of cuts around late November and around mid-May," said Cena. "I was told that I would be getting my release at Christmas cuts because it just wasn’t working, and there was no argument there, it wasn’t. They gave it to me on a silver platter – John Cena, Ruthless Aggression – and I failed, I messed it up."
The turning point for Cena came when he rapped on the back of a WWE bus with Rey Mysterio and Rikishi. Stephanie McMahon, a WWE writer at the time, enjoyed the rap and asked him to portray a rapper on television.
Cena stopped performing as The Doctor of Thuganomics when he became one of WWE's top main-event stars in 2005.
Please credit Monte & The Pharaoh and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.