John Cena Was Pitched To Join ‘Evolution’ Stable

Triple H used the famous faction ‘Evolution’ to turn into the most hated antagonist in all of professional wrestling. It helped shape up the Ruthless Aggression era. Ex-WWE writer Brian Gewirtz recently confirmed pitching for John Cena to join The Evolution in 2002.

As they finally began incredibly successful stints as solo performers in WWE, Randy Orton and Batista were able to establish themselves as respectable top men thanks to the stable. Now every member of that stable is off doing their own things, each in a big way.

According to Brian Gewirtz on a recent episode of The Kurt Angle Show, he proposed John Cena’s addition to The Evolution as its fourth member in 2002. The former WWE writer emphasized that they only gave The Franchise Player’s participation two minutes of thought during the several creative meetings that lead to the creation of the now-iconic group.

When I say this, I want to point out that this was discussed for maybe under two minutes in a single writer’s meeting with Vince, but in a single meeting, in which there were hundreds, if not thousands, of meetings. But, this was during the Jindrak to Randy Orton like, who is going to be the fourth member of Evolution period of time. And, I do remember, I don’t know if it was me who said it, somebody said it, I might have said it, was, ‘What about that John Cena guy joining Evolution? What if we did that?’

Advertising

Advertising

And again, it was tossed around for a couple of minutes, and I think it was deemed that John, especially John at that particular time, hadn’t really found himself yet. I think this was pre-rapping, John. This was, ‘Great match with Kurt, then what, John?’ Ruthless Aggression? Hmm, I don’t think so, you know. Maybe he is just a little too goofy. He just doesn’t fit; it was the kind of like the feedback back then.

Randy Orton and Batista were also able to establish themselves as respectable top men thanks to the stable. Even after making a promising debut, John Cena still needed an engaging persona to win over the fans in the early 2000s. According to Brian Gewirtz, even though John Cena joining a faction in the style of the Four Horsemen appeared to be a fantastic idea on paper, the 16-time world champion was not the right fit for a group like Evolution and needed to take a different creative route.

The former WWE head writer also discussed the backstage responses to his suggested strategy. At SummerSlam 2021, when he last competed, Cena unsuccessfully contested Roman Reigns for the world championship. Fans will have to wait and see when he makes his comeback to the squared circle.

What’s your take on this story? Sound off in the comments!