Source: PWInsider.com
Thanks to Brian Richey for the following recap of John Cena on Jimmy Kimmel Live:
Cena was the second guest on the show and Jimmy introduced him as a “wrestler moonlighting as a rapper or a rapper moonlighting as a wrestler. I really don’t know.” Jimmy displayed a copy of Cena’s CD as his band played a synthesized version of “You Can’t See Me.” Cena came out in a tan-ish shirt and jean shorts with the WWE Title in tow. A fan with a SmackDown! magazine, CD, and Chain Gang shirt stood up and greeted him as he made his way to the desk. They shot to the crowd where many guys had on Chain Gang shirts and many girls were screaming for him.
Jimmy put the belt on his desk and said he always wanted to be the champ as he spun the logo. He said that Slim Thug (the musical guest) could make a nice necklace out of the belt. Jimmy said that Cena was obviously very popular and pointed out the kid that greeted Cena. He said that the kid (who was with his mom,) had come to the show a month earlier to see Cena but either “had a mix up on the Internet or can’t read or something.” Instead of Cena, Penny Marshall who played Laverne on ‘Laverne and Shirley’ appeared on that show. Jimmy joked that the kid was unhappy and was on the verge of tears. Jimmy asked him if there was anything he wanted to say to John, and the kid simply told him that “you’re the best.” Cena said that he was going to thank him for coming back and got up to hug the kid and his mother. He got a high-school photo from the kid, who was wearing his Word Life T-shirt in the photo. Jimmy read the back of the photo which said, “John Cena, been a fan ever since your debut versus Kurt Angle, will always be a fan, please kiss me with tongue” (that comment got a rise out of the crowd.) The kid denied the tongue comment and Jimmy said that there were about 30 phone numbers on the photo.
Jimmy then asked how Cena got into wrestling and he replied by saying that he was originally from Boston and he grew up with it when Hulkamania was running wild. Cena did a Hogan impression and said he would be the first to say that Hulk got him into watching wrestling and kept him watching. Jimmy asked if he had met him, and Cena brought up when he tagged with Hogan a few weeks back. Jimmy said it was ridiculous how huge Hogan was and both agreed that he still is.
Jimmy then asked about Cena’s rap career. Cena said that it was basically the same as wrestling, that he grew up listening to it and got really into it. He said that “coming from West Newbury where there is one stoplight, a post office, and a gas station with no gas,” they usually listened to rock and country and he found that he really enjoyed hip-hop when he was about 12 or 13. He said that once he got into WWE they realized that he liked the music and asked him if he wanted to do the hip-hop character. Once he did, people questioned whether he was being for real in his like of the music, so he started the whole recording project.
Jimmy commented that the CD has been popular and not like when other wrestlers put out novelty records like Mr. T. Cena mentioned Hogan’s recordings and said that they really didn’t have a budget or professional guidance, making the project a two and a half year process. Cena said that he used money from his own pocket to which Jimmy commented on how wrestlers don’t really have pockets. Cena said he was changing that with the changes to the belt and mentioned that he isn’t a spandex and leather boots guy since he usually wrestles in something like what he was wearing now.
Jimmy asked if the hip-hop community has embraced his work and Cena said its been hard since the hip-hop world, like the pro-wrestling world, is very fickle. He said when a new guy comes in the locker room, they all look at him and question his passion. Cena says that all he can do is put his best foot forward and do the best he can. Jimmy jokes that if he were to get shot it would help promote himself and Cena laughs and agrees that being shot or arrested would help him fit in. He said “it is what it is and what happens happens,” and that if he steps in front of a shot, so be it.
They then show a clip from this week’s RAW where Cena beats down Jericho and grabs Snitsky for the FU and the win. Afterwards, Jimmy wants John to explain another clip and they show Viscera gyrating and spanking and humping the Heart Throbs. They both laugh and Jimmy says, “That’s prison-type stuff isn’t it?” Cena says that everyone on the show has their own personality and Jimmy questions if its Viscera’s personality to hump men. Cena answers yes and says that people love it except for the other men, although you never know.
Cena finishes up by saying that he is having a lot of fun and that rap is the art of talking trash and wrestling is the art of backing it up and kicking ass. Cena shouts out to his fans and Jimmy apologizes to the Penny Marshall fans who got confused as they show an old women in the audience. Jimmy plugs RAW, SummerSlam, and the CD as they go into commercial and Cena does the ‘You can’t see me’ hand motion.
