July 13 was a big night for wrestling, and what normally would have been a big story for us kind of got lost in the shuffle.
Luckily for John Cena, his bosses at WWE and their partners at ESPN, the 15 time WWE champ’s gig as host of The ESPY Awards went so well it definitely wasn’t lost on the world at large. And, it was good enough that wrestling fans who spent Wednesday night with Lucha Underground, NXT & the Cruiserweight Classic should go back and seek it out to see the man they love/love to hate deliver a performance which should further his crossover career and help us get a few less eye rolls when we tell folks we watch Raw.
The video below includes the classic Vince McMahon/Roger Goodell burn we already told you about, but that’s just one joke in the first half of his monologue where he explains how pro sports are more like pro wrestling than they’d like to admit as a way of explaining how he’s the perfect person to host the show:
The second half of his opening speech singles out the biggest names of the past year in sports and brings them down to Earth. Kevin Love, the Stone Cold Steve Austin-loving third wheel of the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers “big three” and the retiring Kobe Bryant & Peyton Manning take the brunt of his shots... along with some jokes from the Boston native aimed at Catholics and the Irish.
Overall, it’s quintessential Cena. Self-deprecating yet confident, occassionally juvenile but mostly funny and never not repping his beloved WWE.
How do you think Big Moment John did with his spotlight?