Origin of ‘U can’t C me’ revealed

Have you ever wondered how John Cena came up with the ‘U can’t C me’ gesture?

Cena visited The Graham Norton Show to hype his blockbuster movie Bumblebee as he follows in the Rock’s Hollywood footsteps. The topic of ‘U can’t C me’ was broached. Cena revealed that it came about as a dare from his little brother.

“I was actually making the music for my own theme song that you just so heard and finally serenaded me to, thank you very much. We played it for my brother. The first time he heard it, 50 Cent’s crew had a really popular song called, “In Da Club,” and he heard it the first time and instead of dancing, like he was our litmus test to see what songs were good and what songs were bad, he did this.” (Cena bopped his head with his still hand in front of his face.)

The Graham Norton Show

“I’m like, “Dude, what are you doing?” He’s like, “Nah, everybody does this man, everybody does this.” And I guess this is from 50 Cent’s video. He’s like, “You won’t do it on TV.” What the hell do I got to lose? What are they going to do, fire me? Of course, I’ll do it on TV. But instead of doing this (still hand), I do this (the hand movement that we know today). And now for fifteen years, because of a dare, I’ve been doing this (hand movement). And I’ll do you one better: People actually think I’m invisible.”

Let’s go to the archives for some detective work on, “In Da Club,” by 50 Cent. Near the end of the video, there is indeed a gentleman doing that dance.

50 Cent - “In Da Club”

I can’t believe that song is almost 15 years old. Does it qualify as an oldie?

Another ‘make you feel old’ story came from Bumblebee co-star Hailee Steinfeld. The movie takes place in 1987, so the set pieces are appropriate for the time. One such item was a Walkman cassette tape player. Steinfeld didn’t know how use to a Walkman and had to be shown.

It wouldn’t be a John Cena interview without getting a quick workout in by squatting Al Roker. Enjoy Cena using another TV personality as weightlifting equipment as he hoists Graham Norton up into the foreman’s carry position with ease.

What theories did you have about the origin of ‘U can’t C me’? Are you excited for Bumblebee? Should 50 Cent make the C-Unit honorary members of the G-Unit? Do any of you Cagesiders still own a Walkman?