John Cena is currently trending for his shocking villainous arc in WWE. However, this wasn’t the first time he shocked the world and went viral. In 2016, Cena hosted the ESPYs and delivered an opening monologue that few have been able to top since.
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The 16-time world champ went on a wild rant during his hosting gig. For instance, he openly joked about the NBA and NFL being rigged, just like the WWE. He even provided some examples to expose each league.
Firstly, Cena focused on the Super Bowl champs from that year — the Denver Broncos in Peyton Manning’s final season. The WWE star started by saying that he loves football because they get it right when it comes to rigging the game. But hold on, don’t dismiss him yet.
He backed his claim by making a point that the NBA often gives us strange career arcs, turning heroes into villains and then sometimes back to heroes again. But not the NFL.
“My hats off to football though, they got it right this year. Our beloved hero,” Cena said as a picture of Manning flashed on the screen. “He was sidelined. Looked like all hope was lost. Helpless in the clutches of his arch nemesis (A photo of Tom Brady then flashed on the screen). But in the moment of truth, Peyton comes off the bench, wins the championship, and rides off into the sunset.”
The story is almost too good to be true, but it’s exactly what happened in the 2016 playoffs — as dramatic as it may sound. Football, and sports, are dramatic. That’s why they make for such great television and dominate the ratings yearly. We all joke about the games being rigged, but few actually think it’s constructed in a faux manner like the WWE.
But Cena wasn’t done trolling. He went on to take a jab at Odell Beckham Jr., who was a young, upcoming superstar at the time.
“Odell Beckham Jr. hell he already looks like a WWE superstar,” Cena joked, as the camera panned to the wide receiver and the crowd laughed. “He’s one parrot away from being Koko B. Ware.”
Koko B. Ware is a WWE wrestler who’s in the Hall of Fame. He was famous for entering each matchup with a parrot on his arm. He also had a similar golden streak hairstyle to Odell’s at the time, which is what made the joke so funny.
It gets even better, though. Cena went on to draw a parallel between Roger Goodell and Vince McMahon. First, he started by saying the WWE is lucky to have such a maniacal billionaire pulling the strings behind the scenes. But then he posited that the NFL might have a similar situation.
“Maybe we have more in common than you think!” Cena said while a picture of Goodell flashed on the screen.
Moving on, for his final football roast, Cena decided to go back to Manning. He talked about how he and Kobe Bryant decided to hang ‘em up following their 2015/16 seasons, and that both of their final games looked eerily similar.
“Now, Peyton and Kobe’s final games had a couple of things in common. They were both unforgettable and almost no passing.”
The joke got Manning to sit up in his chair, as he had a sheepish grin on his face. Everyone remembers his final year and the Super Bowl, but many forget how much Peyton struggled on the way to it. He relied heavily on his defense, but still turned the ball over making throws he could make in the past, but couldn’t anymore. The Broncos ran the ball a ton en route to the title.
Kobe Bryant was often heavily criticized during his playing days for being a ball-hog, and in his final game, he scored 60 points on 50 shots. So, the two—The Sherrif and the Black Mamba—hilariously share something in common for their final games.
2016 was one of the best years for the ESPYs. Cena’s opening monologue was possibly the best the event has ever seen. Though Manning returned as host a few years later and surprised everyone with his quick wit and charm. How great would it be if we could get both to co-host the show for one year? That would make for some hilarious TV.
