If there’s one good factor you’ll be able to say about Amazon Prime’s Ricky Stanicky (which is not quite a bit), it is that John Cena is one of the best a part of the movie. In it, Cena stars as Rod, a washed-up actor who performs X-rated music parodies and is then employed to play the position of Ricky Stanicky, an imaginary greatest buddy that Zac Efron (The Iron Claw) and his two mates created to take the blame for his or her unhealthy conduct.

As Belen Edwards wrote in her overview, it is one of many worst comedies of the yr to this point. It epitomizes the low-brow, regressively juvenile humor that, whereas presumably a success within the DVD golden period of 2009, feels starkly misplaced as we speak. All through the film, Cena does his greatest to show shit into sugar — like his charming earnestness when he refuses to take line reads, or his hilariously incongruous flinch when a considerably shorter Efron threatens him. Even then, some Cena attraction cannot save scenes just like the montage of soiled parody jokes that went on for approach too lengthy.

The saving grace of Ricky Stanicky is Cena’s willingness to completely decide to the bit and it is what I think about the right illustration of the trail that John Cena has taken since leaving the WWE to additional pursue his appearing profession.

The Smackdown to Hollywood Pipeline

Professional wrestling is a weirdly transferrable ability for stepping into appearing; whereas bodily demanding, the wrestlers within the ring are nonetheless appearing — performing characters on dwell TV week after week. Of probably the most notable professional wrestlers gone Hollywood there lies a spectrum: At one finish lies Dave Bautista, who has embraced character appearing with commendable versatility, from the literal-minded Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy to extra nuanced roles just like the non secular Sapper Morton or the savage Glossu Rabban in Blade Runner: 2049 and Dune respectively.

On the opposite finish, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Hulk Hogan epitomize the motion hero archetype, usually leveraging their muscular physiques for roles that lack depth or complexity. From high-octane dramas to motion comedies like Black Adam or Crimson Discover to even family-friendly adventures like Moana or The Sport Plan, these are the same old locations you’d spot a professional wrestler who’s pursuing appearing.

This highlights Cena’s deliberate option to carve out a distinct segment in raunchy comedies, a style that enables him to shed the heroic facade he donned in WWE in favor of extra flawed, relatable characters. It is also, in a approach, a return to a few of his early character work in WWE because the “Physician of Thuganomics” a battle rapper who’d insult his opponents with some less-than-PC bars.

From Peacemaker, Blockers, Daddy’s House, Trip Buddies, and Sisters, Cena has constructed an appearing profession on being a fully jacked specimen of a person who says probably the most insane shit ever.

Have a look at some bits in Ricky Stanicky, the place one second has him telling his new boss on the agency Efron works at that he is not closing on any offers as a result of the best way he talks together with his fingers makes him appear to be he is jerking somebody off. Or the scene the place Cena, dressed as Brittney Spears, licks whiskey off the bottom by the dumpster. Or when he pisses his pants whereas being picked up on the airport – having dedicated to going sober to get into character for his position as Ricky. It is really a testomony to his willingness to depart his ego on the door.

This transition must be of no shock to anybody who’s been following his profession. In a 2015 featurette for Prepare Wreck, Judd Apatow stated that through the filming of some improv scenes, Cena stated “a few of the strangest issues I’ve ever heard.” And if you may get Apatow, who isn’t any stranger to saying some bizarre shit, to say that, you are heading in the right direction.

Cena’s method to comedy — marked by a willingness to embrace embarrassment and a refusal to take himself too critically — units him aside from his contemporaries. This humility, mixed together with his comedic timing, enhances even really terrible movies like Ricky Stanicky and guarantees nice issues for his future tasks, together with the extremely anticipated season 2 of Peacemaker.

In reflecting on Cena’s journey from the WWE ring to the forefront of raunchy comedy, it is evident that he has not solely discovered his area of interest however has additionally redefined what it means to transition from wrestling to appearing. By embracing roles that problem conventions and showcase his distinctive model of humor, Cena continues to entertain and shock, proving that there is rather more to him than simply muscle and may.