Bray Wyatt and John Cena competed in a Firefly Fun House match at WrestleMania 36 on Sunday night. And while it technically did have a winner and a loser, the 13-minute bout was completely different from any other wrestling match in WWE history. Wyatt, after teleporting Cena to the Fun House set, had him go through the different stages of his career and criticize him for his actions and how the WWE pushed him. By the time The Fiend pinned Cena for a three count, the “match” had referenced everything from Cena’s debut to an episode of WCW Monday Nitro in 1997 to every major loss Cena ever had in his WWE career.
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After carefully combing through the video, we’ve compiled a list of every reference either explicitly or implicitly made throughout. Check out the full list below!
What did you think of the Firefly Fun House match? Let us know down in the comments!
Welcome to WrestleMania
The distorted introductions that interrupt Cena appear to be from Vince McMahon’s introduction at WrestleMania and “Mean” Gene Okerlund at WrestleMania IV.
Ruthless Aggression
After opening the door inside the Fun House, Cena is greeted by the devil Vince McMahon puppet, who drives the phrase “Ruthless Aggression” into the ground. This is a reference to the promo the real McMahon cut back in 2002 that effectively kicked off the era of the same name.
Cena’s SmackDown Debut
- Bray Wyatt cuts the same open challenge promo Kurt Angle gave back on the June 27, 2002 episode of SmackDown, only instead of Angle, Wyatt inserts himself in. Cena comes out wearing the same style of gear he wore during his debut and shouts “Ruthless Aggression” over and over while trying to get the same surprise slap he used on Angle.
- They even gave Cena some generic entrance music to awkwardly march to. Just like old times!
- Wyatt’s comment, “Whoever thought this was actually going to work” is a knock on how Cena’s originally gimmick on television fizzled out quickly. He calls it Cena’s biggest failure, something Cena admitted to during the Ruthless Aggression documentary series, and pokes fun at how Cena was on the verge of being fired.
The SmackDown Fist
Fans of the Blue Brand have long missed the giant fist that used to be the centerpiece of SmackDown’s entrance stage. It looks like Wyatt found it!
Cena’s Relationship With Nikki Bella
Cena gets angrier as Wyatt continues to poke fun at his old gimmick. After ducking one of Cena’s punches Wyatt sings “You can look but you can’t touch,” — the opening lyrics to Nikki Bella’s entrance theme. Cena and Bella got engaged at WrestleMania 33, but called off their engagement one month before the wedding.
Macho Mercy
Mercy The Buzzard nails two Randy Savage quotes while at commentary with Puppet Vince (a nod to McMahon’s commentary career in early WWF) — “Too hot to handle, too cold to hold,” and “Dig it!”
Saturday Night’s Main Event
- Cena chases Wyatt out of the ring, and suddenly the video cuts to a classic intro video for Saturday Night’s Main Event back in the 1980s, featuring classic moments like Roddy Piper hitting Jimmy Snuka with a coconut and Mr. T competing at the original WrestleMania.
- Wyatt appears giving his best Hulk Hogan impression (including a new version of his “You Can’t Hurt It” shirt from his Muscleman Dance video, only this time it’s The Fiend instead of Wyatt).
- Wyatt makes some not-so-subtle commentary about how WWE loves muscular wrestlers over wrestlers with talent (especially back in the 80s), then introduces Cena as “Johnny Largemeat”). Cena then gives his own version of a Hogan imitation, with a bit of Randy Savage sprinkled in.
- The pair are standing in front what’s made to look like the old blue cage used back in the 80s (most notably in Hogan’s WrestleMania 2 match with King Kong Bundy).
- After Cena wears out his arms doing way too many bicep curls, Wyatt delivers Hogan’s classic “Whatcha Gonna Do?” line.
Doctor of Thuganomics
- Cena then appears back in front of the old SmackDown fist, this time in his Doctor of Thuganomics gimmick (though he’s wearing the same Yankees jersey and hat he wore at WrestleMania 35).
- Cena makes a joke about Wyatt’s Husky Harris gimmick, and how struggled with his weight at the time.
- Instead of saying “Word Life” when he holds up his brass knuckles, Cena uses Wyatt’s old “Run” catchphrase from his Wyatt Family days.
- Wyatt calls Cena “Untouchable,” referencing the opening line of Basic Thuganomics — “So, you think you’re untouchable.”
- “You take the weaknesses of others and you turn them into jokes” — Wyatt, referencing how Cena could often come off as a bully when he would poke fun at his opponents in promos.
- Cena pulls out a bag of nuts, a joke he used multiple times at the end of raps.
Cena’s First Championship Loss
When Wyatt wraps Cena’s chain around his fist and punches him with it, it’s a call back to when Carlito used the same tactic to beat Cena for the United States Championship on the Oct. 5, 2004 episode of SmackDown. This was the first time anyone had ever beaten Cena for a championship in his WWE career.
Return of The Family
- The screen then cuts out using the same stinger Wyatt used during The Wyatt Family’s last run as a faction
- Wyatt appears back in his old gimmick, complete with hat, Hawaiian shirt, rocking chair and obscure references to Sister Abigail
- Multiple sheep masks, usually worn by Erick Rowan, are in the background
- Flashes of Wyatt’s introductory vignettes are shown
The WrestleMania XXX Match
- Wyatt references how fans at WrestleMania XXX sang “He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands” in unison during the Cena/Wyatt match
- When Wyatt gets up from the rocking chair and attacks Cena, John is wearing the same gear he wore to the ring at WrestleMania XXX in 2014
- Wyatt outright calls Cena Superman, referencing how fans called Cena “Super Cena” during his run as the company’s top star
- Wyatt re-does the scene where he offered Cena to smack him across the face with a steel chair. Cena refused the first time, but takes a full swing this time and misses
NWO Monday Nitro
- The intro video from the Dec. 22, 1997 edition of WCW Monday Nitro (dubbed NWO Monday Nitro) is shown
- Wyatt gives his best Eric Bischoff promo from the same episode, where he introduced the members of the NWO. The original promo culminated in Bischoff introducing Hollywood Hogan, only this time its Cena in full NWO gear holding the NWO version of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship
- When Cena walks out imitating Hogan, the Vince puppet shouts, “This is such good s—!” This is a famous line McMahon often uses backstage, according to a shoot interview Jon Moxley (fka Dean Ambrose) gave last year.
- Cena “Too Sweets” Wyatt
Montage of Failure
When it looks like Cena has broken free of Wyatt’s spell, he hits Wyatt with a take down and starts raining down punches. Except as he continues to hit the feed cuts to different snapshots of Cena’s past, each of which were instances when he failed.
Those scenes included:
- The “If Cena Wins We Riot” sign from ECW One Night Stand 2006
- Edge spearing Cena at New Year’s Revolution 2006 to win the WWE Championship
- Shawn Michaels beating Cena in a 55-minute match on Raw weeks after their WrestleMania 23 match
- Batista hitting Cena with a Batista Bomb, beating him at SummerSlam 2008
- The Miz beating Cena at WrestleMania XXVII
- CM Punk blowing a kiss at Vince McMahon after beating Cena at Money in the Bank 2011
- Cena closing out WrestleMania XXVIII looking defeated after losing to The Rock
- Randy Orton beating Cena at TLC 2013 to unify the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships
- Brock Lesnar squashing Cena at SummerSlam
- Cena leaving his “Never Give Up” headband in the ring after losing to AJ Styles at SummerSlam 2016
- Cena raising Roman Reigns’ arm after losing to him at No Mercy 2017
- The Undertaker squashing Cena at WrestleMania 34
Fans chanting “Cena sucks!” can be heard throughout.
Dramatic Irony
As Wyatt is on the verge of hitting Cena with Sister Abigail, Cena’s own words from a recent promo (where he called Wyatt overhyped and overprivileged) can be heard.
