John Cena takes the hallowed Saturday Night Live stage tonight on NBC, which follows a well-received hosting gig earlier this year on ESPN’s ESPY presentation. Cena has always been quite charismatic both in the ring and out, but he’s not the only member of the WWE roster that should get the chance to host.
There are plenty of other WWE superstars who have a knack for improvisation, comedic timing, and an uncanny ability to captivate a crowd, and those are skills that can make the transition to sketch comedy if in the right mix.
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Cena isn’t the first wrestler to host the NBC comedy standby, nor should he be the last, and here our 5 other choices that could represent the brand well on Saturday night.
Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan was one of the most beloved performers in WWE thanks to his endearing personality and fearless approach in the ring. He could certainly bring those traits to the stage of SNL.
He’s always up for some self-deprecating humor, and for anyone who’s seen Table for 3 or listened to him on a podcast, his humor is as well renowned as his wrestling ability.
The cast could have a ball with his Team Hell No days, or a riff on his look with a “gathering of the beards”, which assembles iconic beards through history to defend the world. It could consist of Gimli, James Harden, Hagrid, and Zach Galifinakis sporting his Alan beard. Quite the team don’t you think?
Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho is doing some of his best work right now in the WWE as part of Monday Night RAW, but he’s always shown a knack for sarcastic wit and comedy throughout his impressive career.
Whether it’s the list of 1004 holds (which had an inordinate amount of Armbars listed) or his hallowed list of Jericho (which seems to grow every day if you follow his Twitter), he’s got an ability to make something where there is nothing, and he could use those abilities to make fun of himself and the WWE a bit on Saturday Night Live.
Getting Amy Schumer on stage to do a bit on how they look alike would likely go over incredibly well.
The New Day
After prolonged solo runs, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, and Big E happened upon a career crossroads, and since then they’ve united to become the all-powerful New Day stable. It’s amazing to see what happens when someone’s creativity is let loose, and they’ve taken the ball and run it out of the building.
All three bring something unique to the table, and not just in athletic skills. They’re all inherently funny and love to talk on the mic, making them shoo-in’s for an SNL hosting gig. All three would host together, and someone would need to find some sort of reason for Big E to dance. Perhaps you bring back the Keenan Thompson led “What’s Up With That” and have the three of them dancing in the background, subbing in for Fred Armisen and Jason Sudekis?
You really want to see that now don’t you?
Edge And Christian
Edge and Christian have always had a unique ability on-screen to be perfectly in sync, even when doing or saying ridiculous things. That skillset makes them a perfect fit for Lorne’s crew.
The duo could probably work wonders in one of those offbeat sketches from Kyle Mooney and Beck Bennet, or if they go the WWE route they could always work a sketch about “solving problems in the WWE”. Things like handling a disagreement at Starbucks by taking out the server with a steel ladder, or hitting his Comcast router with a chair. Perhaps his road rage gets the best of him and he tries to spear a school bus.
Might be pretty entertaining, right?
The Rock…Again
Okay, so this is technically cheating, but not really. There was never a clause that said it couldn’t be someone who has hosted before, and frankly it comes from a place of selfishness.
Dwayne The Rock Johnson has been exceptional in his previous performances, especially his most recently last season. He delivered a hilarious WWE style promo against Bobby Moynihan, and no one can do the “Dinner Date” sketch like The Rock can, who delivered the perfect amount of overconfident machismo to make it all work.
He even made a lethal Bambi hilarious, complete with a Vin Diesel Thumper. With Baywatch, Jumanji, and Fate of the Furious all coming down the pike, getting him back next season should be a priority.
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