WWE® Champion John Cena™ Steps Outside the Ring with Debut Album YOU CAN'T SEE ME

YOU CAN'T SEE ME Streets May 10

John Cena Announces In-Store Appearances to Coincide with SmackDown!®

PRNewswire
NEW YORK
05/03/2005

World Wrestling Entertainment® champion John Cena has come a long way from the beatings he used to take in junior high school for his love of hip-hop. Columbia Records gives the wrestler props with YOU CAN'T SEE ME, his debut album available in stores May 10.

Recorded in 2004 at Chaos and Order Basscamp Studios during Cena's rare breaks from the ring, YOU CAN'T SEE ME features 17 original tracks. Paying tribute to the classic two-man rhyming crews of the past, Cena and Tha Trademarc (Marc Predka) nimbly trade verses throughout the album. "You almost never hear a rap crew today working like EPMD or 3rd Bass," says Cena. "I wanted to bring that style back a little and get away from one MC up there doing his thing. Working this way let us attack a song from different directions and create a more dynamic flow."

The album's first single, "Bad, Bad Man," is backed by Chaos' insistent beat and respected rap legend Freddie Foxx (aka Bumpy Knuckles), who created the song's chest-pounding chorus. The new video for "Bad, Bad Man" is a parody of the old A-Team show, featuring modern special effects stars: John Cena as Col. John "Hannibal" Smith, Bumpy Knuckles as Sgt. Bosco Albert "B.A." Baracus, Tha Trademarc as Capt. H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock, also a cameo with Different Strokes star Gary Coleman.

With "Beantown," Cena combines a bluesy guitar riff and funky backbeat to fuel a tribute to his Boston roots. Giving shout outs to everything from Fenway Park's "Green Monster" and the Tobin Bridge to Carl Yastrzemski's bushy sideburns (circa 1973) and the Boston Tea Party, Cena paints a vivid picture of the place he still calls home. "Yo, we fresh, y'all a little bit stale, and we about to make it ugly like Kevin McHale."

The tables have turned these days and Cena is the one administering the smackdowns, but as he prepares to release his debut, YOU CAN'T SEE ME, he's still fighting against those old perceptions. "I know what I'm up against. I know people are going to dismiss me as a hip-hop artist out of hand because they think there is no way a white wrestler could rap," he says. "I busted my ass for three years writing songs and improving my skills to prove those people wrong. Whether you love or hate this record, I don't think you can deny its authenticity."

           - The following dates are confirmed, and additional
                       dates are to be announced -

   DATE     EVENT                                    VENUE

   May 9    7:00 PM WWE SmackDown! Live              Center @ U. of Delaware
             Event - Newark, DE    Bob Carpenter

            12:00 AM - Midnight Autograph Session    Best Buy
                                                     2201 Farrand Drive
                                                     Wilmington, DE

   May 10   7:30 PM - WWE SmackDown! - Reading PA    Sovereign Center

            7:00PM Autograph Session - Boston, MA    Boston Virgin Megastore
                                                     360 Newbury Street
                                                     Boston, MA 02115

   May 12   7:00PM Autograph Session - New York, NY  F.Y.E.
                                                     1290 Ave. of
                                                      the Americas
                                                     New York, NY

   May 14   7:30 PM - WWE SmackDown!                 Cow Palace
             Live Event - San Francisco

   May 15   5:00 PM WWE SmackDown!                   Redding Convention
             Live Event -Redding, CA                  Center

   May 17   7:30 PM WWE SmackDown!                   Tyson Events Center
             - Sioux City, IA

   May 18   4:00PM Autograph Session                 Fort Hood Military Base
             - Fort Hood, TX                         Clear Creek PX
                                                     Fort Hood, TX

   May 19   Electronic Entertainment Expo
             (E3), Los Angeles, CA

   May 20   6:00PM Autograph Session - Tampa, FL     Location TBD

   May 21   2:00PM Autograph Session -               Mall Of America
             Bloomington, MN                         Sear's Court
                                                     Bloomington, MN

   May 22   6:45 PM WWE Judgment Day Pay Per View    Target Center, MN

   May 27   6:00PM Autograph Session                 HMV
             - Toronto, Canada                       333 Yonge Street
                                                     Toronto, CA

Trademarks: The names of all WWE programming, talent, images, likenesses, and logos, are the exclusive property of WWE. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE: Columbia Records; WWE

CONTACT: Neil Lawi of World Wrestling Entertainment, +1-203-352-1010, or
neil.lawi@wwecorp.com; Tom Muzquiz of Columbia Records, +1-310-449-2503, or
tom.muzquiz@sonybmg.com

Web site: http://www.columbiarecords.com/