• Famous John Cena Movie Was Initially Written For Steve Austin
Before John Cena ever stepped onto a movie set, The Marine was being shaped with a very different face in mind – “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Brian Solomon, a former WWE Magazine writer, shared the behind-the-scenes detail during an episode of his ‘Shut Up and Wrestle’ podcast. Having worked at WWE during the early days of WWE Films, Solomon had access to early drafts of the company’s movie projects. He recalled seeing the original script for The Marine and instantly recognizing its potential, but only with the right star. “This could be like a retro action movie sleeper hit, with the right cast, this could actually be really, really damn good,” Solomon said.
The plan, initially, was to build the film around Austin. WWE was hoping to give ‘Stone Cold’ his own explosive, over-the-top action role, something in the style of classic ‘80s films. “It was an ‘80s flashback action movie,” Solomon noted, referencing the Stallone and Schwarzenegger-style influence on the tone and structure. But things didn’t go as planned.
When Austin left WWE in 2004, the film was put on ice. “The movie sort of like sat on a shelf for a little while,” Solomon explained, “until they figured out what to do with it, and it wound up with Cena.”
John Cena was still new to the wrestling scene at the time, far from the global star he’d later become. Solomon didn’t hold back on what he thought of the casting switch. “He was just not a very known entity,” he said. “He was just starting out. He was a rookie, he was unproven.” He added, bluntly, that the movie felt “doomed” with that change.
Released in 2006, The Marine became Cena’s film debut and kicked off a surprisingly long-running franchise, though its sequels never saw theatrical release and were mostly direct-to-video fare starring other WWE talent like The Miz and Ted DiBiase Jr.
• Released Star Doesn’t Watch WWE Anymore
Leah Van Dale, formerly known as Carmella in WWE, says stepping away from the company has reshaped her relationship with her husband, WWE commentator Corey Graves. In a recent interview on SiriusXM’s Page Six Radio, Van Dale said the change gave their marriage breathing room. “I do feel like it’s helped us a lot to separate our real life from that world,” she said. “Because for so long, for years, it was like we would take it home with us, we talk about it and it was just all consuming.”
While Graves still appears weekly on NXT, Van Dale said she no longer keeps up with WWE programming. That part, she admitted, took time to adjust to. “It was difficult, I guess, at first,” she said. “I don’t want to really watch the show. I’m just so removed from it.”
Still, her support for Corey Graves hasn’t wavered. “It’s been his dream his entire life to get into the WW E and he loves it, and so of course I’m so supportive of that.” Now that only one of them is in the wrestling world, she feels they’ve reached a healthier balance. “He’s home, he can talk about whatever he needs to talk about and I understand it, because I was there. I get it,” she said. “But then we can, ‘Okay, let’s stop talking about that,’ and we can move on to real life, which is great.”
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