John Cena vs Brock Lesnar in WWE

John Cena Confirms The Original Name Of His Finisher Was A Shot At Brock Lesnar

Originally posted on The Sportster | By Josh Coulson | Last updated Dec 8, 2025 4:35 PM ET

John Cena doesn't have many moves. There was a period late in his career when he was playfully mocked by fans for sticking to "The Five Moves of Doom". The upside of that means all of those moves are synonymous with Cena and his incredible career, including this finisher, the Attitude Adjustment, or as it used to be known, the FU.

The AA/FU is pretty much a slightly more effective fireman's carry, although the F doesn't stand for fireman. It stands for exactly what you think it stands for, and Cena revealed during a recent appearance on The Ringer that he named it the FU in reaction to Brock Lesnar calling his own finisher the F5.

Brock Lesnar Has The F5, John Cena Has The FU

"Brock Lesnar’s move was the F5. I had a similar move where we both picked guys up," Cena explained. "I didn’t try to make Brock look bad, but I was abrasive with my trash talk and was like, ‘You have the F5, I have the FU.’ That’s where the name of the move happened."

Not a shot, per se, but Cena liked to ruffle people's feathers during that stage in his career. He was trying to make a name for himself, and a lot of the time, he did that by annoying people. We may never know if Lesnar was bothered about Cena copying the naming convention for his finisher, but it seems likely that he might have been a little annoyed when someone he was in direct competition with decided to call his very similar move a very similar name.

Why The FU Eventually Became The AA

Not just any name, but one that was quite literally saying FU to Lesnar and his F5. Since that means what everyone thinks it means, there eventually came a time when Cena was forced to change its name. Cena signed with WWE, and his career caught fire at the tail end of the Attitude Era when pretty much anything was allowed. However, he was on top when WWE went PG.

WWE.com

Naturally, WWE couldn't have announcers screaming FU whenever one of its top stars hit their finisher when trying to be PG. That's why the move was renamed the Attitude Adjustment. "I kept using it, and then as we evolved into PG, I was told we can’t use that anymore... Switching it to the Attitude Adjustment has been incredible because it’s so weird that art imitates life... I’m leaning into the fact that you can adjust your attitude no matter what at any moment. That really changes the dynamic. It evolved because it had to.”

Now we're only days away from Cena's final match, a match in which he may well use the FU-turned-AA for the final time. That match will be against Gunther, a man who may end up being one of Cena's most formidable opponents yet, and not someone who's going to stay down after having his attitude adjusted. It's going to take a few AAs to beat The Ring General.

This article first appeared on The Sportster and was syndicated with permission.

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