Hunting for Manhunt

April 19, 2023·55 min·5 clips

Before John Cena became family-friendly, he was 'Big Tim' - a bleach-blonde predator hunting suburbanites on a forgotten reality show.

John brings in a 20-year-old story and starts in 2001, when WWF was still WWF, Vince McMahon was riding high, and the first XFL was trying to exist. First, everyone has to get their bearings in the wrestling context. That setup gives the reality TV story its odd little weather system: sports entertainment swagger, a chase format, and the faint sense that someone thought this would look huge on tape. Then the footage starts sounding even stranger. Contestants try to cross a finish line for $250,000 while three predators confront them at close range. On paper, that should have some bite. The tape keeps tripping over itself instead, with pyro, sand, paint markers, and action that looks more awkward than dangerous. The panel reacts as it unfolds. Someone catches a 1990s Mortal Kombat movie vibe, then the group spots John Cena in full aggressive character mode. He is wildly committed to the bit. The closer the predators get, the more the whole thing feels staged without the useful clarity of wrestling. One host nails the problem fast: professional wrestling can be fake and still feel high stakes, but this outdoor chase feels faker and lower stakes at the same time. The contestants are not exactly running for their lives. Cena is only feet away at one point, barking and shooting paint, which shrinks the drama instead of building it. Every extreme detail makes the show easier to picture and harder to take seriously. Very Underunderstood. The question is not just whether the idea works, but how something with explosions, prize money, and John Cena still comes off this dull.

As heard by us

A funny, specific dig through a WWF-adjacent reality chase show that sounds wilder than it plays.

Underunderstood digs into Manhunt as a very early-2000s TV oddity: a reality chase game tied to WWF-era swagger, Vince McMahon's 2001 moment, the failed first run of the XFL, paint-marker hits, staged explosions, and a $250,000 finish line.

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Why you'd press play

A forgotten 2001 reality show where John Cena chased contestants through explosions for a quarter-million dollars.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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