John Cena was “slaughtering stale competition” in his WWE entrance theme “My Time Is Now.” And now, he’s eating stale sandwiches out of the garbage can.
Welcome to Nickelodeon’s hidden-camera prank show “The Substitute.”
In the wrestler-turned-actor’s episode, which serves as the series premiere, the former Doctor of Thuganomics plays tricks on and treats kids at the Boys & Girls Club of the Foothills in Monrovia, California. He’s totally undercover the whole time.
Using a full costume and prosthetics to hide his identity, Cena is transformed into three completely unrecognizable camp counselors, pranking campers as a quirky environmentalist, a fearful fire safety expert and a CPR instructor with an unusual best friend.
TheWrap has your exclusive first look at Cena’s environmentalist character. Yeah, he gross.
Watch our sneak peek via the video above.
A pair of “Substitute” specials aired earlier this year. “Henry Danger” star Jace Norman was on the first, new NBC late (late) night host Lilly Singh did the second.
The 10-episode series features stars who are transformed by a team of Hollywood special effects artists to go undercover as professionals in various fields, surprising unsuspecting kids in schools, camps and other locations. During the reveal at the end of the day, each organization receives a $25,000 donation.
The Cena episode airs Friday, Oct. 4 at 7/6c on Nickelodeon.
A new episode of Cena’s family game show “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader” will air immediately after his “Substitute” episode.
“The Substitute” is produced by Industrial Media’s The Intellectual Property Corporation. Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman, Todd Hurvitz and Jessica Brown serve as executive producers. Hurvitz is showrunner.
Rob Bagshaw, Nick’s executive vice president of unscripted content, oversees production for the kids’ cable channel.