John Cena

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John Cena
Statistics
Ring name(s)	The Prototype Mr. P John Cena
Billed height	6ft. in. (185 cm)[1]
Billed weight	240 lb.(109 kg)[1]
Born	April 23, 1977 West Newbury, Massachusetts, [1]
Resides	Tampa, Florida[2]
Billed from	West Newbury, Massachusetts
Trained by	UPW Staff OVW Staff
Debut	2000

John Felix Anthony Cena, Jr. (born April 23, 1977)^[3] is an American professional wrestler, hip hop musician and actor. He is signed to World Wrestling Entertainment and wrestling on its RAW brand where he is the reigning WWE Champion^[4].

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Early career 1.2 World Wrestling Entertainment 1.2.1 2002-2003 1.2.2 2004 1.2.3 2005 1.2.4 2006 1.2.5 2007 2 In wrestling 3 Championships and accomplishments 4 Outside of wrestling 4.1 Music 4.2 Film 4.3 Fashion 4.4 Guest appearances 4.5 Commercials 5 Personal information 6 References 7 External links

Career

Early career

Cena first started training to become a wrestler in 2000 at the California-based Ultimate Pro Wrestlings "Ultimate University", where he worked as the character The Prototype.^[5] Some of this period of his career was documented in the Discovery Channel program Wrestling School.^[6] As UPW was a World Wrestling Federation developmental territory at the time, they signed him to a developmental contract and assigned to "farm territory" Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) for further training.

During his time in OVW, he also appeared on the UPN reality show Manhunt under the pseudonym "Big Tim Kingman", the "lead hunter" in a team "hunting" contestant with paintball guns. The show was produced in association with WWE. It was later revealed that many of the scenes in the show were re-shot or staged to enhance the drama, contests were rigged to eliminate contestants, and other contestants read from scripts. As a result of the controversy, WWE has never referenced the show or Cena's part in it.^{[7][8][9][10]}

World Wrestling Entertainment

2002-2003

Cena's first televised WWE match was in answer to an open challenge by Kurt Angle on June 27, 2002 Inspired by Vince McMahon's speech to WWE's rising stars, exhorting them to show "ruthless aggression" to earn a place among the legends, Cena took advantage of the opportunity and almost beat Kurt Angle kicking out of the Angle Slam and enduring the ankle lock submission hold, but ultimately lost to a hard, amateur-style pin. ^[11]

Cena then played the role of a typical underdog face in each match. After losing alongside Billy Kidman in a tournament match for the WWE Tag Team Championships, Cena turned heel, blaming Kidman for the loss.^[12] Shortly after his heel turn, on a Halloween episode of SmackDown!, he performed a freestyle rap for Stephanie McMahon while wearing a Vanilla Ice costume prompting a gimmick change to a white rapper.^[13] During this time Cena adopted a variant of the 80's WWF logo (dropping the "F") along with the slogan "Word Life" as his "signature symbol".^[14] He was joined by an enforcer, first Bull Buchanan, who was rechristened B-2 (also written as B², pronounced "B-Squared").^[15] Buchanan was later replaced by Rodney Mack under the moniker "Red Dogg".^[16]

Cena eventually received a shot at the WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. During the feud he unveiled a new signature finishing maneuver, the F-U.^[17] Cena was unsuccessful at winning the WWE title.^[18] He later turned face and started a new feud with Lesnar as a part of Team Angle against Team Lesnar.^[19]

2004

During 2004 Cena's popularity began to increase. At the start of the year, he participated in the annual Royal Rumble^[20], lasting up to the final 6 before being eliminated by the Big Show. After the elimination Cena and Big Show began a feud, leading to Cena winning the United States Championship from Big Show in a match at March's WrestleMania XX^[21]. Cena claimed the title, his first in WWE, by distracting the ref and using his signature brass knuckles on Big Show before hitting him with the F-U. In July he was stripped of the title by SmackDown! General Manager Kurt Angle, whom he had a contentious relationship with, after "attacking" him.^[22]

He won the title back at October's No Mercy after winning the final match of a Best-of-5 series with Booker T. ^[23] This second reign was short-lived, however, as he lost the title to the debuting Carlito in the very next week's SmackDown!^[24].

This started a feud with Carlito. The storyline said Cena was attacked in a Boston nightclub by Carlito's bodyguard, Jesús, who stabbed him in the kidney, keeping him out of action for a month.^[25] In truth, this event was set up to allow Cena time off to film The Marine.^[26] Upon his return, Cena exacted revenge on Carlito in a SmackDown! match, winning back the U.S. title.^[27] During this reign he debuted a "custom made" spinner style title belt.^[28]

2005

At the 2005 Royal Rumble, Cena and Batista went over the top rope at the same time to end the match, prompting Vince McMahon to demand the match be restarted and go into "sudden death".^[29]

With Batista winning^[29], and not yet sure which brand's world title he would challenge for, SmackDown! held a tournament to determine #1 contendership for the their top title, the WWE Championship. General Manager Theodore Long announced that if Batista were to come to SmackDown, then at WrestleMania it would be a triple threat match between Batista, the tournament winner, and whomever the champion may be. In the tournament finals Cena pinned Kurt Angle to win the WrestleMania title shot^[30]. Batista would then choose to vie for the (RAW exclusive) World Heavyweight Championship^[31].

In the following weeks, Cena feuded with champion John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL) and his Cabinet, including losing his United States Championship to Cabinet member Orlando Jordan^[32] , who (with JBL) proceeded to "blow up" the custom spinner belt^[33].

On April 3, at WrestleMania 21, Cena defeated JBL to win the WWE Championship.^[34] As part of the storyline, he then had a custom WWE Championship belt made^[35]. Meanwhile, JBL took the original belt and claimed he was still the WWE Champion^[36] until Cena reclaimed that belt following an "I Quit" match at Judgment Day in May^[37].

On the June 6 episode of RAW, John Cena became the first wrestler selected in the annual draft lottery, when Eric Bischoff drafted him from SmackDown! over to RAW. Upon arriving on RAW, Cena immediately entered a program with Chris Jericho and Christian^[38].

During this feud Cena made enemies with RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff, because he didn't wish to play Bischoff's political games.^[39] Bischoff vowed to make Cena's stint on RAW difficult^[40] and chose Chris Jericho to take Cena's title from him^[41].

On August 22, Cena beat Jericho in a "You're Fired" match for the WWE Championship - despite interference from Bischoff which included giving Cena a low-blow and handing Jericho a pair of brass knuckles. After the match, with Jericho now off of RAW due to his loss, Kurt Angle came to the ring and attacked Cena, with Bischoff revealing that Angle was his new "hand picked" number one contender for Cena's world title.^[42]

After several weeks, Angle and Cena main evented September's Unforgiven, where Cena hit Angle with the WWE title belt, losing by disqualification but remaining champion (titles don't change hands on a disqualification)^[43]. They met again at November's Survivor Series, with Cena picking up a clean win.^[44]

The night after, Bischoff put Cena in the ring against Kurt Angle and Chris Masters in a triple threat submission match for the title, which Cena won by making Masters tap out for the first time to his new submission maneuver, the STFU. Its name is derived from a combination of the STF name, and his other finisher, the F-U^[45].

When Vince McMahon returned to RAW to put Bischoff "on trial" in December, Cena made his opinion of Bischoff known and eventually helped Vince McMahon remove Bischoff from the show by delivering the F-U to the former RAW GM, effectively ending the hostilities he had with Bischoff.^[46]

2006

Cena successfully defended his WWE Championship in an Elimination Chamber at the January New Years Revolution to kick off 2006. After the match, however, Vince McMahon appeared on the stage and announced that Cena was going to have to defend the title again, this time against Edge, who was cashing in his previously earned Money in the Bank title shot. Edge delivered two spears to a battered, bloody, and exhausted Cena, pinning him in short order to win the WWE Championship.^[47] Cena's championship reign ended at 280 days, matching that of previous champion JBL. ^[48]

Three weeks to the day after losing the title Cena defeated Edge at the Royal Rumble^[49] to regain the WWE Championship. At WrestleMania 22, John Cena would defeat Triple H by submission to retain the title. ^[50]

On the May 22 edition of RAW, Rob Van Dam informed Cena that he intended to cash in the Money in the Bank title match contract he won at WrestleMania at the upcoming ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view event.^[51]The event saw Cena get his most negative reaction yet from the very pro-ECW crowd, including profanity-laced chants and anti-Cena signs (most memorably one reading, "If Cena wins, we riot," which has been used since then, with different names in place of Cena's). Cena was visibly affected, and tried to use moves outside of his usual moveset in order to play to the crowd. The crowd responded with "You still suck", "Same old shit!", and "You can't wrestle!".^[52] Cena lost the title at the event when Edge appeared from under the ring and speared Cena through a table, setting him up for Van Dam's Five-Star Frog Splash. With two referees "knocked out" (the first by Cena, the second by Edge) Paul Heyman ran down the entrance aisle and counted the three count, giving Van Dam the win and his first World Title.^[53] On the next nights RAW Paul Heyman announced that the title change was official, as the match was under "Extreme rules"^[54]. Coincidentally, both of his WWE Championship losses in 2006 were as a result of the Money in the Bank title contract. ^{[47] [52]}

When Edge won the title from Van Dam in a Triple Threat match also involving Cena^[55] it re-ignited the feud between Edge and Cena. The opening stages of the feud saw Edge taking constant shortcuts in order to keep his title (losing by disqualification)^[56] This lead to a Cena and Edge match at SummerSlam in a match where, if Edge was disqualified, he would not only lose the match but his title. Edge ultimately defeated Cena by pinfall after hitting him with a pair of brass knuckles while the referee was distracted to retain the title^[57].

Having beaten Cena, Edge debuted a new "Rated R" version of the spinner belt, having Lita toss Cena's version into the Bridgeport Harbor. The "Rated-R" belt looked almost exactly like the "Spinner" belt that came before it, only with a spinning 'Rated-R Superstar' logo in the center^[58]. Cena would convince Edge to give him one more match for the title with an added stipulation -- if Cena lost, he would leave RAW for SmackDown!. Edge accepted, on the grounds that the match also be a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at Unforgiven in his hometown of Toronto^[59]. In their match at Unforgiven Cena defeated Edge, retrieving the title after hitting an FU on Edge from the top of a ladder and through two stacked tables.^[60] He brought back the original spinner belt on the following night's RAW^[61].

Following the Edge feud Cena was placed in an interbrand program to determine the "Champion of Champions". Cena, along with King Booker (SmackDown!'s World Heavyweight Champion) and The Big Show (ECW's World Champion), were engaged in a mini-feud leading to a match at Cyber Sunday where one of the three championships would be placed on the line^[62].

At the same time Cena became involved with Kevin Federline when he began appearing on RAW at the side of Johnny Nitro and Melina. After getting into a (worked) physical altercation with Federline on RAW^[63] Federline appeared at Cyber Sunday, hitting Cena with the World Heavyweight Title belt during the main event Triple Threat match helping King Booker retain his title^[64].

Cena and Big Show continued their feud after Cyber Sunday, having a traditional Survivor Series matchup at the 2006 event -- with Team Cena consisting of Cena, Sabu, Rob Van Dam, Bobby Lashley, and Kane and Team Big Show having The Big Show, Test, Finlay, Montel Vontavious Porter, and Umaga. Cena and Lashley were the only Survivors.^[65] Cena then went on to tag with World Heavyweight Champion Batista at Armageddon to battle King Booker and Finlay, which saw Batista and Cena emerge victorious after Batista pinned Booker following a Batista Bomb^[66].

The year ended with Cena beginning a feud with the undefeated Umaga over the WWE Championship^[67].

2007

2007 began with Cena wrapping up the Kevin Federline feud when Cena was pinned by Federline in the first RAW match of the year, after an assist from Umaga -- although later in the night he was able to get his hands on and FU Federline^[68]. His feud with Umaga continued on to New Year's Revolution, where Cena retained his championship and ended Umaga's undefeated streak.^[69] Their rivalry continued, with Umaga putting Cena through a table on an episode of RAW and causing a (kayfabe) spleen injury, putting a scheduled Last Man Standing match title rematch at the Royal Rumble in jeopardy^[70]. After refusing to accept medical treatment, fearing a medical suspension, Cena defeated Umaga in their match with the STFU, choking him using a ring rope that had been removed by Armando Estrada.^[71] One night after the Royal Rumble, an impromptu teaming of Cena and Shawn Michaels found themselves defeating Rated-RKO (Edge and Randy Orton) for the World Tag Team Championship, making Cena a double champion.^[72] Cena defended his WWE Championship successfully against Michaels at WrestleMania 23 making Michaels tap to the STFU, making Cena only the second man in WWE history to successfully defend the WWE championship at consecutive Wrestlemanias.^[73] The night after WrestleMania 23, in the second of two 10 team battle royals, Michaels threw Cena over the top rope, eliminating the team and causing them to lose their titles, which were won by The Hardys (Matt and Jeff)^[74].

In wrestling

• Finishing and signature moves
  • FU (Fireman's carry powerslam)
  • STFU (Stepover toehold sleeper)
  • Five Knuckle Shuffle (Fist drop with theatrics)
  • Throwback (Running neck snap on a standing opponent)
  • Freestyle / Protoplex (Jumping release fisherman suplex)
  • Killswitch / Protobomb (Spin-out powerbomb)
  • Flying shoulder block
  • Twisting belly to belly side slam
  • Repeating clotheslines
  • Spinebuster
  • Sitout hiptoss
  • Running one handed bulldog

• Signature foreign objects
  • Steel chain
  • Brass knuckles

• Nicknames
  • The Doctor of Thugonomics
  • The Champ
  • Chain Gang Soldier
  • The Marine

• Signature taunts
  • Waving his hand in front of his face, horizontally, to symbolize that "You can't see me!" (2002-Present)
  • Pumping up his Reebok Pump sneakers. (2004-2006)
  • Putting his hands up while spreading them and putting his thumb sideways and his pinky up, meaning "Word Life". (2002-Present)
  • Two handed corna.
  • "Freestyling" on his opponents before his matches. (2002-2004)
  • Military salute to the audience. (2006-present)

• Manager(s)
  • Kenny Bolin

• Five Questions
  • Cena hosted a segment on WWE.com entitled "Five Questions with John Cena"—"Five Questions with the Champ" when he is a champion—every week. Five questions sent in by fans via e-mail are picked at random and answered by Cena on camera. During the segment, whenever Cena curses, an image of The Brooklyn Brawler appears and the word is "replaced" with him saying "Brawler", "Brooklyn Brawler", "No, no, no" or "Nu-Uh!". The show was canceled after the December 29 episode.

Championships and accomplishments

• Ohio Valley Wrestling
  • OVW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Rico Constantino
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Ranked #1 in the PWI 500 for 2006
  • Feud of the Year – with Edge (2006)
  • Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2003)
  • Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (twice; 2003, 2004)
  • Wrestler of the Year (2006)
• Ultimate Pro Wrestling
  • UPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• World Wrestling Entertainment
  • WWE Championship (3 times, current)
  • WWE United States Championship (3 times)
  • World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Shawn Michaels
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Best Gimmick (2003) – Rapper
  • Most Charismatic (2006)
• WWE Magazine
  • 2006 Superstar of the Year

Outside of wrestling

Music

In addition to his time in the ring, Cena is a rap music artist. He performed his fifth WWE entrance song, "Basic Thugonomics," which was featured on the WWE soundtrack album WWE Originals. His track "Untouchables" was featured on Theme Addict, another WWE soundtrack album. His debut album, which he recorded alongside his cousin Tha Trademarc, You Can't See Me features his current entrance theme "The Time is Now". The first single from the You Can't See Me album was "Bad, Bad Man", a music video of which featured a parody of 1980s culture and the television show The A-Team. A second video was later made for the second single, "Right Now", and premiered on the August 8 edition of RAW.

John Cena has worked with several personalities in the Hip-Hop industry, such as Bumpy Knuckles, 7L & Esoteric, MURS (including a music video), E-40 and Chingo Bling. He and Method Man were also featured in SmackDown! magazine and MTV.com. Cena and Tha Trademarc are also featured on a track by The Perceptionists named "Champion Scratch." Cena was also the only professional wrestler to ever perform on BBC Two's long running Top of the Pops.

Film

WWE Films, a division of World Wrestling Entertainment which produces and finances motion pictures, produced Cena's first movie - The Marine, which was distributed theatrically by 20th Century Fox America beginning on October 13, 2006.

He will also have a role in Jornada del Muerte, another WWE Films production which will star Triple H.^[75]

Fashion

Cena's attire in and out of the ring reflects the old school hip-hop culture that his character represents. He previously wore throwback jerseys, though now he generally wears WWE produced "Chain Gang" related merchandise. He has also worn a chain with a lock on it to the ring which was at times utilized as a weapon. This chain was replaced by a chromed and diamond studded "Chain Gang" spinner medallion after his WrestleMania 21 WWE Title win that was very reminiscent of the ones worn by members of G-Unit.

When Cena was part of the SmackDown! brand, his apparel bearing the suggestive spoonerism "Ruck Fules" was censored when he wore it on camera. They were not censored by UPN, but by WWE to sell more shirts under the premise that it was "too hot for TV".^[76]

Around the time Cena's film, The Marine, was released he began wearing attire more military related, including camouflage shorts, dog tags, a Marine soldier cap and a T-Shirt with the words "Chain Gang Assault Battalion", reflecting his new Marine soldier gimmick.

Guest appearances

Prior to his WWE debut, Cena made a guest appearance on the Internet stream show Go Sick in 2001 as Bruebaker, an angry, cursing wrestler. ^[77]

During his WWE career, Cena has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live numerous times. He first appeared on the July 23, 2005 episode in order to promote his CD, the 2005 SummerSlam pay-per-view, and WWE in general. He appeared again on March 14, 2006 to promote Saturday Night's Main Event and WrestleMania 22.

Cena has also appeared on popular morning radio shows. He appeared on the Opie and Anthony show on their CBS Radio Show and later their XM Satellite Radio show on October 10, 2006 contributing to their "walkover". Cena appeared on the Howard Stern show on Sirius Satellite Radio on October 11, 2006.

Other appearances have included Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Fuse's Celebrity Playlist, Fox Sports Net's Best Damn Sports Show Period, MADtv, G4's Training Camp (with Shelton Benjamin) and an August 2006 appearance on MTV's Punk'd, where he was the victim of a practical joke. He's also served as a co-presenter, with Hulk Hogan, at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards, and as a guest judge on Nashville Star.

Cena will be one of several celebrities featured in ABC reality series, Fast Cars and Superstars: Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race, which is scheduled to start in June.^[78]

Commercials

Beginning in October 2002, Cena was featured rapping in commercials for the energy drink YJ Stinger.

In November 2006, Cena filmed a number of advertisements with Subway spokesperson Jared Fogle for Subway restaurants,^[79] which began airing in January of 2007.

Personal information

Cena is second eldest of five brothers - Dan, Matt, Steve and Sean.^[80]

Cena attended Cushing Academy.^[81] Cena graduated from Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts with a degree in exercise physiology.^[82] After playing college football, where he achieved Division III All-American status as a center,^[83] Cena pursued a career as a bodybuilder.^[10]

Before becoming a professional wrestler, Cena was a limo driver, he admitted he usually got lost and was late picking up and dropping off people.^{[citation needed]}

Cena is known to be a fan of cartoons and has mentioned on "5 Questions" that his favorite animated movie is Fist of the North Star. Cena has also stated to be a huge fan of the Command & Conquer series and names it his favorite game of all time. ^[84]

Cena is left-handed^[85], however he throws right-handed and favors his right arm in the ring.

References

External links

• WWE.com Profile
• John Cena at the Internet Movie Database