John Cena

John Cena
File:Johncena.jpg
Born	April 23, 1977 West Newbury, Massachusetts
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	The Prototype John Cena
Billed height	6 ft 0 in (186 cm)
Billed weight	240 lb (100 kg)
Trained by	UPW
Debut	2001

John Felix Anthony Cena Jr. (born April 23, 1977 in West Newbury, Massachusetts), better known to wrestling fans simply as John Cena, is an Italian-American professional wrestler, rap music artist, and actor currently performing for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on the RAW brand, where he is the current WWE Champion. Cena brought the once SmackDown!-exclusive WWE Championship belt to RAW on June 6, 2005 when he was drafted to RAW during the 2005 Draft . Cena has released a music CD, You Can't See Me, with Tha Trademarc, and has performed live concerts with Tha Trademarc and Bumpy Knuckles.

Before his Professional Wrestling career, John Cena was a bodybuilder and college football star, a team captain and All-American center for Division III at Springfield College. While at Springfield, he earned a degree in exercise physiology.^[1]

John Cena was the biggest loser ever! He copied all the things he says now such as "You Can't See me", "Chain Gang", and etc. He did all this because he was unable to think of one of his own and he had no choice other than to copy.

World Wrestling Entertainment

Cena's first televised WWE match was against Kurt Angle on June 27, 2002. Angle was giving free shots at himself to newcomers, something he still does from time to time, and Cena had been inspired by Vince McMahon's recent, somewhat inscrutable, speech to WWE's rising stars, exhorting them to show "ruthless aggression" and they would have a place among the legends. He almost beat Kurt Angle, kicking out of the Angle Slam and surviving the Ankle Lock submission hold, but ultimately losing to a hard amateur-style pin.

Cena was a typical face, an underdog in each match, which at first did not get much reaction from the fans. After losing with then baby face, Billy Kidman in a tournament match for the new WWE Tag Team Championships, Cena turned heel and blamed Kidman for the loss. Shortly after his heel turn, on a Halloween episode of SmackDown!, he performed a freestyle rap in a Vanilla Ice costume, and his gimmick was changed to that of a white rapper. At first, this gimmick got Cena a lot of heel heat from the fans, but he was later cheered by them due to the freestyle raps he made about other wrestlers. During his run as a heel, Cena feuded with the Undertaker and Chris Benoit and also got some help from the Full Blooded Italians. One of Cena's first trademark symbols was a modified, classic WWF logo (without the "F") with the slogan "Word Life."

Cena also feuded with Brock Lesnar. During that feud, he derived his signature finishing maneuver, the F-U as a counterpart to Lesnar's similar F-5 move. Later, when Lesnar turned heel, they briefly joined forces. However, due to his growing popularity, Cena eventually turned face, betraying Lesnar and feuding with him again. Cena established his signature "You can't see me" catch phrase and hand gesture during this time as well. In a 2003 Survivor Series match, he was on a team led by Kurt Angle with Benoit, John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL) and Holly against Lesnar, The Big Show, Nathan Jones, Matt Morgan and A-Train. In the end Cena hit the F-U on The Big Show and got the final pin, leaving him and Benoit as the sole survivors. The two superstars ended their feud there, though they would later fight each other during Cena's run for the WWE United States Championship.

United States champion

In 2004, Cena's popularity started to increase. He feuded with The Big Show, leading to a WrestleMania XX victory to win the WWE United States Championship, his first WWE title. Eventually he was stripped of the title by then-SmackDown! General Manager Kurt Angle. Cena later won the title back after winning a best-of-5 match series with Booker T. His second title reign was short-lived; he lost the title to the debuting Carlito Caribbean Cool in Cena's first televised match since regaining the title.

As part of an angle, Cena was attacked in a Boston nightclub by Carlito's bodyguard, Jesus, which kept Cena from wrestling for about a month due to a kidney puncture. In actuality, this event was kayfabe and Cena was busy filming "The Marine". He returned to wrestling just in time for the 2004 Survivor Series. Upon his return, Cena exacted revenge on Carlito in a SmackDown! match and won the U.S. title back. Afterward, however, Cena was attacked in the ring by Jesus, who hit him in the kidney several times with his own chain.

Cena's United States title reigns were notable for two reasons. His second title reign came after a best-of-5 series of matches - a series of matches similar to the one wrestled by Booker T and Chris Benoit for the World Television Championship in WCW. In addition, Cena wore a modified United States title belt during his third reign as champion. The new belt featured the same colors, but with the face plate fashioned as a spinner.

WWE Champion

After a strong showing at the 2005 Royal Rumble, Cena became involved in a feud with JBL after Cena won a No.1 contendership tournament to face him in the SmackDown! main event at WrestleMania 21 for the WWE Championship. This feud saw him lose his United States Championship to JBL's Chief of Staff, Orlando Jordan, with he and JBL "destroying" the spinner style belt the following week. During this feud Cena established a name for his corps of fans, the "Chain Gang Soldiers" (often shorted to "Chain Gang").

SmackDown! General Manager Teddy Long told John Cena to wait for WrestleMania to get back at JBL for destroying the Spinner belt but Cena put Long in the F-U for keeping him away. As punishment, Cena was sanctioned; he could not touch JBL until WrestleMania 21 or he would lose his title shot. If he was struck by JBL first, however, then he could retaliate. A campaign of vandalism against JBL's property ensued, including ruining his ten-gallon hat at the contract signing, spraypainting a yellow streak down his back, and slashing the tires of his limousine. At one point, Cena stopped the interference by The Cabinet on a match, hitting the Basham Brothers and Orlando Jordan with a steel chair. He threatened JBL with the chair, but instead of forfeiting his title shot by striking JBL, Cena sat down by his cowering body and did his "You Can't See Me" gesture in his face.

Cena defeated JBL to win the WWE Championship on April 3, 2005 at WrestleMania 21 in Los Angeles. JBL stole the real WWE belt back before the next SmackDown! taping. Cena, however, had a custom WWE title made, just as Stone Cold Steve Austin did with his "Smoking Skull" belt. The new belt was similar to his custom U.S. title belt, featuring a Spinner type WWE logo plate.

SmackDown! featured a series of matches to decide who Cena would face in his first title defense at Judgment Day. John Cena successfully defeated JBL, the winner of the tournament, in a bloody "I Quit" Match. JBL, cornered against a glass pane, quit to avoid getting hit by a tractor trailer's exhaust pipe. He got hit anyway, sending him through the glass pane behind him. Cena was finally able to claim the real WWE Championship belt, though he still carried around his Spinner belt.

Cena on RAW

On the June 6, 2005 episode of RAW, John Cena became the first draft in the annual WWE Draft , with Eric Bischoff drafting him from SmackDown! to RAW. Upon entering RAW, Cena immediately entered an angle with Chris Jericho and Christian. The rivalry between Christian and Cena had already been established when Christian attacked Cena on the Jericho's Highlight Reel, while Cena's rivalry with Jericho started when Jericho turned on Cena in a tag team match against Christian and Tyson Tomko.

Cena defeated Christian and Chris Jericho in a Triple Threat match at WWE Vengeance by knocking Jericho out of the ring and pinning Christian. On the June 27 edition of RAW, Cena teamed with Shawn Michaels and a returning Hulk Hogan for the first time to beat Jericho, Christian, and Tyson Tomko.

File:CenaNewTitle.jpg

John Cena with his customized WWE Championship belt after winning it at WrestleMania 21.

Feud with Bischoff

Cena quickly made enemies with RAW general manager Eric Bischoff, delivering the F-U to Bischoff on the July 11, 2005 edition of RAW. Bischoff vowed to make Cena's stint on RAW difficult and chose Chris Jericho to contend for Cena's title. On July 25, 2005 Cena and Jericho competed in the first ever battle of the bands on RAW. The battle featured Cena's Chain Gang against Jericho's Fozzy. Cena performed but Jericho refused, claiming the audience was biased against him and said that Fozzy would not perform until the upcoming SummerSlam Pay-per-view (PPV). After a successful title defense against his rival Carlito, Cena successfully defended his title against Chris Jericho at SummerSlam 2005.

On August 22, 2005 in Hampton Virginia, Cena beat Jericho in a "You're Fired" match for the WWE Championship despite the General Manager giving Cena a low-blow and brass knuckles to Jericho. After the match, Kurt Angle came into the ring and attacked Cena while Eric Bischoff revealed that Angle was the number one contender for Cena's world title. After several weeks of feuding, both men faced off in the main event of Unforgiven, where Cena lost to Angle by disqualification after hitting Angle with the WWE Title belt, meaning Cena would still be Champion.

At WWE Homecoming on October 3, 2005, John Cena defeated General Manager Eric Bischoff in a no disqualification match despite interference from Kurt Angle. At Taboo Tuesday 2005, Cena successfully defended his WWE Championship in a triple threat match against Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels by pinning Michaels.

On the November 14, 2005 edition of RAW, Cena paid tribute to Eddie Guerrero, who had recently passed away. After a main event match with Randy Orton that had Cena delivering the FU to Orton, Cena took off the Eddie Guerrero "I'm your Papi!" T-shirt he had worn during the match in Eddie's honor. He laid it down on the mat and placed his championship belt on top of it, honoring Guerrero, who was a former WWE Champion.

At the 2005 Survivor Series, Cena successfully defended the WWE Championship against Kurt Angle, even with Angle's new ally Daivari serving as the special guest referee. The following night on RAW, Cena won against Kurt Angle and Chris Masters in a triple threat, no disqualification, no Countout submission match set up by General Manager Eric Bischoff by making Masters tap out with an STF hold, later dubbed the STF-U.

On the December 5, 2005 episode of RAW, Cena made his opinion of Bischoff known during Bischoff's mock trial and helped Vince McMahon fire Bischoff by delivering the FU to the former RAW general manager, effectively ending the hostilities he had with Bischoff and giving him the last laugh.

Elimination Chamber

Scheduled to defend his title at the first RAW PPV of 2006, New Years Revolution, Cena would fight in an Elimination Chamber match against Kurt Angle, Carlito, Kane, Chris Masters, and Shawn Michaels. Each of the particpants of this match earned their shots in separate qualifying matches on the December 12, 2005 episode of RAW. On that same edition of RAW, Cena faced Daivari in the very first "You Can't See Me" match (devised by Vince McMahon as a play on words regarding Cena's hand gesture/taunt of the same name) in which Cena was forced to wear a blindfold, but regardless still won with the STF-U. Cena also appeared on the Tribute to the Troops where he defeated Chris Masters.

On the December 26, 2005 edition of RAW, the six participants of the Elimination Chamber had to take part in "Beat the Clock" matches to determine who would enter the chamber last. Cena also had to wrestle Shelton Benjamin in a match and won with the STF-U but did not get the best time.

During the January 2, 2006 episode of RAW, Cena lost to Angle in a First blood match when Angle hit him with a chair. With the referee was down, however, Cena managed to apply the STF-U and made Angle tap out before Daivari woke the referee and got him to end the match in favour of Angle.

On January 8, John Cena successfully defended his WWE Championship inside the Elimination Chamber at New Years Revoultion. After Carlito turned on Chris Masters, and eliminated him, Cena pinned Carlito to end the match and retain his title.

Losing the WWE Championship

After the Elimination Chamber match, Vince McMahon came onto the stage and announced that Cena was going to defend the WWE Championship against Edge that same night; Edge earned this chance with his "Money in the Bank" contract which he won in a 6 man ladder match at Wrestlemania 21. This contract guaranteed him a championship match against the World Heavyweight Champion, but since that title got moved to SmackDown! during the draft, WWE Creative subtly changed every mention to the WWE Championship. Edge quickly delivered two spears to Cena, pinning him to win the WWE Championship and to end Cena's reign as WWE Champion at 280 days, matching that of previous champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield.

The manner in which Edge won the WWE Championship from Cena was seen by many of Cena's fans to be very cheap; Cena was tired and sore from already having fought five other wrestlers that night, while Edge was fresh and ready to go. Edge replied to those accusations by saying "you don't have to be the biggest, strongest or toughest but you do have to be the smartest". Later, on "Five Questions with John Cena," (Cena's weekly Internet "show" on wwe.com where he answers e-mail questions from his fans) Cena credited Edge by saying that taking the WWE Championship the way he did was a smart move, but that he didn't plan to let Edge keep the title for long.

Some believe the decision for Cena to lose the title was last-minute because Cena had been receiving mixed and sometimes negative reactions at WWE events. While Cena still seems to have a large fan base, some of his fans have reported that they do not respect him because they feel he lacks legitimate wrestling moves. Other WWE fans have grown tired of his gimmick. During one episode of Monday Night RAW when Cena was facing Shelton Benjamin, the crowd had mixed reactions to the match, chanting "Let's go Cena, Let's go Shelton." Younger children seemed to have been cheering for Cena while older fans were cheering against him.

According to Wrestling Insiders, the plan going into WrestleMania 22 was that Cena would retain the title until that event, where he would then face Triple H. Now that Cena is Champion again, that potential match could still happen.

The feud heated up on the January 9, 2006 RAW, when Cena delivered an F-U to Edge's valet, Lita. Then, during the January 23 episode of RAW, John Cena and Edge met in the ring again in a "pick your own partners" match. After being turned down by both Triple H and Big Show, Edge finally got Chris Masters to partner with him, while John Cena chose one of his idols, Ric Flair. Cena dominated much of the match and he and Flair won.

Cena announced that he would use his rematch clause against Edge at the Royal Rumble. Vince McMahon is still using Cena as a face for the time being but is ultimately confused and angered by the recent negative fan reaction to Cena's character (according to ProWrestling). His future use is in question, as his negative reception from fans in New Jersey has left McMahon speculating how to market a face who is quickly becoming a perceived heel. This situation mirrors that of The Rock in his early WWE career.

Second WWE Championship reign

File:Cena2nd.jpg

Cena after winning the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble 2006

John Cena was successful in regaining the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble 2006. Then, on the January 30, 2006 edition of RAW, Edge announced he would use the re-match clause to try to win back the title that night. Edge dominated the first half of the match, and Cena the second half. Right before the episode was scheduled to end, Lita interfered and hit Edge with the championship belt, knocking him over. While she meant to hit Cena, by hitting Edge instead, she offically interfered on Cena's behalf, disqualifying Cena. Due to the confusion between the announcers at the end of the episode, the fans were left guessing, but seconds after the episode was over, Edge's win was on the front page of wwe.com. But, because the match ended in a disqualification, the belt did not change hands.

On the February 6, 2006 edition of RAW, McMahon ordered a mixed tag-team match pitting John Cena and Maria against Edge and Lita. On the line was the right to choose the special guest referee in the WWE Championship Match (between Cena and Edge) scheduled for February 16, even though Edge has already used his rematch clause. Before the tag-team match, Maria was extremly nervous, and in an effort to calm her down and give her some confidence, Cena gave her a fairly long kiss. Cena and Maria went on to win that match, with Cena annoucing his special guest referee for the WWE Championship Match to be Mick Foley. On a special Thursday night edition of Raw, Cena retained his title after catching Edge in midair as Edge went for a flying spear, and then hitting the FU.

Road to WrestleMania 22

On February 20, Triple H defeated Rob Van Dam and the Big Show to win the Road to Wrestlemania 22 Tournament to get a title shot at Cena's WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 22. After the match, Cena came out and stared down with Triple H as the show went off the air.

Outside of wrestling

Music and movies

Cena has cut a series of rap music tracks. His fifth WWE entrance song, "Basic Thugonomics" 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". Tha Trademarc is currently working on his own album which will feature John Cena. The first single from the You Can't See Me album was "Bad, Bad Man". The music video for the song, a parody of 1980s culture and the television show The A-Team, premiered on an edition of SmackDown!. WWE premiered the music video for Cena's second single, "Right Now", on the August 8 edition of RAW.

John Cena has worked with several personalities in the Hip-Hop industry, such as Freddie Foxx (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. Most recently, Cena and Tha Trademarc are featured on a track by The Perceptionists, "Champion Scratch." Cena has also performed on BBC Two's long running Top of the Pops, becoming the first professional wrestler to perform on the program.

A division of World Wrestling Entertainment, WWE Films produces and fully finances motion pictures under the supervision of Joel Simon, President of of the company. John Cena's first movie credit will be the lead role in The Marine, a film directed by John Bonito, co-starring Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Ladder 49) and Kelly Carlson (Nip/Tuck). WWE has completed a deal with 20th Century Fox to distribute The Marine theatrically in 2006.^[2] Stars of other movies by WWE Films include Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Kane, and Triple H.

Fashion

Cena's ring attire in and out of the ring reflects the old school hip-hop culture that his character represents. He previously wore throwback jerseys (during his time as heel, he would wear jerseys of a rival team of the city he was wrestling in; as a good guy, he would wear jerseys of one of the city's home teams), though he now generally wears "Chain Gang" related merchandise. He has also worn a chain with a lock on it to the ring and the chain was at times utilized as a weapon. This chain is now (usually) replaced by his enormous, chromed and diamond studded "Chain Gang" spinner medallion.

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."

Guest appearances

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

During his WWE career, Cena has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on July 23, 2005 in order to promote his CD, WWE, and SummerSlam 2005. Other appearances include Fuse's Daily Download, FOX Sports Net's Best Damn Sports Show Period, G4's Training Camp, and he has also served as a co-presenter with Hulk Hogan on the 2005 Teen Choice Awards show.

Cena also was the guest on the October 23, 2005 episode of "Wally's World" on NBC's Bank of America Countdown to Green where he rode with NBC analyst Wally Dallenbach around Martinsville Speedway, then proceeded to put NBC pit reporter Marty Snider into a submission move. (NBC Universal owns the USA Network, which broadcasts WWE RAW.)

Cena appeared on the November 26, 2005 episode of Mad TV, appearing in the opening segment and in a skit with cast member Bobby Lee.

Trademarks

Freestyle Raps

See John Cena's Raps.

"The Five Moves of Doom"

Cena's "Five Moves of Doom" is a term that some wrestling fans use to refer to a combo of moves Cena uses when he is on a comeback in match that leads to the pin. The following are the Five moves and are in the approximate order in which Cena uses them.

1. Flying shoulder block
2. Sitout hip toss or multiple clotheslines
3. Killswitch / Protobomb / Freestyle (Side release spin-out powerbomb)
4. Five Knuckle Shuffle (Fist drop with theatrics)
5. F-U (Which can refer to his standing fireman's carry takeover, Death Valley driver, Samoan driver, or fireman's carry powerslam variations) or STF-U (Stepover toehold facelock)

Other signature moves

• Protoplex (Swinging fisherman suplex)
• Throwback (Modified neck snap)
• Spinebuster
• DDT

Signature illegal weapons

• Steel chain
• Brass knuckles

Signature taunts

• Waving one hand in front of his face, saying "You can't see me."
• Pumping up his Reebok Pump sneakers.
• Putting his hands up while spreading them and putting his thumb sideways and his pinky up, meaning "Word Life".
• Occasionally freestyling on his opponents before his matches.
• Saying, "You want some...come get some!" to his opponents, referring to his never-back-down attitude.
• Screaming "The Champ is Here!" (when he holds a championship)

Trivia

• He is currently undefeated at Wrestlemania, defeating Big Show at WrestleMania XX for the WWE United States Championship and JBL at WrestleMania 21 to win the WWE Championship.
• Cena's wrestling influences include Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold and The Rock.
• Cena's father, also named John Cena, works in the pro wrestling business as New England independent wrestling announcer and manager Johnny Fabulous.
• On October 3, 2005 John Cena was on a hip-hop radio station in Las Vegas. They presented Cena as a legitimate wrestler and rapper, and mocked "Macho Man" Randy Savage for his less-than-stellar efforts of doing the same thing. Cena plugged the WWE Homecoming show on the USA Network like it was the Superbowl of pro wrestling. He made sure to present SmackDown! and Batista as an equal to himself and RAW.

Championships and accomplishments

• Ohio Valley Wrestling

• 1-time OVW Heavyweight Champion
• 1-time OVW Southern Tag Team Champion, with Rico Constantino

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI Most Improved Wrestler Award (2003)
• PWI Most Popular Wrestler Award (2004)

• Ultimate Pro Wrestling

• 1-time UPW Champion

• World Wrestling Entertainment

• 2-time WWE Champion (current)
• 3-time WWE United States Champion

Footnotes

1. ^ "College football career". shopping.yahoo.com. January 27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
2. ^ "College academics". biography.ms. January 27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
3. ^ "Wrestling triva before WWE". www.imdb.com. January 27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
4. ^ "Cena still the champion due to disqualification". www.wwe.com. January 31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
5. ^ "Cena to star in new movie, The Marine". columbiarecords.com. January 31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)

External links

Official Sites

• WWE page
• Official Myspace page

Fan Sites

• JohnCena.us
• Cena.Cjb.Net
• Cena-Net.Org
• Cena-Thuganomics.Com
• Cena-Unlimited.Com
• Cena-unleashed.Net
• ObsessedWithWrestling profile

Other

• John Cena at IMDb