John Cena
| John Cena | |
|---|---|
| File:Johncenatitle.jpg | |
| Born | April 23, 1977 West Newbury, Massachusetts |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | The Prototype John Cena |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) |
| Billed weight | 248 lb (113 kg) |
| Billed from | West Newbury, Massachusetts |
| Trained by | Ultimate Pro Wrestling Ohio Valley Wrestling |
| Debut | 2001 |
Jonathan 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 currently performs 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, college football player, a team captain and All-American center for Division III at Springfield College. While at Springfield, he earned a degree in exercise physiology.[1]
Early career
In 2000, Cena first started training to become a wrestler at the California-based UPW. There he created his character: The Prototype. His look was so impressive that WWE signed him to a developmental contract out of UPW.
World Wrestling Entertainment
Cena's first televised WWE match was against Kurt Angle on June 27, 2002 at the Allstate Arena in Chicago. Angle was giving "free shots" at himself to newcomers. Inspired by Vince McMahon's recent, somewhat inscrutable, speech to WWE's rising stars, exhorting them to show "ruthless aggression" to earn a place among the legends, Cena took advantage of this opportunity. 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. 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 to Stephanie McMahon, 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 his frequent freestyle raps about other wrestlers helped to gain him a following. 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. He would also feud with Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero before Cena 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 Hardcore Holly against Lesnar, Big Show, Nathan Jones, Matt Morgan and A-Train. In the end, Cena hit the F-U on 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 Big Show, leading to a WrestleMania XX victory to win the WWE United States Championship by distracting the ref and using his brass knuckles. This was his first WWE title. Eventually he was stripped of the title by then-SmackDown! General Manager Kurt Angle. He later won the title back after winning a best-of-5 match series with Booker T. Cena's 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 actually 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 World Championship Wrestling (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
At the 2005 Royal Rumble, Cena and Batista both went over the top rope at the same time to end the match, but Vince McMahon demanded the match go into sudden death. Cena had Batista in a F-U but Batista reversed it to win the match. Shortly after, Cena competed in a tournament to become the #1 contender for the WWE Championship, and won the tournament by defeating Kurt Angle at No Way Out. In the weeks leading up to WrestleMania 21, where Cena was to face JBL, he lost his United States Championship to JBL's Chief of Staff, Orlando Jordan, with he and JBL blowing up the spinner style belt the following week. During this feud with JBL, Cena established a name for his fans: the "Chain Gang Soldiers" (often shorted to "Chain Gang").
On April 3, 2005 at WrestleMania 21 in Los Angeles, Cena defeated JBL to win his first WWE Championship. He then had a custom WWE Championship belt made, just as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin had done with his "Smoking Skull" belt. Cena's WWE Championship belt is similar to his custom U.S. title belt, featuring a Spinner type WWE logo plate. In the meanwhile, JBL stole the original WWE belt and claimed he was still WWE Champion.
At Judgment Day, Cena successfully defended his title against JBL 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 able to reclaim the real WWE Championship belt, though he still carried around his Spinner belt.
Drafted to RAW
On the June 6, 2005 episode of RAW, John Cena became the first draft in the annual WWE Draft Lottery, 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.
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 that Fozzy would not perform until the upcoming SummerSlam 2005 Pay-per-view. After a successful title defense against his rival Carlito, Cena also 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 also handing a pair of 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 2005, where Cena lost to Angle by disqualification after hitting Angle with the WWE Title belt, meaning Cena would still be Champion. At Taboo Tuesday 2005, Cena again successfully retained 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 died. After a main event match with Randy Orton that had Cena delivering the F-U 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.
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 F-U to the former RAW general manager, effectively ending the hostilities he had with Bischoff and giving Cena the last laugh.
Losing the WWE Championship
On January 8, 2006, at New Year's Revolution, Cena successfully defended his WWE Championship in an Elimination Chamber match. John Cena had to face Kane, Kurt Angle, Carlito, Chris Masters, and Shawn Michaels. However, after the match, Vince McMahon came onto the stage and announced that Cena was going to defend the WWE Championship against Edge, who was cashing in his previously earned Money in the Bank title shot. 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 JBL.
Second WWE Championship reign
On January 29, 2006, Cena made Edge submit to the STFU at the 2006 Royal Rumble to regain the WWE Championship], three weeks to the day he lost it.
On February 20, 2006, Triple H defeated Rob Van Dam (RVD) and Big Show to win the Road to WrestleMania Tournament which in turn gave him a title shot at Cena's WWE Championship at WrestleMania 22. On the February 27, 2006 edition of RAW, Triple H and John Cena went face-to-face verbal confrontation in the middle of the ring. Triple H accused Cena several times of lacking in-ring ability, saying "Well, excuse me if I'm not afraid of the guy whose one big move is pumpin' up his Reeboks."
On the April 3, 2006 edition RAW, Cena again came out to a mixed reaction which he commented on. Later in the night Cena was defeated in a handicap match against Triple H and Edge. After the show ended, Cena thanked the fans, whether they were cheering for him or cheering because he had just taken a considerable beating. Despite his positive words, he still received a substantial amount of jeering, though less than what he had received during the show. It has been announced on WWE.com that at Backlash 2006 Cena will defend his title against Edge and Triple H in a Triple Threat match.
Fan backlash
After the draft lottery which brought him to RAW, Cena's popularity with the fans slowly began to diminish. With his two biggest rivarlies being against Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle, the cult followings of both men were overwhelming in the crowd. Slowly, boos began to emerge during Cena's matches.
On the January 2, 2006 edition of RAW, Cena participated in a First Blood match against Angle, and despite Angle being the heel, the crowd rooted for Angle, bombarding Cena with boos. The crowd cheered when Angle succeeded in making Cena bleed and won the match.
Cena was reported as being frustrated by this, although he stated that the fans obviously had a choice in deciding who they wanted to root for. Possible reasons for the negative reaction were the predictability of the storylines and matches he had been booked in, and that his character had become more mainstream and less edgy over time as he received more exposure from the non-wrestling press and he became more of a typical face instead of a tweener antihero. Cena's circumstances are similar to Rocky Maivia's, before he became The Rock, who despite being pushed as a face was jeered the more he tried to get the fans to side with him. Cena, during a spot on RAW's January 9, 2006 episode, claimed to be unbothered by the portion of the crowd that was booing him. In a risky move, he further divided the crowd by referring to anyone who was not on his side as drinking "Haterade," and telling them that they could "kiss [his] ass."
Until New Year's Revolution, the reactions Cena drew continued to be polarized, propelling him to the status of a highly contestable babyface.
At New Year's Revolution, Cena successfully defended his title in an Elimination Chamber match, much to the displeasure of most of the crowd. During the match, Angle, and every other superstar, heel or face, was cheered for successfully performing a move on Cena (Cena was met with resounding boos if he fought back). At the end of the match, Edge appeared much to the surprise and delight of the crowd, cashing in on his Money-in-the-Bank clause. He defeated Cena, becoming the new WWE Champion. Instead of being angered, the crowd cheered Edge on.
At the 2006 Royal Rumble, Cena reclaimed the WWE Championship, again drawing polarized reactions from the crowd.
Between this time and WrestleMania 22, where he was slated to face Triple H in a WWE Championship match, Cena's popularity appeared to be rapidly waning. A popular heel, Triple H drew positive crowd reactions for verbally putting Cena down, especially when he brought up Cena's perceived lack of wrestling ability. Cena responded with self-deprecation and sharp promos, which ultimately did little to aid his popularity at WrestleMania 22.
At WrestleMania 22, Cena retained the WWE Championship. He was booed at every turn, even during his grand entrance that glorified the Chicago Mafia, while Triple H had difficulty garnering heel heat. Announcers at WrestleMania 22 attributed the constant booing of Cena to the overwhelming population of "traditional wrestling fans," suggesting that Cena was too young, edgy and original for the older audience to appreciate. Despite remaining WWE Champion, Cena was visibly affected by the crowd's treatment of him.
Throughout the following RAWs, Cena's tendency to draw mixed crowd reactions persisted.
Outside of wrestling
Many professional wrestlers have a diverse career outside of wrestling, and John Cena is no exception.
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 "My 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.
Film
A division of World Wrestling Entertainment, WWE Films produces and fully finances motion pictures under the supervision of Joel Simon, President of the company. 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, Walk the Line) 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 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 face, 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 WWE debut, Cena made a guest appearance on the Internet stream show Go Sick in 2001 as Bruebaker, an angry, cursing wrestler.
During his WWE career, Cena appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on July 23, 2005 in order to promote his CD, WWE, and SummerSlam 2005. Cena appeared again on this show on March 14, 2006 to promote Saturday Night's Main Event and WrestleMania 22. Over 150 people were turned away as audience members due to Cena's demanding popularity.
Other appearances include Fuse's Daily Download, Fox Sports Net's Best Damn Sports Show Period, G4's Training Camp (also with Shelton Benjamin), 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 in the opening segment, and in a 24 spoof skit with cast member Bobby Lee.
Cena was a guest judge on the March 28 2006 edition of Nashville Star.
Cena was a presenter at the 2006 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony on April 1, 2006, inducting William "The Refrigerator" Perry into the Hall of Fame's "Celebrity Wing."
Most recently, Cena appeared on UK children's programme Mighty Truck of Stuff on April 21, 2006.
Wrestling facts
"The Five Moves of Doom"
Cena's "Six Moves of Doom" is a term that some wrestling fans use to refer to a combo of moves Cena uses in most of his matches that leads to the pinfall or submission. The "Moves of Doom" moniker was similarly used to denote Bret Hart's repertoire and may be considered derogatory. The following are the six moves and the approximate order in which John Cena executes them (the fifth move can be either the finishing move or the set-up for the sixth and final move):
- Flying shoulder block
- Sitout hip toss or multiple clotheslines
- Five Knuckle Shuffle (Fist drop with theatrics)
- F-U (Standing fireman's carry takeover or fireman's carry powerslam)
- STF-U (Stepover toehold facelock)
Finishing and signature moves
- F-U (Standing fireman's carry takeover or fireman's carry powerslam)
- STF-U (Stepover toehold facelock)
- Five Knuckle Shuffle (Fist drop with theatrics)
- Killswitch (Side release spin-out powerbomb)
- Flying shoulder block
- Sitout hip toss
- Freestyle / Protoplex (Swinging fisherman suplex)
- Spinebuster
Signature illegal weapons
Signature taunts
- Waving one hand in front of his face and 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.
- Screaming "The Champ is Here!" (when he holds a championship)
- Spinning his spinner title championship belt.
Personal information
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. |
John Cena's wrestling influences include Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and The Rock. Cena's father, John Cena Sr., works in the pro wrestling business as New England independent wrestling announcer and manager Johnny Fabulous. He is second of five brothers. His brothers are Dan, Matt, Steve and Sean (Boog). Matt is also a body builder.
John Cena is a huge fan of cartoons (before he got his own merchandise he could always be spotted wearing Scooby-Doo, Family Guy, The Simpsons or any other cartoon-related clothing).
Cena used to hang out with Samoa Joe and Frankie Kazarian while in OVW.
Championships and accomplishments
-
- Defeated Disciples of Synn on August 15, 2001 in Jeffersonville, Indiana, USA
- Lost to Shelton Benjamin and Brock Lesnar on October 29, 2001 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA
- PWI Most Improved Wrestler Award (2003)
- PWI Most Popular Wrestler Award (2004)
- PWI Most Popular Wrestler Award (2005)
- Rec.sport.pro-wrestling Awards
- 2004 Most Improved Wrestler
- 2005 Most Overrated Wrestler
- UPW Heavyweight Championship
- Defeated Smelly on April 27, 2000 in San Diego, California, USA
- Lost to Smelly on May 24, 2000 in Santa Ana, California, USA
-
- Defeated Booker T on October 3, 2004 in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA
- Lost to Carlito on October 5, 2004 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA
-
- Defeated Carlito on November 16, 2004 in Dayton, Ohio, USA
- Lost to Orlando Jordan on March 1, 2005 in Albany, New York, USA
-
- Defeated John "Bradshaw" Layfield on April 3, 2005 in Los Angeles, California, USA
- Lost to Edge on January 8, 2006 in Albany, New York, USA
- WWE Championship (2) (Current)
- Defeated Edge on January 29, 2006 in Miami, Florida, USA
Footnotes
- ^ "College football career". shopping.yahoo.com. Retrieved January 27.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "College academics". biography.ms. Retrieved January 27.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Wrestling trivia before WWE". www.imdb.com. Retrieved January 27.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Cena still the champion due to disqualification". www.wwe.com. Retrieved April 4.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Cena to star in new movie, The Marine". columbiarecords.com. Retrieved January 31.
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External links
