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John Cena

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John Cena
File:John cena.jpg
BornApril 23 1977
West Newbury, Massachusetts
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)The Prototype
Mr. P
John Cena
Billed height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Billed weight240 lb (109 kg)
Billed fromWest Newbury, Massachusetts
Trained byUPW Staff
OVW Staff
Debut2000

John Felix Anthony Cena, Jr. (born April 23 1977), is an American professional wrestler, rap music artist and actor who wrestles on the RAW brand of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he is the reigning WWE Champion.

Career

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.

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. 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. At first,File:Pacsnoopsuge.jpg this gimmick got Cena heel heat from the fans, but his frequent comical "freestyles" about other wrestlers helped to gain him a following. During this time Cena adopted the classic WWF logo (without the "F") along with the slogan "Word Life" as his "signature symbol". He was joined by an enforcer, first B-2 (also written as B², pronounced "B-Squared"), who was later replaced by Rodney Mack under the moniker "Red Dogg".

Cena eventually feuded with Brock Lesnar over the WWE Championship. During the feud he unveiled a new signature finishing maneuver, the F-U, as a counterpart to Lesnar's similar F-5 (the name being derived from a combination of "F-5" and the shorthand for "Fuck You"). The two eventually joined forces when Lesnar also turned heel and together feuded with Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero before Cena turned face by betraying Lesnar and feuding with him again, establishing his signature "you can't see me" catch phrase and hand gesture in the process.

2004

During 2004 Cena's popularity began to increase. At the start of the year, he participated in the annual January Royal Rumble, lasting up to the final 6 before being eliminated by 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. 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.

He won the title back at October's No Mercy after winning the final match of a Best-of-5 series with Booker T. This second reign was short-lived, File:Bowser mp7.jpghowever, as he lost the title to the debuting Carlito in the very next weeks SmackDown!.

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. In truth, this event was set up to allow Cena time off to film The Marine. Upon his return, Cena exacted revenge on Carlito in a SmackDown! match, winning back the U.S. title. During this reign he debuted a "custom made" spinner style title belt.

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".

With Batista winning, and choosing to vie for the (RAW exclusive) World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 21, SmackDown! held a tournament to determine #1 contendership for the their top title, the WWE Championship. In the tournament finals Cena pinned Kurt Angle to win the WrestleMania title shot.

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, who (with JBL) proceeded to "blow up" the custom spinner belt. It was during this feud that Cena first began referring to his fans as "Chain Gang Soldiers" (often shorted to just "Chain Gang").

On April 3, at WrestleMania 21, Cena defeated JBL to win the WWE Championship. As part of the storyline, he then had a custom WWE Championship belt made similar to his custom U.S. title belt, featuring a spinner-type WWE logo plate. This belt also featured a 'winged eagle' at the top, which is a staple of the WWE Championship belts. Meanwhile, JBL took the original belt and claimed he was still the WWE Champion until Cena reclaimed that belt following an "I Quit" match at Judgment Day in May.

On the June 6th 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, File:Dmx.jpgtwo wrestlers with strong cult followings. Taking on these two began a trend of "fan backlash" against Cena.

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

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. Despite Angle's best attempts to attain heel heat through their feud, the fans continued to cheer him and boo Cena.

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). They met again at November's Survivor Series, with Cena picking up a clean win this time.

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 (name derived from a combination of the STF name [although Cena's submission is actually an STS], his other move - the F-U - and the shorthand for "Shut The Fuck Up").

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 File:Wwe.jpgdelivering the F-U to the former RAW GM, effectively ending the hostilities he had with Bischoff.

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 exausted File:Xfl.jpgCena, pinning him in short order to win the WWE Championship. Cena's championship reign ended at 280 days, matching that of previous champion JBL.

Three weeks, to the day, after losing the title Cena defeated Edge at the Royal Rumble to regain the WWE Championship. During this time WWE announcers, most notably Jim Ross, were forced to acknowledge the negative reactions Cena was getting and began to refer to him as a "controversial champion" saying that he was alienating some fans with his "unorthodox style".

Jerry Lawler would often suggest that Cena was too young, "edgy" and original for the older audience to appreciate. Cena continued to polarize crowds leading up to WrestleMania 22, during which he was soundly jeered during his main event win over Triple H. Despite Triple H's best attempts to get heat, the crowd continued to favor him over Cena. Vince McMahon was reportedly upset by fans' negativity, though Cena stated that the fans "obviously had a choice in deciding whom they wanted to root for".

The crowd began to cheer Cena once again after April's Backlash, most notably when he began to side with the popular Shawn Michaels in matches against the Spirit Squad. After Cena stopped taking part in this [[Angle (professional wrestling)|angle]] and moved on to working against Rob Van Dam there was once again a notable mixture of cheers and boos in most arena's he visited, with some being more pro-Cena and some more against him.

On the May 22nd 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 Extreme Championship Wrestling One Night Stand pay-per-view event. The event saw Cena get his most negative reaction yet from the File:Wrestler.jpgvery 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). Although Cena was affected, it also motivated him to use moves outside of his usual moveset in order to play to the crowd. 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. On the next nights RAW Paul Heyman announced that the title change was official, as the match was under "Extreme rules". Coincidently, both of his WWE Championship losses in 2006 were as a result of the Money in the Bank title contract.

When Edge won the title from Van Dam in a Triple Threat match (also involving Cena) 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) while still seemingly getting positive reactions from most crowds. 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.

Having beaten Cena, Edge debuted a new "Rated R" version of the spinner belt, having Lita toss Cena's version into the Long Island Sound and declaring "the end of the era of Cena in [his] life". 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. Cena would not go quietly however, convincing 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. In their match Cena defeated Edge, retrieving the title after hitting an F-U on Edge from the top of a ladder and through two stacked tables. He brought back the original spinner belt on the following night's RAW.

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 Heavyweight Championship), 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.

At the same time Cena became involved with Kevin Federline (K-Fed) when he began appearing on RAW with Johnny Nitro and Melina. After getting into a (worked) physical altercation with Federline on RAW Federline appeared at Cyber Sunday, hitting Cena with the World Heavyweight Title during the Triple Threat match and allowing King Booker to retain his title.

In wrestling

File:F-U.jpg
Cena delivering the FU to Kurt Angle .
  • Finishing and signature moves
  • 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. (2004-2005)
  • Putting his hands up while spreading them and putting his thumb sideways and his pinky up, meaning "Word Life". (2002-present)
  • Originally with hands together and just the pinkies up (Corna).
  • Occasionally "freestyling" on his opponents before his matches. (2002-2004)
  • Military salute to the audience. (2006-present)
  • Manager(s)
  • Five Questions
Cena hosts 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" or "Brooklyn Brawler".

Championships and accomplishments

  • UPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Outside of wrestling

Music

File:Cenayoucantseeme.jpg
John Cena's first album You Can't See Me.

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 is also set to star in another film which is to begin production after WrestleMania 23. [1]

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".

Around the time Cena's film, The Marine, was released he began wearing attire more military related, including camouflage shorts, dog tags 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.

During his WWE career, Cena has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live numerous times.

He has also appeared on popular morning radio shows

Other appearances have included Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Fuse's Daily Download, 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.

Personal information

Cena's father, John Cena Sr., works in the professional wrestling business as "Johnny Fabulous", an announcer for New England based Chaotic Wrestling, as well as acting as "commissioner" for East Coast Championship Wrestling.

Cena graduated Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts with a degree in exercise physiology.[1].

After playing college football, where he achieved All-American status as a center[2]. Cena also pursued a career as a bodybuilder[3].

He is second eldest of five brothers - Dan, Matt, Steve and Sean. [4]

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.

References

  • "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)
  • "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)
  1. ^ http://www.tribute.ca/bio.asp?id=17152
  2. ^ http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:John%20Cena:1927836016:page=biography
  3. ^ http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/2002_/articles/1031537094.php
  4. ^ http://sports.ign.com/articles/607/607819p2.html
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