John Cena
| John Cena | |
|---|---|
| File:CenaNewTitle.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 | 240 lb (110 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, 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]
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. 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, 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 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 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, Bradshaw (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
At the 2005 Royal Rumble, Cena and Batista both went over the top rope at the same time to end the match. Vince McMahon demanded the match go into sudden death, and Batista threw Cena over the top rope to win the Rumble. In the meanwhile, 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, Cena 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").The chain gang is a mimication of 50 Cents #REDIRECT [[G Unit.]]
On April 3, 2005 at WrestleMania 21 in Los Angeles, Cena defeated JBL to win his first WWE Championship. Cena then had a custom WWE title made, just as Stone Cold Steve Austin did with his "Smoking Skull" belt, 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 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 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 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 a STF hold, ".
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.
Losing the WWE Championship
On January 8, 2006, at the New Year's Revolution PPV, Cena successfully defended his WWE Championship in an Elimination Chamber. 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
At the 2006 Royal Rumble, Cena regained the WWE Championship by forcing Edge to tap out to the STFU. Then, the next night on RAW, Edge announced he would use the re-match clause. As Cena had Edge set up for an FU, Lita interfered and hit Edge with the championship belt. The referree ruled that she officially interfered on Cena's behalf, disqualifying Cena.
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 that if Edge wins, he would pick Lita as the Special Guest Referee, 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.
Feud with Triple H
On February 20 2006, Triple H defeated Rob Van Dam 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. After the match, Cena came out and stared down with Triple H as the show went off the air.
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. Cena was audibly booed upon appearance, Jerry "The King" Lawler attempted to pass this off as the fans booing Jonathan Coachman. Triple H interrupted Cena and tried his best to put down the fan favorite, but was loudly cheered by the crowd. 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." Although he was cheered on during his feud with Edge, this was mainly because Edge's heel heat also stemmed from real-life events.
The two men were then informed by Vince McMahon that they would be teaming up in a as partners in a handicap match prior to WrestleMania 22. Their opponents will be Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, and the World Heavyweight Champion, Kurt Angle. This match is scheduled to take place at the return of Saturday Night's Main Event on March 18, 2006.
Since then, Triple H and Cena have had stare-offs whenever possible, including after matches of the other and their contract signing, which in turn saw a 6-man tag match for the main event. After it all, Cena and Triple H were left staring each other down again, but their Saturday Night's Main Event enemy Randy Orton came in and delivered the RKO to Cena to send a message that he is ready for their match at Saturday Night Main Event. At Saturday Night's Main Event Cena had the match won with a FU on Orton but Triple H broke up the pin and gave Cena a Pedigree and put Orton on top of Cena. Cena kicked out and reversed a RKO in a roll up and pinned Orton as Triple H looked on in disbelief
Outside of wrestling
Music and movies
John Cena also makes rap music. 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". 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(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, appearing in the opening segment and in a 24 spoof skit with cast member Bobby Lee.
Trademarks
"The Six 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 when he is on a comeback in match that leads to the pin or submission. The following are the six moves and are in the approximate order in which Cena uses 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
- Killswitch / Protobomb (Side release spin-out powerbomb)
- Five Knuckle Shuffle (Fist drop with theatrics)
- F-U (Which can refer to his standing fireman's carry takeover, Death Valley driver, Samoan driver, or fireman's carry powerslam variations)
- STF-U (Stepover toehold sleeper, not the traditional STF but that name is used to maintain Cena's "F-U" gimmick; internet slang meaning Shut The Fuck Up)
Other signature moves
- Freestyle / Protoplex (Swinging fisherman suplex)
- Throwback (Modified neck snap)
- Spinebuster
- DDT
Signature illegal weapons
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.
- Screaming "The Champ is Here!" (when he holds a championship)
- Spinning his spinner title championship belt.
Personal information
Cena's wrestling influences include Ric Flair, 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. He is currently undefeated at Wrestlemania with a record of 2-0. His shortest title reign was his second U.S. championship reign at 2 days.
Championships and accomplishments
- 1-time OVW Heavyweight Champion
- 1-time OVW Southern Tag Team Champion, with Rico Constantino
- PWI Most Improved Wrestler Award (2003)
- PWI Most Popular Wrestler Award (2004)
- PWI Most Popular Wrestler Award (2005)
- 1-time UPW Champion
- 2-time WWE Champion (current)
- 3-time WWE United States Champion
Championship succession
Footnotes
- ^ "College football career". shopping.yahoo.com. Retrieved January 27.
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{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Wrestling triva 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 January 31.
{{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
- WWE page
- Official Myspace page
- John Cena at IMDb
- Cena-Thuganomics.com fansite.