John Cena Early Life, Family, Age, Affairs, Facts, Wrestling career, Acting career, Personal life, Championships, Film, Fashion, Music, Filmography, Television, Awards, Biography

NAME

John Cena

OCCUPATION

Film Actor, Reality Television Star, Athlete

EDUCATION

Springfield College

PLACE OF BIRTH

West Newbury, Massachusetts

NICKNAME

The Marky Mark of Wrestling

FULL NAME

John Felix Anthony Cena

Early life

John Felix Anthony Cena Jr. was born on April 23, 1977 in West Newbury, Massachusetts to Carol (née Lupien) and John Felix Anthony Cena. He has an older brother (Dan) and three younger brothers (Matt, Steve, and Sean). His maternal grandfather was baseball player Tony Lupien. He is of English, French-Canadian, and Italian ancestry. Raised Catholic, he attended Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Massachusetts before transferring to Cushing Academy, a private prep boarding school in Ashburnham, Massachusetts. He then attended Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts. In college, he was a NCAA Division III All-American center on the college football team and wore the number 54, which is still used on some of his WWE merchandise. Cena graduated from Springfield College in 1998 with a degree in exercise physiology and body movement, after which he pursued a career in bodybuilding and worked as a limousine driver.

Professional wrestling career

Ultimate Pro Wrestling (1999–2001; 2003)

Cena started training to become a professional wrestler in 1999 at Ultimate Pro Wrestling's (UPW) California-based Ultimate University operated by Rick Bassman. Once he was placed into an in-ring role, Cena began using a semi-robotic character known as The Prototype. Some of this period of his career was documented in the Discovery Channel program Inside Pro Wrestling School. He held the UPW Heavyweight Championship for 27 days in April 2000. Cena wrestled for the UPW until March 2001. Cena returned to UPW for one night in 2003, losing to Frankie Kazarian by disqualification.

World Heavyweight Champion (2008–2010)

Cena made a surprise return as the final participant of the Royal Rumble match, winning the match, and the traditional WrestleMania title shot, by last eliminating Triple H. Instead of waiting until WrestleMania, the title shot was cashed in against then WWE Champion Randy Orton at February's No Way Out pay-per-view in a match where Cena won by disqualification, resulting in him not getting the championship. The following night on Raw, Cena was placed back into WrestleMania XXIV's WWE Championship match by defeating Orton in a non-title match with Triple H as special guest referee, making it a triple threat match between the three men, during which he was pinned by Orton. At Backlash, Cena failed to regain the title in a fatal four-way elimination match, in which he was eliminated by Orton. During that match, Cena eliminated JBL, renewing their feud from 2005. Cena defeated JBL at Judgment Day and then at One Night Stand in a First Blood match. However, JBL defeated him in a New York City Parking Lot Brawl at The Great American Bash in July to end the feud. Cena also failed to regain the WWE Championship from Triple H at Night of Champions.


On the August 4 episode of Raw, Cena became a World Tag Team Champion for a second time, teaming with Batista to defeat Cody Rhodesand Ted DiBiase, but failed to retain the championship the following week against the former champions. Cena lost to Batista at SummerSlam. Shortly after, Cena was named one of four contenders for CM Punk's World Heavyweight Championship in the Championship Scramble match at Unforgiven, but he was replaced by Rey Mysterio after suffering a herniated disc in his neck, which required surgery. Cena underwent successful surgery to repair the injury.

Cena made his in-ring return at the November's Survivor Series pay-per-view event, defeating Chris Jericho to win his first World Heavyweight Championship. The two continued their rivalry up to Armageddon, where Cena retained his championship. After defeating JBL at the Royal Rumble, Cena lost the championship at No Way Out to Edge, after Kofi Kingston was attacked by Edge, who took his place in the Elimination Chamber match. Cena was given an opportunity to regain the title at WrestleMania XXV in a triple threat match also involving Big Show, which Cena won.

Cena lost the championship back to Edge in a Last Man Standing match at Backlash after interference from Big Show, who chokeslammed Cena through a big spotlight. This resulted in Cena beginning a feud with Big Show in which Cena defeated Big Show at Judgment Day and at Extreme Rules in a submission match by applying the STFU. During Cena's feud with Big Show, The Miz challenged him to a match on the April 27 episode of Raw, but as Cena was out due to injury, Miz claimed an unofficial win via forfeit and continued to do this over the following weeks, until Cena defeated him in a singles match at The Bash.

At Night of Champions in July, Cena participated in a triple threat match for the WWE Championship against Triple H and defending champion Randy Orton (a rematch from Wrestle Mania, but was pinned by Orton after interference from Orton's protegés Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. The next night, Cena won a beat the clock challenge to earn another shot at the WWE Championship at SummerSlam, where Orton would use several underhanded tactics to retain his title. A month later at Breaking Point, Cena defeated Orton in an "I Quit" match to win his fourth WWE Championship, but lost the title back to Orton in a Hell in a Cell match at the eponymous event. Three weeks later at Bragging Rights, Cena defeated Orton in a 60-minute Iron Man match to regain the championship. Cena successfully defended the title against both Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a triple threat match at Survivor Series, but lost it to Sheamus at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairsin a tables match. The next night, Cena competed in a tournament to crown the 2009 Superstar of the Year, defeating CM Punk in the first round and Orton in the finals later that night to win the honor. He would get his rematch for the WWE Championship against Sheamus on the final Raw of 2009, where he won by disqualification, but did not win the championship. While Cena regained the title at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in an Elimination Chamber match, his reign was cut short after Mr. McMahon immediately made him defend the title against Batista, who won the title. Cena defeated Batista at WrestleMania XXVI for the title and successfully defended it at Extreme Rules, in a Last Man Standing rematch. Cena faced Batista one more time, winning an "I Quit" match at Over the Limit, thus ending their long-time feud.

Acting career

Film

WWE Studios, a division of WWE 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. In its first week, the film made approximately US$7 million at the United States box office. After ten weeks in theaters, the film grossed $18.7 million. Once the film was released on DVD, it fared better, making $30 million in rentals in the first twelve weeks.

His second film, also produced by WWE Studios, was 12 Rounds. Filming began on February 25, 2008 in New Orleans; the film was released on March 27, 2009.

Cena co-starred in his third film produced by WWE Studios, titled Legendary, which was played in selected theaters starting on September 10, 2010, for a limited time, then it was released on DVD on September 28, 2010.

That same year, Cena starred in the children's film Fred: The Movie, a film based on Lucas Cruikshank's YouTube videos of the same name, where he plays Fred's imaginary father. The movie was first aired on Nickelodeon in September 2010.

In 2015, Cena made appearances in the comedy films Trainwreck, Sisters and a cameo in Daddy's Home.

He was the pace car driver for the 58th annual Daytona 500.

In 2017, Cena lent his voice for the animated film, Ferdinand. He also appeared Daddy's Home 2, reprising his role from the 2015 film.

In 2018, Cena starred in the comedy Blockers, and will have a leading role in the Transformers spin-off prequel, Bumblebee.

Fashion

During his WWE career, Cena's attire has attempted to reflect the most current fashions and stylings within the hip hop culture that his character represents. Cena started out wearing "throwback jerseys" until WWE produced specific Cena merchandise which he began wearing. While Cena was a member of the SmackDown brand, one of his WWE produced T-shirts bore the suggestive spoonerism "Ruck Fules". Whenever it appeared on television the image was censored, not by the network, but by WWE to sell more shirts under the premise that it was "too hot for TV". He also wore a chain with a large padlock, occasionally using it as a weapon, until WrestleMania 21, when it was replaced with a chromed and diamond studded "Chain Gang" spinner medallion – reminiscent of the ones worn by members of G-Unit – matching his spinner title belt.

Around the time The Marine was released, Cena began wearing attire more military related, including camouflage shorts, dog tags, a Marine soldier cap, and a WWE produced shirt with the legend "Chain Gang Assault Battalion". Shortly after WrestleMania 23, when promotion for The Marine ended, the military attire diminished and was replaced with apparel bearing his new slogan "American Made Muscle" along with denim shorts, not seen since he was a member of the SmackDown roster. He then wore shirts that promoted Cenation and his trademark line "You Can't See Me".

Music

In addition to his wrestling career, Cena is a rapper. He performed his fifth WWE theme song, "Basic Thuganomics", and it was featured on the WWE soundtrack album WWE Originals. He also recorded a song, "Untouchables", for the company's next soundtrack album WWE ThemeAddict: The Music, Vol. 6. He collaborated on a remix for the song "H-U-S-T-L-E" along with Murs, E-40, and Chingo Bling.

Cena's debut album, You Can't See Me, was recorded with his cousin Tha Trademarc. It features, amongst other songs, his entrance theme, "The Time is Now", and the single "Bad, Bad Man", for which a music video was made that parodied 1980s culture, including the television show The A-Team. A video was also made for the second single, "Right Now," and premiered on the August 8 Raw. Cena and Tha Trademarc were later featured on a track by The Perceptionists named "Champion Scratch". Cena appeared on Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins' album Still Cool.

In October 2014, Cena was featured on two songs with rapper Wiz Khalifa for his two singles "All Day" and "Breaks" for the soundtrack to the WWE 2K15 video game.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Ready to Rumble	Gym Patron	Uncredited
2006	The Marine	John Triton
2009	12 Rounds	Danny Fisher
2010	Legendary	Mike Chetley	Direct-to-video
	Fred: The Movie	Mr. Figglehorn
2011	Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred		Direct-to-video
	The Reunion	Sam Cleary
2012	Fred 3: Camp Fred	Mr. Figglehorn
2013	The Hangover Part III	Himself	Cameo; uncredited
2014	Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery		Direct-to-video
2015	The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown!	John Cenastone (voice)
	Trainwreck	Steven
	Sisters	Pazuzu
	Daddy's Home	Roger	Cameo
2016	Surf's Up 2: WaveMania	J.C. (voice)	Direct-to-video
2017	The Wall	Staff Sergeant Shane Matthews
	Daddy's Home 2	Roger
	Ferdinand	Ferdinand the Bull (voice)
2018	Blockers	Mitchell
	Bumblebee	Burns	Post-production
2019	The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle	Yoshi (voice)	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Manhunt	Big Tim
2007	Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race	Himself	7 episodes
2009–2016	Saturday Night Live		2 episodes Season 34, episode 18 (guest) Season 42, episode 9 (host)
2010	Psych	Ewan O'Hara	Episode: "You Can't Handle This Episode"
	True Jackson, VP	Himself	Episode: "Pajama Party"
	Hannah Montana		Episode: "Love That Lets Go"
	Generator Rex	Hunter Cain	Voice role Episode: "The Hunter"
2012	Fred: The Show	Mr. Figglehorn	Recurring
2013–present	Total Divas	Himself	Recurring (season 1–present)
2015	Parks and Recreation		Episode: "The Johnny Karate Super Awesome Musical Explosion Show"
	Legendários		Interview
2016–present	American Grit	Host	Also executive producer
2016	2016 ESPY Awards	Himself	Host
	The Edge & Christian Show		2 episodes
2016–present	Total Bellas		Main cast (season 1–present)
2017	Tour de Pharmacy	Gustav Ditters	TV movie
	Psych: The Movie	Ewan O'Hara
2018	Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Baron Draxum (voice)	Recurring role
	Dallas & Robo	Robo (voice)	Also executive producer

In popular culture

Unexpected John Cena

In mid-2015, Cena was the subject of the Internet meme "Unexpected John Cena", also known as simply "Unexpected Cena" or "It's John Cena".

Personal life

Cena resides in Tampa, Florida.

While promoting his 2009 film 12 Rounds, Cena announced his engagement to Elizabeth Huberdeau. They were married on July 11, 2009. On May 1, 2012, Cena filed for divorce, which was finalized on July 18. The divorce was mentioned on-screen during Cena's feud with The Rock as part of their rematch at WrestleMania 29. In 2012, he began dating fellow wrestler Nikki Bella. They became engaged on April 2, 2017, when Cena proposed to her at WrestleMania  but ended their relationship in April 2018. They were scheduled to marry on May 5, 2018.

Cena is a fan of Japanese anime and has named Fist of the North Star as his favorite anime movie. He also plays video games, citing the Command & Conquerseries as his favorite. Cena supports the Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics, Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, and Tottenham Hotspur FC. He has over 20 muscle cars, some of which are one-of-a-kind.

Cena started learning Mandarin Chinese in 2016 to help WWE expand its reach, and he spoke the language relatively smoothly at a press conference in China. He also revealed in April 2018 that he had learned to play the piano.

In December 2017, the Ford Motor Company filed a lawsuit against Cena for selling his 2017 Ford GT, therefore violating his purchase agreement. According to Ford, he signed a contract to keep the car for at least two years, but breached the agreement by selling it to make a net profit shortly after receiving it.

Championships and accomplishments

Ohio Valley Wrestling

OVW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Rico Constantino

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Feud of the Year (2006) vs. Edge
Feud of the Year (2011) vs. CM Punk
Match of the Year (2007) vs. Shawn Michaels on Raw
Match of the Year (2011) vs. CM Punk at Money in the Bank
Match of the Year (2013) vs. Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam
Match of the Year (2014) vs. Bray Wyatt in a Last Man Standing match at Payback
Match of the Year (2016) vs. AJ Styles at SummerSlam

Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2003)
Most Popular Wrestler of the Decade (2000–2009)
Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (2004, 2005, 2007, 2012)
Wrestler of the Year (2006, 2007)

Ranked No. 1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2006, 2007 and 2013

Ultimate Pro Wrestling

UPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
World Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Batista (1) and Shawn Michaels (1)
WWE Championship[Note 1] (13 times)
WWE Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with The Miz (1) and David Otunga (1)
WWE United States Championship (5 times)
Money in the Bank (2012 – WWE Championship contract)
Royal Rumble (2008, 2013)
WWE Championship No. 1 Contender's Tournament (2003), (2005)
Slammy Awards (10 times)

Game Changer of the Year (2011) – with The Rock
Hero in All of Us (2015)
Holy $#!+ Move of the Year (2010) – Sends Batista through the stage with an Attitude Adjustment
Insult of the Year (2012) – To Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero: "You're the exact opposite. One enjoys eating a lot of nuts and the other is still trying to find his"
Kiss of the Year (2012) – with AJ Lee
Match of the Year (2013, 2014) – vs. The Rock for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 29, Team Cena vs. Team Authority at Survivor Series
Superstar of the Year (2009, 2010, 2012)

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

5 Star Match (2011) vs. CM Punk at Money in the Bank

Best Box Office Draw (2007)
Best Gimmick (2003)
Best on Interviews (2007)
Feud of the Year (2011) vs. CM Punk
Match of the Year (2011) vs. CM Punk at Money in the Bank on July 17
Most Charismatic (2006–2010)
Most Charismatic of the Decade (2000–2009)
Wrestler of the Year (2007, 2010)
Worst Feud of the Year (2012) vs. Kane
Worst Worked Match of the Year (2012) vs. John Laurinaitis at Over the Limit
Worst Worked Match of the Year (2014) vs. Bray Wyatt at Extreme Rules
Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2012)

Other awards and honors

Springfield College Athletic Hall of Fame inductee (Class of 2015)
Make-A-Wish Foundation Chris Greicius Celebrity Award
Make-A-Wish Foundation Special Recognition Award (for being the first to grant 300 wishes)
2014 Sports Social TV Entertainer of the Year
2014 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Grand Marshal
2016 USO Legacy of Achievement Award