Posted By admin on February 10, 2009

History and Biography of John Cena

Ring name(s)
John Cena
Prototype
Dr. of Thuganomics
The Franchise
The Marine
The Champ

Billed height: 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)

Billed weight: 240 lb (110 kg)

Born: April 23, 1977 (1977-04-23) (age 31)
West Newbury, Massachusetts

Debut: February 16, 2000

Mini Biography

John Felix Anthony Cena or better known as John Cena, the WWE superstar was born on April 23rd, 1977 in West Newbury, Massachusetts. When he was in college, he played football. He then continued on to be a bodybuilder and a limousine driver. The 6-foot-1 tall star weighs exactly at 240 pounds and is a very successful superstar in the WWE.

The Dr. of Thuganomics started training to be a wrestler at Ultimate Pro Wrestling where he also created the character, The Prototype. Cena fist appeared on WWE in a match against Kurt Angle on the 27th of June, 2002 which ended up with him losing.

In 2004, John Cena’s status as a celebrity began to develop. Cena won the United States Championship from Big Show. Not too long later, Cena lost the title but he gained it back soon. Cena then lost the title again to fellow WWE superstar, Carlito. During that time, Cena apparently got stabbed in the kidney by one of Carlito’s bodyguard. This resulted him to stay out of action for a month.

In 2005 and 2006 respectively, Cena has made a few controversies. He had a feud with champion John Bradshaw Layfield, manager Eric Bischoff and fellow wrestler Chris Jericho. Cena also made feuds with Edge and Umaga at that time. But even so, some friendships were formed. Cena is said to be friends with Carlito after they won a match with Jeff Hardy against Edge, Randy Orton and Johnny Nitro.

The year 2007 became a big year for Cena as he got involved in a wrestling match with Britney Spears’ ex and rap star, Kevin Federline. John ended up losing that match thanks to some assistance from Umaga to Kevin Federline. Later that night, Cena took revenge by body slamming Kevin Federline backstage. The year 2007 also started pretty well for John Cena as he became the first person to defeat the Samoan Bulldozer, Umaga that year. The Chain Gang Soldier also teamed up with Shaun Michaels defeating the RKO tag team, Randy Orton and Edge. The match ended up with Cena and Michaels winning.

As of October 2007, Cena lost his WWE Championship title because of an injury. While wrestling against Mr. Kennedy, Cena tore his pectoral muscle while executing a hip toss. Even though he finished the match and completed the rest of the scripted event, check up the next day found out that John’s pectoral major muscle was torn completely from the bone, requiring seven months to a year rehabilitation. Because of not being able to perform, WWE’s CEO, Vince McMahon stripped him off the title and ended his reign.

In the year 2008, Cena made an unannounced return to action on January 27 as the final participant of the Royal Rumble match. He won the match, and the traditional WrestleMania title shot. Cena also had a match against JBL, which he defeated at Judgment Day and then at One Night Stand in a First Blood match. However, JBL defeated him at the New York City Parking Lot Brawl. In the month of August, Cena had to replaced by Rey Mysterio after it was announced Cena had suffered a herniated disk in his neck which will require surgery and he will be out of action indefinitely. According to reports, Cena underwent successive surgery to repair the herniated disk in his neck with Doctor Joseph Maroon on August 25.

Aside from wrestling, John has also made his own name in the movie business. In 2006, a WWE franchise movie titled The Marine was released with John playing the lead character, John Triton. The movie received mix reviews due to the poor storyline and discrimination to the US Marines. Even so, fans queued up to watch the movie as this was John’s first big screen appearance.

The WWE wrestler also adds recording artist to his resume as he released his debut rap album “You Can’t See Me” which debuted at #15 on the US Billboard 200 chart. The album was recorded with his cousin Tha Trademarc. The album features his entrance theme song, ‘The Time Is Now’ & a host of other singles performed by Cena & one the songs he performed with popular rap band Estoric & a number of other songs Cena performed with famous rapper Bumpy Knuckles. Cena is the only professional wrestler to ever perform on BBC Two’s long running TV show Top of the Pops.

While still being active with WWE, Cena made a couple of guest appearances Jimmy Kimmel Live! twice to promote his album. He has also appeared on popular shows like Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Fuse’s Celebrity Playlist, Fox Sports Net’s The Best Damn Sports Show Period, MADtv, G4’s Training Camp and two appearances on MTV’s Punk’d. He also served as a co-presenter, with Hulk Hogan, at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards, as a guest judge during the third week of the 2006 season of Nashville Star, and appeared at the 2007 Nickelodeon UK Kids Choice Awards 2007.

In fashion, The Champ has also made a few trademarks. Cena is often seen with knee-high denim jeans and throwback jerseys when he first started on WWE. Lately, Cena has been wearing a lot of Chain Gang merchandise. When his movie, The Marine was released, John was seen to be adding more military-inspired clothing to his outfit to promote his movie.

Cena graduated from Springfield College, Massachusetts with degrees in exercise physiology and human anatomy. He applied for 60 colleges and he got accepted by 58 of them but in the end, he chose Springfield College. He is the second eldest of five brothers and is said to be a family guy when he is not wrestling. His good friends are fellow wrestlers, John Hennigan, Batista, Randy Orton, Carlito, Jeff and Matt Hardy among whom he will have to fight with.

John Cena is definitely going to be a big inspiration to all whether in wrestling, fashion, music or even movies as his participation in the industry is already more than regular celebrity. With all he has achieved, fans can definitely expect to see more of this WWE superstar in the coming future.

Also recently he has completed his new movie 12 Rounds produced by WWE Films. This movie was said to be completed when John suffered from his injury in 2007.

Full Biography:

John Felix Anthony Cena, Jr. (born April 23, 1977) is an American professional wrestler, hip hop musician and actor. He is signed to World Wrestling Entertainment and wrestling on the RAW brand where he is the reigning World Heavyweight Champion.

Career

Early career

Cena first started training to become a wrestler in 2000 at the California-based Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW) where he created the character The Prototype. This period of his career was documented in the Discovery Channel program Wrestling School. After UPW, he was signed to a World Wresting Federation developmental contract and assigned to “farm territory” Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW).

During his time in OVW, he also appeared on the UPN reality show Manhunt under the pseudonym “Big Tim Kingman”, the “lead hunter” in a team “hunting” contestant with paintball guns. The show was produced in association with WWE. It was later revealed that many of the scenes in the show were re-shot or staged to enhance the drama, contests were rigged to eliminate contestants, and other contestants read from scripts. As a result of the controversy, WWE has never referenced the show or Cena’s part in it.

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, 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 Bull Buchanan, who was rechristened B-2 (also written as B�, pronounced “B-Squared”). Buchanan was later replaced by Rodney Mack under the moniker “Red Dogg”.

Cena eventually received a shot at the WWE Championship after the Champion Brock Lesnar almost ended his career after a previous match between the two. 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”). Cena was unsuccessful at winning the WWE title. He later turned face and started a new feud with Lesnar as a part of Team Angle against Team Lesnar, 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 Royal Rumble, lasting up to the final 6 before being eliminated by the 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, however, as he lost the title to the debuting Carlito in the very next week’s SmackDown!.

This started a feud with Carlito. The storyline said Cena was attacked in a Boston nightclub by Carlito’s bodyguard, Jes�s, 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 6 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, two wrestlers with strong cult followings. Taking on these two began a trend of “fan backlash” against Cena.

During this feud Cena made 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 failed 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.

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. Its name is derived from a combination of the STF name (although Cena’s submission sometimes resembles an STS), and his other move, the F-U.

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 delivering 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 exhausted Cena, 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 by half the crowd during his main event win over Triple H, a victory by submission. 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 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 22 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 ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view event. The event saw Cena get his most negative reaction yet from the very 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). Cena was visibly affected, and tried to use moves outside of his usual moveset in order to play to the crowd. The crowd responded with “You still suck”, “Same old shit!”, and “You can’t wrestle!”. 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”. Coincidentally, 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. Around this time Cena began a shift in his ring attire and mannerisms, utilizing things more military related, while promotion for his film The Marine was going on.

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 convince 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 FU 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 Champion), 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 when he began appearing on RAW at the side of 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 belt during the main event Triple Threat match helping King Booker retain his title.

Cena and Big Show continued their feud after Cyber Sunday, having a traditional Survivor Series matchup at the 2006 event — with Team Cena consisting of Cena, Sabu, Rob Van Dam, Bobby Lashley, and Kane and Team Big Show having The Big Show, Test, Finlay, Montel Vontavious Porter, and Umaga. Cena and Lashley were the only Survivors. Cena then went on to tag with World Heavyweight Champion Batista at Armageddon to battle King Booker and Finlay, which saw Batista and Cena emerge victorious after Batista pinned Booker following a Batista Bomb.

The year ended with Cena beginning a feud with the undefeated Umaga over the WWE Championship.

2007

2007 began with Cena wrapping up the Kevin Federline feud by being pinned by him in the first RAW match of the year, after an assist from Umaga — although later in the night he was able to get his hands on and FU Federline. His feud with Umaga continued on to New Year’s Revolution, where Cena retained his championship and ended Umaga’s undefeated streak. Their rivalry continued, with Umaga putting Cena through a table on an episode of RAW and causing a (kayfabe) spleen injury, putting a scheduled Last Man Standing match title rematch at the Royal Rumble in jeopardy. After refusing to accept medical treatment, fearing a medical suspension, Cena defeated Umaga in their match with the STFU, choking him a ring rope that had been removed by Estrada at the same time. One night after the Royal Rumble, an impromptu teaming of Cena and Shawn Michaels found themselves defeating Rated-RKO (Edge and Randy Orton) for the World Tag Team Championship, making Cena a double champion.

2008

Cena made an unannounced return to action on January 27 as the final participant of the Royal Rumble match. He won 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 WWE Champion Randy Orton at February’s No Way Out, in a match Cena won by disqualification, resulting in him not getting the championship. The night after his No Way Out win, Cena was placed back in to WrestleMania XXIV’s WWE Championship match, making it a triple threat match also involving Triple H, 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 pinned by Orton. Triple H won the title during that match. During that match, Cena eliminated John “Bradshaw” Layfield (JBL), thus renewing their feud from 2005. Cena defeated JBL at Judgment Day and then at One Night Stand in a First Blood match. JBL, however, defeated him in a New York City Parking Lot Brawl at The Great American Bash. On the August 4 edition of Raw, Cena became a World Tag Team Champion for a second time when he teamed up with Batista to defeat Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase for the World Tag Team titles, but they failed to retain the titles the following week against the former champions. Cena was defeated by Batista at SummerSlam. Cena was named one of four contenders for CM Punk’s World Heavyweight Championship in the Championship scramble match at Unforgiven but was replaced by Rey Mysterio after it was announced Cena had suffered a herniated disk in his neck which will require surgery and he will be out of action indefinitely. Cena underwent successive surgery to repair the herniated disk in his neck with Doctor Joseph Maroon on August 25.

Cena made his in-ring return at November’s Survivor Series event where he defeated Chris Jericho to win his first World Heavyweight Championship. The two continued their rivalry up to Armageddon (2008) where Cena retained his title by making Jericho submit to the STFU.

Outside of wrestling

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 “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 will also have a role in Jornada del Muerte, another WWE Films production which will star 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, 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, a Marine soldier cap 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 first appeared on the July 23, 2005 episode in order to promote his CD, the 2005 SummerSlam pay-per-view, and WWE in general.
* He appeared again on March 14, 2006 to promote Saturday Night’s Main Event and WrestleMania 22.

He has also appeared on popular morning radio shows

* He appeared on the Opie and Anthony show on their CBS Radio Show and later their XM Satellite Radio show on October 10, 2006 contributing to their “walkover”.
* He appeared on the Howard Stern show on Sirius Satellite Radio on October 11, 2006.

Other appearances have included Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Fuse’s Celebrity Playlist, 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.

* Cena will be one of several celebrities featured in ABC reality series, Fast Cars and Superstars: Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race, which is scheduled to start in June.

Commercials

Beginning in October 2002, Cena was featured rapping in commercials for the energy drink YJ Stinger.

In November 2006, Cena filmed a number of advertisements with Subway spokesperson Jared Fogle for Subway restaurants, which began airing in January of 2007.

Personal information

Cena’s father, John Cena Sr., works in the professional wrestling business as an announcer for New England based Chaotic Wrestling under the name “Johnny Fabulous”. He also acts as “commissioner” for East Coast Championship Wrestling.

Cena graduated from Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts with a degree in exercise physiology.

After playing college football, where he achieved Division III All-American status as a center, Cena pursued a career as a bodybuilder.

He is second eldest of five brothers – Dan, Matt, Steve and Sean.

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.

Cena is left-handed.
Before becoming a professional wrestler, Cena was a limo driver, (as stated in WWE magazine) He admitted he usually got lost and was late picking up and dropping off people.

Categories: John cena, Vince McMahon, WWE Biography, WWE Legends
Tags: Dr. of Thuganomics, John cena, The Marine, wrestler biographies, wrestling legends