John Cena
| John Cena | |
|---|---|
| File:Johncena.jpg | |
| Born | April 23, 1977 West Newbury, Massachusetts |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | The Prototype John Cena |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (186 cm) |
| Billed weight | 248 lb (113 kg) |
| Trained by | UPW |
| Debut | 2001 |
Jonathon Felix-Anthony Cena (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. 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 Lottery. Cena has released a music CD along with Tha Trademarc, known as You Can't See Me, and has performed live concerts with Tha Trademarc and Bumpy Knuckles.
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, something he still does from time to time, and Cena had been inspired by Vince McMahon's recent, somewhat inscrutable, speech to WWE's rising stars, exhorting them to show "ruthless aggression" and they would have a place among the legends. 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, and his gimmick was changed to that of a white rapper. This gimmick at first got him a lot of heel heat from the fans, but he was later being cheered by them due to the freestyle raps he made on other wrestlers. During his run as a heel, Cena feuded with the Undertaker and Chris Benoit and got some help from the Full Blooded Italians. One of Cena's 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. 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 and Hardcore 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 fight each other during Cena's run for the WWE United States Championship.
United States champion
In 2004, Cena's popularity was increasing. 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 as 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 allegedly attacked in a Boston nightclub by Carlito's bodyguard, Jesus, which kept Cena from wrestling for about a month because of a kidney puncture (in actuality, Cena was filming "The Marine"). He returned to wrestling just in time for Survivor Series. When he returned, he exacted revenge on Carlito in a SmackDown! match and won the U.S. title back but was attacked afterward in the ring by Jesus, who hit Cena in the kidney several times with Cena's 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
After a strong showing at the 2005 Royal Rumble, Cena became involved in a feud with John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL) after Cena won a No.1 contendership tournament to face JBL in the SmackDown! main event at WrestleMania 21 for the WWE Championship. This feud saw him lose his United States Championship to JBL's Chief of Staff Orlando Jordan, with he and JBL "destroying" the spinner style belt the following week. During this feud Cena established a name for his corps of fans, the "Chain Gang Soldiers."
SmackDown! General Manager Teddy Long told John Cena to wait for WrestleMania to get back at JBL for destroying the Spinner belt but Cena put Long in the F-U for keeping him away. As punishment, Cena was sanctioned; he could not touch JBL until WrestleMania 21 or he would lose his title shot. If he was struck by JBL first, however, then he could retaliate. A campaign of vandalism against JBL's property ensued, including ruining his ten-gallon hat at the contract signing, spraypainting a yellow streak down his back, and slashing the tires of his limousine. At one point, Cena stopped the interference by The Cabinet on a match, hitting the Basham Brothers and Orlando Jordan with a steel chair. He threatened JBL with the chair, but instead of forfeiting his title shot by striking JBL, Cena sat down by his cowering body and did his "You Can't See Me" gesture in his face.
Cena defeated JBL to win the WWE Championship on April 3, 2005 at WrestleMania 21 in Los Angeles. JBL stole the real WWE belt back before the next SmackDown! taping. Cena, however, had a custom WWE title made, just as Stone Cold Steve Austin did with his "Smoking Skull" belt. The new belt was similar to his custom U.S. title belt, featuring a Spinner type WWE logo plate.
SmackDown! featured a series of matches to decide who Cena would face in his first title defense at Judgment Day. John Cena successfully defeated JBL, the winner of the tournament, 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 finally able to claim the real WWE Championship belt, though he still carried around his Spinner belt.
Cena on RAW
On the June 6, 2005 episode of RAW, John Cena became the first draft pick 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.
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 went to do 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 won't perform until the upcoming SummerSlam 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 Cena beat Jericho in a "You're Fired" match for the WWE Championship despite the General Manager giving Cena a low-blow and a Brass Knuckle 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 WWE Homecoming on October 3, 2005, John Cena defeated General Manager Eric Bischoff in a no disqualification match despite interference by Kurt Angle. At Taboo Tuesday 2005, Cena successfully defended his WWE Championship in a triple threat match against Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels by pinning Michaels.
On the November 14 edition of RAW, Cena paid tribute to Eddie Guerrero, who had passed away recently. 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 debuting his STF-U manuever on Masters.
On the December 5 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.
John Cena was then scheduled to defend his title at the first RAW PPV of 2006, which is New Years Revolution in an Elimination Chamber match against Kurt Angle, Carlito, Kane, Chris Masters, and Shawn Michaels who all earned their shots in separate qualifying matches on the December 12th, 2005 edition of RAW. On that same edition of RAW, Cena faced Daivari in the very first "You Can't See Me" match in which Cena was forced to wear a blindfold, but regardless he still won with the STF-U. Cena appeared on Tribute to the Troops where he defeated Chris Masters.
On the December 26 2005 edition of RAW, the six participants of the Elimination Chamber had to take part in "Beat the Clock" matches to determine who enters the chamber last. Cena had to wrestle Shelton Benjamin in a match and won with the STF-U but did not get the best time.
On the January 2 2006 edition of RAW, Cena lost to Angle in a First blood match when Angle hit him with a chair. Since the referee was down, however, he managed to apply the STF-U and made Angle tap before Daivari woke the referee and got him to end the match.
On January 8, John Cena successfully defended his WWE Championship inside the Elimination Chamber. After Carlito turned on Chris Masters, and eliminated him, Cena pinned Carlito to end the match and retain his title. After the match, Vince McMahon came onto the stage and announced that Cena was going to defend the WWE Championship against Edge; Edge earned this chance with his "Money in the Bank" contract which he won in a 6 man ladder match at Wrestlemania 21. This contract guaranteed him a championship match against the World Heavyweight Champion, but since that title got moved to Smackdown! during the draft, WWE Creative subtly changed every mention to the WWE Championship. 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 John "Bradshaw" Layfield.
The feud heated up on the January 9 RAW, when Cena delivered an F-U to Edge's valet. On January 29, 2006, at the Royal Rumble, Cena and Edge will face each other for the WWE Championship.
Fan backlash
After the draft lottery of 2005 Cena's popularity with the fans slowly began to diminish. With the two biggest rivarlies being against Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho cult followings of both men were overwhemling in the crowd. Slowly boos began to emerge during Cena's matches most especially in the first blood match against Kurt Angle and at the Elimination Chamber match at New Year's Revolution where not only Angle, but every other superstar was cheered for pulling off a move on Cena.
Cena was reported as being frustrated by the fans recent boos, although he stated that the fans obviously have a choice. Possible reasons for boos are the extremely predictable story lines that he has been placed in, questionable booking of his matches, and that his character has 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 his beloved tweener persona. Some point out that wrestling fans tend to decide for themselves who they will cheer for as was evident with Steve Austin who despite being billed as a top heel gained increasing popularity with his every appereance. On the other hand was Rocky Mavia who despite being pushed as a face was booed 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 not be bothered by the portion (roughly half) of the crowd that was booing him. The wrestler, in either an ill-advised move or cheap heat, further divided the crowd by refering to anyone who was not following him and cheering him on as drinking "Hateorade" then saying they could "kiss his ass". It seems that the in-ring interview worked in his favor, as the crowd was firmly behind him when he attacked Edge later that night, but whether it will work in the long run is in question.
The decision that Cena lose the title was a last-minute decision, obviously because of the mixed, or sometimes negative reactions he has received at WWE events, so Edge was then slated to win the title. According to wrestling insiders, Cena would keep the title until WrestleMania 22, where he would then face Triple H, but with this recent title change, that potential match is now in question. However, Cena will face Edge for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble, and Triple H is in the Rumble match itself, so that match could still go on as planned.
Life after the championship
Cena has announced that he will use his rematch clause against Edge at the Royal Rumble. Vince McMahon is still using Cena as a face for the time being but is ultimately confused and angered by the recent negative fan reaction to Cena's character (according to ProWrestling). His future use is in question, as his negative reception from fans in New Jersey has left McMahon speculating how to market a face who is quickly becoming a perceived heel. This situation mirrors that of The Rock in his early WWE career.
Outside of wrestling
Music and movies
Cena has cut a series of rap music tracks. His fifth WWE entrance song, "Basic Thugonomics" 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 on SmackDown magazine and MTV.com. Most recently, Cena and Tha Trademarc are featured on a track by The Perceptionists, "Champion Scratch."
Recently, Cena performed on BBC Two's long running Top of the Pops, becoming the first professional wrestler to perform on the program.
John Cena's first major movie role will be in the film "The Marine", produced by WWE Films and scheduled to be released in 2006.
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.
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 appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on July 23, 2005 in order to promote his CD, WWE, and SummerSlam 2005. He has also been on Fuse's Daily Download. Cena has recently appeared on FOX Sports Net's Best Damn Sports Show Period, G4's Training Camp, and 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 skit with cast member Bobby Lee.
Trademarks
"The Five Moves of Doom"
Cena's "Five 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. The phrase was originally coined in the Internet wrestling community as a reference to Bret Hart, who had a well-established sequence of five moves in the same context (in both cases, the term was also at times used in a pejorative fashion by critics who perceived the wrestler in question to have a limited moveset). The following are the five Moves and are in the approximate order in which Cena uses them.
- Flying shoulderblock
- Sitout hip toss or multiple clotheslines
- Killswitch / Protoplex / Freestyle (Side release spin-out powerbomb)
- Five Knuckle Shuffle (Fist drop with theatrics)
- F-U (Which can refer to his standing fireman's carry takeover (default), Death Valley driver, Samoan driver, or fireman's carry powerslam variations)
Other finishing and signature moves
- STF-U (Stepover Toehold Facelock)
- Swinging fisherman suplex
- Throwback (Modified neck snap)
- 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 fists together with pinkies out and saying, "Word Life!"
- Occasionally freestyling on his opponents before his matches.
- Saying, " You want some...come get some!" to his opponents, referring to his never-back-down attitude.
- Putting his hands up and spreading them and putting out his thumb sideways and his pinky up.
Raps
On way his way to stardom, Cena has had a number of memorable lines in his freestyle raps, including:
- To Brock Lesnar:
- I'll hang your ass, you're like a Christmas tree ornament; I'll whack you more times than a masturbation tournament.
- If you an animal, then I'm going on safari; I'm rocking PlayStation 2, you can't figure out Atari.
- You're the poster child for the birth control pill; you go down faster than a ho, for a five dollar bill.
- You so close clumsy, you couldn't be a cripple in a dance off; You want the next big thing, let me take my pants off.
- To Chris Benoit:
- Have you wrapped you up with so many bandages, they'll think you're Saudi Arabian; Instead of the Canadian Crippler, you'll just be a Crippled Canadian.
- Yo, I can't skate, but I still play with my pucks and stick. I have them call you John Bobbit because I cut of your [mic raise]
- To Christian:
- You couldn't even hang with the Brood, they even put you on the shelf; Gangrel was sucking blood, you was sucking something else.
- To Rikishi:
- Mess with me, you die slow, and explode, you wide load; Your butt looks like twenty miles of bad road.
- You got bad knees, plus you're obese; You're so fat, when you sweat, you sweat grease.
- Other heelish one-liners (to fans):
- I beat your dad's family, I beat your mom's; Your sister calls me leprechaun, always after my lucky charms [grabs crotch area].
- Yo, I'm a strong as a muscle car, and this ain't my last ride; I'll leave you like Chicago when Jordan left, stripped of your pride.
More at http://www.thecubsfan.com/wwe/info/johncena.htm
Trivia
- He is currently undefeated at Wrestlemania, defeating Big Show,at WrestleMania 20, and JBL, at WrestleMania 21 winning the WWE United States Championship and the WWE Championship in consecutive years.
- Though he is often billed as the "next" Stone Cold, Cena's favorite wrestler & role model is Hulk Hogan. Second only is Stone Cold, then third is The Rock.
- John Cena became the first superstar since 1990 to hold the WWE Championship (along with Batista who won the World Heavyweight Championship on the same night at WrestleMania 21) from WrestleMania through Survivor Series. Cena's 280-day reign ties with JBL's for the longest reign in a decade since Diesel's 358-day reign in 1994 and 1995.
- John's father, also named John Cena, is also in pro wrestling as New England indy announcer/manager Johnny Fabulous.
- Cena's favorite type of music is actually Jazz.
- John Cena is the second wrestler in WWE history to have his own entirely custom made WWE Championship belt. Stone Cold Steve Austin was the first with his Smoking Skull Belt. On a side note, Ted DiBiase created his own 'Million Dollar Belt.'
- On October 3, 2005 John Cena was on a hip-hop radio station in Las Vegas. They put over Cena as a legitimate wrestler/rapper and mocked "Macho Man" Randy Savage for his less-than-stellar efforts of doing the same thing. Cena plugged the WWE Homecoming show on the USA Network like it was the SuperBowl of pro wrestling. He made sure to put over SmackDown! and champion Batista as a complete equal to himself and RAW. He did have an embarassing moment, where he refused to admit the Carlito night club stabbing angle was just a fictional TV storyline.
- Vince McMahon was reportedly showing signs of embarassment and frustration with the recent crowd reactions to John Cena at WWE events. It is no secret that McMahon prides himself on "controlling his audience." So when WWE crowds began rebelling against Cena, it got to McMahon. "They tried everything to get fans to cheer Cena, but they just threw their hands up last week in New Jersey," said one WWE wrestler, "That really shook them up." On a related note, some in WWE feel the company will continue to stick with John Cena as a top act simply because he was one of Stephanie McMahon's first "hand-picked choices" to be pushed to the top in WWE. Stephanie was said to have been won over by Cena when he showed off his rap skills on an airplane ride a few years back and that she has been one of his biggest backers since then. Some feel Stephanie McMahon, daughter of Vince would be resistant to admit failure if fans continue to rebel against Cena.
- He said that he would change only one thing about himself, to be black.
- John Cena has his own official fan club called "Chain Gang Click". When joining, there is a free package whick includes a T-shirt, a picture with his signature and a wallet.
Championships and accomplishments
- Ohio Valley Wrestling
- 1-time OVW Heavyweight Champion
- 1-time OVW Southern Tag Team Champion, with Rico Constantino
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI Most Improved Wrestler Award (2003)
- PWI Most Popular Wrestler Award (2004)
- Ultimate Pro Wrestling
- 1-time UPW Champion
- World Wrestling Entertainment
- 1-time WWE Champion
- 3-time WWE United States Champion