John Cena

Explore about the Famous Wrestler John Cena, who was born in United States on April 23, 1977. Analyze John Cena’s net worth, age, bio, birthday, dating, height-weight, wiki. Investigate who is John Cena dating now? Look into this article to know how old is John Cena?

John Cena Biography

Nicknamed “Doctor of Thuganomics,” he has won 25 professional championships, including 16 WWE World Heavyweight Championships. Also an actor, he has earned leading roles in the films The Marine, Legendary, Fred: The Movie, 12 Rounds and Playing with Fire.

While pursuing a career in bodybuilding, he worked as a chauffeur at a limousine company.

He performed the WWE theme song “Basic Thugonomics,” which was featured on WWE Originals, the WWE soundtrack album.

He was married to Elizabeth Huberdeau from July 2009 to July 2012, then began a relationship with fellow wrestler Nikki Bella. He proposed to Bella at WrestleMania 33 in 2017, but the couple separated before the marriage. He subsequently began dating model Shay Shariatzadeh and the two wed in October 2020.

He and Hulk Hogan are two of the most accomplished wrestlers in WWE history. Hogan tallied six WWE and WWF World Heavyweight championships and another six WCW World Heavyweight titles.

John Felix Anthony Cena Jr. was born on April 23, 1977, in West Newbury, Massachusetts, the son of Carol (née Lupien) and John Felix Anthony Cena. His mother is of English and French-Canadian descent, while his father has Italian ancestry. His maternal grandfather was baseball player Tony Lupien. He has an older brother named Stephen, and three younger brothers named Dan, Matt and Sean. He is a cousin of noted computer scientist Natalie Enright Jerger. 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, where he was an NCAA Division III All-American center on their college football team. He 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.

John Felix Anthony Cena Jr. (/ˈ s iː n ə / ; born April 23, 1977) is an American professional wrestler, actor, rapper, and television presenter. He is currently signed to the WWE on a part-time deal, is the current host of Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? on Nickelodeon and has starred in various films.

Cena’s debut album, You Can’t See Me, was recorded with his cousin Tha Trademarc. It features, among 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,” that premiered on August 8 Raw. Cena and Tha Trademarc were later featured on a track by The Perceptionists called “Champion Scratch”. Cena appeared on T-Boz’s album, Still Cool.

Born and raised in West Newbury, Massachusetts, Cena moved to California in 1998 to pursue a career as a bodybuilder. He transitioned to professional wrestling in 1999 when he debuted for Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW). He signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 2000, where he was initially assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). He gained fame in the WWE after adopting the persona of a trash-talking rapper. He won his first singles title, the United States Championship, in 2004. The next year, he won the WWE Championship for the first time, and his character subsequently transitioned into a clean-cut “Superman-like” hero. He then led lead the company as its franchise player and its public face for the next decade.

Cena began 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.

On October 10, 2000, while billed as The Prototype, Cena made his unofficial debut for then World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on a SmackDown! taping in a dark match against Mikey Richardson, which he lost. He received another tryout on January 9, 2001, at a SmackDown! taping in Oakland, California, this time defeating Aaron Aguilera wrestling again in a dark match at a SmackDown! taping on March 13.

In 2001, between his training in Ultimate Pro Wrestling and Ohio Valley Wrestling, Cena was involved in the UPN produced reality show Manhunt, in which he portrayed Big Tim Kingman, leader of the group of bounty hunters who chased down the contestants who acted as fugitives. The show, however, was mired in controversy when it was alleged that the portions of the show were rigged to eliminate certain players, scenes were re-shot or staged to enhance drama and contestants read from scripts.

Before his WWE debut, Cena made an appearance on the webcast Go Sick as Bruebaker, an angry, cursing wrestler in 2001.

In 2001, Cena signed a developmental contract with the WWF and was assigned to its developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). During his time there, Cena wrestled under the ring name The Prototype and held the OVW Heavyweight Championship for three months and the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (with Rico Constantino) for two months. Throughout 2001, he received four tryouts for the WWF main roster, as he wrestled multiple enhancement talent wrestlers on both WWF house shows and in dark matches before WWF televised events.

Cena has portrayed a heroic character throughout his WWE career, except for a villainous run in 2002–2003. His signature ring gear includes jean shorts, sneakers, wristbands, and armbands. He also wears a variety of T-shirts and baseball caps, which commonly include one of his catchphrases: “Never Give Up”, “You Can’t See Me”, “Hustle, Loyalty, Respect”, and “Respect. Earn it”. He has a history of returning from both real and scripted injuries much sooner than expected. ESPN reporter David Shoemaker said in April 2016, “Never underestimate Cena’s recuperative abilities. He’s somewhere on the recovery scale between German platelet-rich plasma therapy and Deadpool.” Fellow wrestler Big Show said he felt most stable being lifted by Cena, despite Cena being over 200 lbs lighter and almost a foot shorter—a testament to Cena’s functional strength.

On the 2002 Halloween-themed episode of SmackDown!, Cena dressed as Vanilla Ice and performed a freestyle rap. The following week on SmackDown!, Cena received a new character: a rapper who cut promos while rhyming.Shortly after, he took on the nickname The Doctor of Thuganomics and expanded his gimmick to include rapping before his matches. He began wearing hats and sports jerseys as part of his ring gear. In a 2020 documentary on the WWE Network focusing on this period, Cena revealed that at the time, the gimmick change to The Doctor of Thuganomics saved his career. Before this, the WWE was planning to release Cena as the “ruthless aggression” gimmick wasn’t impressive enough. On a bus journey with other WWE superstars, Cena got involved in a freestyle rap session with Rikishi and Rey Mysterio, impressing Stephanie McMahon, leading to the gimmick’s adoption. As the character evolved, Cena began adopting a variant of the 1980s WWF logo—dropping the “F”—as his “signature symbol”, along with the slogan “Word Life”. At Rebellion, he teamed up with Dawn Marie in a losing effort against Kidman and Torrie Wilson in a mixed tag team match.

Throughout the early months of 2002, Cena constantly found himself competing on house shows for the WWF, where he wrestled against the likes of Shelton Benjamin and Tommy Dreamer. After his main call up in June 2002, he continued to appear on OVW programming until September 25, when he lost to Kenny Brolin in a Loser Leaves OVW match. He would later appear in a one-off appearance for the developmental farm in November under the ring name Mr. P in a six-man tag team match, where he teamed with future WWE Hall of Famer Big Boss Man and Charlie Haas, in a winning effort against Lance Cade, Trevor Murdoch and Sean O’Haire.

Before his professional wrestling career, Cena appeared in an advertisement for Gold’s Gym. As a wrestler, he has endorsed the energy drink YJ Stinger, appearing in commercials beginning in October 2003, and Subway, for whom he filmed advertisements with their spokesperson Jared Fogle in November 2006 that began airing the following January. For a time in 2007, he also endorsed two “signature collections” of energy drinks and energy bars sold by American Body Builders. In 2008, Cena filmed a commercial as part of Gillette’s “Young Guns” NASCAR campaign.

On Cena’s birthday, Vince McMahon said he regarded him as the WWE’s Babe Ruth, indicating that Cena is the greatest superstar in WWE history. This was later more defined at Cena’s entrance at Wrestlemania 35 when he returned as the Dr. of Thuganomics in a segment with Elias. Before Cena’s 2003–2005 theme song began, WWE showed a video of Babe Ruth playing.

After losing to Kurt Angle at No Mercy, Cena became a fan favorite when he joined Angle as a member of his team at the 2003 Survivor Series, where Cena and Chris Benoit were the survivors. Cena and Benoit joined forces as a makeshift tag team, but on the November 27 episode of SmackDown!, both men participated in a 20-man battle royal to earn a WWE Championship match. Cena and Benoit were the final two men remaining and eliminated each other at the same time, leading to the two being declared joint winners. However, Benoit defeated Cena the following week on SmackDown! to earn a WWE Championship match against Lesnar the same night.

For the first half of 2003, Cena sought the WWE Championship and chased the reigning champion Brock Lesnar after WrestleMania XIX, gaining upset wins over Eddie Guerrero, The Undertaker and Chris Benoit, who mocked Cena by wearing a “Toothless Aggression” shirt. He later won a number one contender’s tournament for the right to face off against Lesnar for the WWE Championship at Backlash but was unsuccessful in his attempts. After Backlash, Cena started to feud with Rhyno and Chris Benoit, leading to Cena, along with Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli, defeating the team of Spanky, Rhyno and Benoit at Judgment Day. Shortly after this, Cena began mocking The Undertaker, leading to a match between the two at Vengeance, where he lost a singles match.

Eventually, Cena was joined by an enforcer, Bull Buchanan, who was rechristened to B-2 (also written B² and pronounced “B-Squared”). B-2 helped Cena kick off 2003 with a win over Rikishi on the January 2 episode of SmackDown! and a win over Chavo Guerrero on the January 9 episode of SmackDown!. Both Cena and B-2 participated in the Royal Rumble match, but were unsuccessful in their attempts. Cena and B-2 failed to capture the WWE Tag Team Championship from Los Guerreros, resulting in Cena replacing B-2 with Red Dogg until Red Dogg was sent to the Raw brand in February.

In early 2004, Cena participated in the Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble, making it to the final six before being eliminated by Big Show. Chris Benoit was the eventual winner of the match. This led to a feud with Big Show. At No Way Out, Cena faced Big Show and Kurt Angle in a triple threat match for a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania XX, which Cena lost by submission to Angle. Cena won his first singles championship in WWE, the United States Championship from Big Show at WrestleMania. He held the title for four months with successful defenses against the likes of Rene Dupree, Rob Van Dam and Booker T, until he was stripped of the title on the July 8 episode of SmackDown! by Kurt Angle (who was the SmackDown! General Manager) after he accidentally attacked him in Angle’s wheelchair. Cena won the championship back by defeating Booker T in a best of five series that culminated at No Mercy, only to drop it to the débuting Carlito Caribbean Cool the following week on SmackDown!. After the loss to Carlito, the duo began a feud, resulting in Cena allegedly being stabbed in the kidney while at a Boston-area nightclub by Carlito’s bodyguard, Jesús, this worked “injury” was used to keep Cena out of action for a month while he was filming The Marine. Immediately after his return at Survivor Series, Cena won the United States Championship back from Carlito on the November 18 episode of SmackDown!. He later successfully defended the championship against Jesús at Armageddon in a street fight.

Cena was drafted to the Raw brand on the June 6 episode of Raw, taking his title with him and became the first wrestler selected in the annual draft lottery. Cena immediately entered into a feud with Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff, after refusing to participate in the “war” against the Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) roster at the 2005 ECW One Night Stand. At Vengeance, Cena defeated Christian and Chris Jericho in a triple threat match to retain the title. With Bischoff vowing to make Cena’s stint on Raw difficult, he hand-picked Jericho to take Cena’s championship from him. During their feud, even though Cena was portrayed as the “face” (hero) and Jericho as the “heel” (villain), a vocal section of the live crowds, nonetheless, were cheering Jericho and booing Cena during their matches, most notably at SummerSlam, when Cena defeated Jericho to retain the title. Crowds booed Cena again during his next feud with Kurt Angle, who took over as Bischoff’s hand-picked number-one contender after Cena defeated Jericho in a You’re Fired match on the August 22 episode of Raw. Cena held on to the WWE Championship through his feud with Angle, losing to him by disqualification at Unforgiven, pinning Shawn Michaels in a triple threat match involving Angle at Taboo Tuesday, and pinning Angle at Survivor Series. The feud with Angle saw Cena add a secondary, submission based, finishing maneuver—the STFU (a stepover toehold sleeper, though named for a stepover toehold facelock)—when he was put into a triple threat submissions only match on the November 28 episode of Raw.

In 2005, Cena took part in the Royal Rumble match, making it to the final two along with Batista until both went over the top rope at the same time, at first ending the match, which was subsequently restarted and won by Batista. The next month, Cena participated in a number one contender’s tournament for the WWE Championship and made it to the finals at No Way Out, where he defeated Kurt Angle to earn a spot in the SmackDown! brand’s WrestleMania 21 main event match, beginning a feud with then WWE Champion John “Bradshaw” Layfield (JBL) and his Cabinet in the process. In the early stages of the feud, Cena lost the United States Championship to Cabinet member Orlando Jordan on the March 3 episode of SmackDown! after JBL interfered and hit Cena with his title belt.

During his WWE career, Cena has appeared on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! three times. He has also appeared on morning radio shows including the CBS and XM versions of Opie and Anthony as part of their “walkover” on October 10, 2006. Other appearances have included NBC’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Fuse’s Celebrity Playlist, Fox Sports Net’s The Best Damn Sports Show Period, FOX’s MADtv, G4’s Training Camp (with Shelton Benjamin), and two appearances on MTV’s Punk’d (August 2006 and May 2007), as the victim of a practical joke. 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.

Cena has starred in films such as The Marine (2006), 12 Rounds (2009), Trainwreck (2015), Ferdinand (2017), Bumblebee (2018), and F9 (2021). He also released a rap album called You Can’t See Me (2005), which went platinum. Outside his work in entertainment, he is known for his involvement in numerous charitable causes such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation, where he has granted the most wishes in history at over 600.

In 2007, Cena was interviewed for the CNN Special Investigations Unit documentary, Death Grip: Inside Pro Wrestling, which focused on steroid and drug use in professional wrestling. When asked if he had taken steroids he was heard to reply, “I can’t tell you that I haven’t, but you will never prove that I have”. The day after the documentary aired, WWE accused CNN of taking Cena’s comments out of context to present a biased point of view, backing up their claim by posting an unedited video of Cena answering the same question – filmed by WWE cameras from another angle – in which he is heard beginning the same statement with “absolutely not”. A text interview on the website with Cena later had him saying the news outlet should apologize for misrepresenting him, which CNN refused, saying they felt the true answer to the question began with the phrase “my answer to that question”. However, they did edit the documentary on subsequent airings to include the “absolutely not”.

Cena was featured on the ABC reality series Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race, which aired in June 2007, making it to the final round before being eliminated on June 24, placing third in the competition overall.

2007 began with the end of his storyline with Kevin Federline. On the first Raw of the new year, Cena was pinned by Federline with an assist from Umaga, although later in the night he was able to get his hands on Federline performing an FU on him. At New Year’s Revolution, Cena defeated Umaga to end his undefeated streak and retain the WWE Championship. At the Royal Rumble, Cena defeated Umaga in a Last Man Standing match to retain the title after Umaga was unable to get to his feet before the referee’s ten count. One night after the Royal Rumble, an impromptu team of Cena and Shawn Michaels defeated Rated-RKO (Edge and Randy Orton) for the World Tag Team Championship, making Cena a double champion. At WrestleMania 23, Cena defeated Michaels to retain the WWE Championship after forcing him to submit to the STF.

Cena hosted the Australian Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards with Natalie Bassingthwaighte on October 11, 2008, in Melbourne. Cena guest starred as Ewan O’Hara, brother of Juliet O’Hara, in an episode of the fourth season of the comedy drama Psych. He also guest starred as himself in the seventh episode of Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana Forever.

Cena hosted the Australian Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards with Natalie Bassingthwaighte on October 11, 2008, in Melbourne. Cena guest starred as Ewan O’Hara, brother of Juliet O’Hara, in an episode of the fourth season of the comedy drama Psych. He also guest starred as himself in the seventh episode of Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana Forever.

During WWE’s change from TV-14 to TV-PG in mid-2008, the name of Cena’s finishing move, the FU, was changed to the Attitude Adjustment and his finishing submission move, the STFU, was renamed the STF to fit with the WWE’s new policies. During his career, he has been known for ending his matches with a sequence of moves, dubbed the “Five Moves of Doom”. The moves typically go in the following order: flying shoulder block, sit-out hip toss, side-release spinout powerbomb, Five Knuckle Shuffle, and Attitude Adjustment. During the summer of 2018, Cena promoted a sixth move. On September 1, he finally executed the move, a high-impact left-handed jab known as the Lightning Fist.

Cena made a surprise return as the final participant of the Royal Rumble match, winning it, and the traditional WrestleMania XXIV 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 2008’s No Way Out in a match Cena won by disqualification and, therefore, not being awarded the championship. The following night on Raw, Cena was placed back into WrestleMania’s WWE Championship match 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. Cena also failed to regain the WWE Championship from Triple H at the 2008 Night of Champions. Later, JBL defeated him in a New York City Parking Lot Brawl at The Great American Bash in July to end the feud. On the August 4 episode of Raw, Cena became a World Tag Team Champion for a second time, teaming with Batista to defeat Cody Rhodes and 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 in his match at SummerSlam, which required surgery. Cena underwent successful surgery to repair the injury.

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. Later that year, he began dating fellow wrestler Nikki Bella. They became engaged when Cena proposed to her at WrestleMania 33 on April 2, 2017 but ended their relationship in April 2018. They were scheduled to marry on May 5, 2018.

What's John Cena Net Worth 2024

John Cena Family