130 Facts About John Cena

John Felix Anthony Cena is an American actor and professional wrestler.

John Cena is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.

John Cena led the company as its franchise player and public face from the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s.

John Cena's face run from 2003 to 2025 is the longest in the history of WWE.

John Cena has held the WWE Championship a record 13 times and the World Heavyweight Championship three times.

John Cena is a five-time WWE United States Champion, a two-time WWE Tag Team Champion, a two-time World Tag Team Champion, a two-time Royal Rumble winner, and a one-time Money in the Bank winner.

John Cena has headlined multiple major WWE pay-per-views, including its flagship event WrestleMania six times.

John Cena's career has been met with mixed critical and audience reception, with praise for his character work and promotional skills but criticism for his perceived over-representation and on-screen dominance relative to other wrestlers.

John Cena's first starring film role was in The Marine and he gained praise for his performances in Trainwreck, Ferdinand, Blockers, and Bumblebee.

John Cena starred in F9 and Fast X and portrayed Peacemaker in The Suicide Squad and the eponymous television series.

John Cena released his only studio album, You Can't See Me, in 2005, which peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200.

Outside of his work in entertainment, John Cena is known for his involvement in charitable causes, and has granted the most wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation at over 650.

John Cena's mother is of English and French-Canadian descent, while his father has Italian ancestry.

John Cena has one older brother named Dan and three younger brothers named Matt, Steve, and Sean.

John Cena is a cousin of computer scientist Natalie Enright Jerger.

John Cena was teased and beaten up while in school, prompting him to ask his parents for a weightlifting bench at the age of 12.

John Cena was educated at Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Massachusetts, before transferring to the private prep boarding school Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Massachusetts.

John Cena then attended Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he was an NCAA Division III All-American center and football team captain.

John Cena graduated in 1999 with a degree in exercise physiology and body movement, after which he pursued a bodybuilding career and worked as a limousine driver.

John Cena idolized Hulk Hogan growing up, moving to California in 1998 to begin training for a professional wrestling career the following year at Ultimate Pro Wrestling's Ultimate University, operated by Rick Bassman.

John Cena started wrestling in local flea markets, and once he was placed into an in-ring role, Cena began using a semi-robotic character known as The Prototype.

John Cena held the UPW Heavyweight Championship for 27 days in April 2000, and wrestled for the UPW until March 2001.

In 2001, John Cena signed a developmental contract with the WWF and was assigned to its developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling.

John Cena used the nickname "The Doctor of Thuganomics" and expanded his gimmick to include rapping before his matches, wearing hats and sports jerseys as part of his ring gear.

The decision was made to have John Cena try rapping as a gimmick.

John Cena then sought the WWE Championship, held by Brock Lesnar.

John Cena entered a number one contender's tournament for the title, gaining upset wins over Eddie Guerrero, The Undertaker and Chris Benoit.

John Cena participated in the Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble on January 25,2004, but was eliminated by Big Show.

The duo began a feud which resulted in John Cena allegedly being stabbed in the kidney while at a Boston-area nightclub by Carlito's bodyguard, Jesus; this worked "injury" was used to keep John Cena out of action for a month while he was filming The Marine.

On January 30,2005, John Cena took part in the Royal Rumble match, making it to the final two.

John Cena immediately entered into a feud with Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff, after refusing to participate in the "war" against the Extreme Championship Wrestling roster at the 2005 ECW One Night Stand.

John Cena lost the WWE Championship to Van Dam after interference from Edge.

John Cena returned with his version of the spinner title belt on the next night's Raw.

At New Year's Revolution on January 7,2007, John Cena defeated Umaga to end his undefeated streak and retain the WWE Championship.

The next night on Raw, Michaels turned on John Cena, costing them the tag titles in the second of two 10-team battle royals, by throwing John Cena over the top rope and eliminating the team.

The Great Khali then declared his intentions to challenge for John Cena's championship, attacking and "laying out" all three of the top contenders before assaulting John Cena and stealing the title belt.

John Cena's surgery was performed by orthopedic surgeon James Andrews at St Vincent's Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama.

On January 27,2008, at the Royal Rumble, Cena made a surprise return as the final participant of the Royal Rumble match, winning it and the traditional WrestleMania XXIV title shot, last eliminating Triple H Instead of waiting until WrestleMania, the shot was cashed in against WWE Champion Randy Orton at No Way Out on February 17, winning by disqualification, therefore not being awarded the title.

The next night on Raw, John 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.

At Royal Rumble on January 31,2010, John Cena competed in the titular match, making it to the final two where he was eliminated by the returning Edge.

Per stipulation, if Barrett didn't win the championship, John Cena would be "fired" from the WWE; Orton defeated Barrett to retain the title, and John Cena was fired.

John Cena made it to the final five before being eliminated by WWE Champion The Miz, who was not part of the match.

That night, John Cena was placed into a WWE Tag Team Championship match, teaming with The Miz to defeat Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater to become the new WWE Tag Team Champions.

However, their rematch clause was immediately invoked, and Gabriel and Slater won the titles back after The Miz attacked John Cena, making their reign the shortest in the title's history.

John Cena began a feud with CM Punk, who was leaving the company due to his contract expiring after Money in the Bank.

John Cena fought Kane to a double countout at Royal Rumble on January 29,2012, and then defeated him in an Ambulance match on February 19 at Elimination Chamber.

However that night John Cena defeated Laurinaitis and David Otunga in a handicap match to end his feud with Laurinaitis.

On January 27,2013, John Cena won his second Royal Rumble match, announcing that he would pursue the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 29.

John Cena then began a rivalry with Ryback, during which he suffered a legitimate achilles tendon injury.

John Cena loses one match, then wins the next two or three.

Wyatt wanted to prove that John Cena's heroic act was a facade characteristic of "this era of lies" and to turn John Cena into a "monster".

John Cena's team consisted of Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Erick Rowan and Ryback.

Per the match stipulation, The Authority were stripped from power and only John Cena could bring them back.

John Cena challenged Rusev to a rematch, which was declined, and Stephanie McMahon decreed that John Cena would not compete at WrestleMania 31 unless Rusev agreed to a rematch.

John Cena issued an open challenge each week on the program with his United States Championship on the line, successfully defending the title against the likes of Dean Ambrose, Stardust, Bad News Barrett, Kane, Sami Zayn, Neville, Zack Ryder and Cesaro.

John Cena returned at WrestleMania 32 on April 3,2016, helping The Rock fend off The Wyatt Family.

John Cena was confronted by AJ Styles, only to be betrayed by Styles, who joined his former Club teammates Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in attacking Cena.

John Cena lost the match after being pinned by Styles, which came after Ambrose and Cena simultaneously made Styles submit, therefore restarting the match.

John Cena took a sabbatical from WWE to film American Grit season 2.

On January 29,2017, John Cena defeated Styles at the Royal Rumble to win the WWE Championship and tie Ric Flair for the most recognized world title reigns at 16.

Two nights later on SmackDown Live, John Cena lost a triple threat match against Wyatt for the championship in a match featuring Styles.

John Cena proposed marriage to Bella after the match and she accepted.

John Cena returned to WWE television on the January 1,2019, episode of SmackDown, where he and Becky Lynch defeated Andrade Cien Almas and Zelina Vega in a mixed tag team match.

Wyatt ultimately defeated John Cena, and following his victory John Cena's motionless body vanished from the middle of the ring.

At the time, John Cena was in Canada filming the HBO Max series Peacemaker, and the pandemic made it logistically impossible for him to travel to Tampa, Florida, for WrestleMania 37, as upon his return to Canada, he would have had to quarantine for two weeks, which would have shut down production on the series.

John Cena did appear in a WWE advertisement to help announce the location of WrestleMania 39.

John Cena finally made his return to WWE programming at Money in the Bank on July 18,2021, confronting Roman Reigns after the latter retained his Universal Championship against Edge in the main event.

On that episode of Raw, John Cena returned and cut a promo recalling all his memories and thanking the fans for their support.

John Cena made appearances backstage with The Street Profits, Ezekiel, Theory, Seth "Freakin" Rollins, and Omos.

On January 27,2023, John Cena was announced as the cover star for the WWE 2K23 video game, the second time for him being a cover star of a WWE 2K game after WWE 2K15.

Waller then attacked John Cena, who retaliated by hitting the Attitude Adjustment on Waller.

The next night, John Cena served as the host of Payback, and was a special guest referee for the match between LA Knight and The Miz, which Knight won and was embraced by John Cena afterwards.

Sikoa came out and brawled with John Cena, setting up a match between the two at Crown Jewel.

On Raw the next night, John Cena competed in his first match on Raw since January 2019, where he teamed up with Raw Tag Team Champions The Awesome Truth to defeat Judgment Day members Finn Balor, JD McDonagh, and Dominik Mysterio.

John Cena made a surprise appearance at Money in the Bank on July 6,2024, to announce his retirement from in-ring action at the end of 2025, making WrestleMania 41 his final WrestleMania.

John Cena won the match by last eliminating CM Punk via technical submission, tying Triple H's record for the most Elimination Chamber victories at four and earning an Undisputed WWE Championship match against Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41.

John Cena often rapped before his matches, insulting his opponents, events that happened in the media and even the crowd.

John Cena regularly performed "rap battles", where he and his opponent took turns rapping on each other.

John Cena has a history of returning from both real and scripted injuries much sooner than expected.

John Cena started out wearing "throwback jerseys" and Reebok pumps until WWE produced specific John Cena merchandise which he began wearing.

John Cena 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 matching his spinner title belt.

Around the time The Marine was released, John Cena began wearing more military related attire, including camouflage shorts, dog tags, a Marine soldier cap, and a WWE produced shirt with the legend "Chain Gang Assault Battalion".

John Cena then wore shirts that promoted Cenation and his trademark line "You Can't See Me".

John Cena co-starred in his third film produced by WWE Studios, titled Legendary, which was played in selected theaters beginning on September 10,2010, for a limited time.

That same year, John 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.

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

In 2017, John Cena starred in the war drama The Wall and lent his voice for the animated films Surf's Up 2: WaveMania and Ferdinand.

John Cena appeared in Daddy's Home 2, reprising his role in a larger capacity than the 2015 film.

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

In 2019, John Cena was cast in Justin Lin's F9, playing Jakob Toretto, the brother of Vin Diesel's character Dominic Toretto.

John Cena subsequently posted an apology on social media as China considers Taiwan a part of China.

John Cena was the voice of Rocksteady in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, which was released on August 2,2023.

John Cena has appeared on morning radio shows including the CBS and XM versions of Opie and Anthony as part of their "walkover" on October 10,2006.

John Cena 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.

In March 2009, John Cena made an appearance on Saturday Night Live during the show's cold opening sequence.

In 2001, between his training in Ultimate Pro Wrestling and Ohio Valley Wrestling, John 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.

John 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.

In 2007, John 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.

John Cena hosted the Australian Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards with Natalie Bassingthwaighte on October 11,2008, in Melbourne.

John Cena guest starred as Ewan O'Hara, brother of Juliet O'Hara, in an episode of the fourth season of the comedy drama Psych.

John Cena guest starred as himself in the seventh episode of Disney Channel's Hannah Montana Forever.

John Cena appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers on August 21,2015.

John Cena hosted two seasons of American Grit on Fox, a reality television series with 10 episodes.

John Cena hosted the ESPN ESPY Awards on July 13,2016, in Los Angeles.

On December 10,2016, John Cena was the guest host of Saturday Night Live on NBC.

In 2024, an almost completely nude John Cena appeared onstage at the 96th Academy Awards to present the award for best costume design in reference to a streaker interrupting the ceremony in 1974.

John Cena largely received praise for his performance during the presentation.

John Cena performed his fifth WWE theme song, "Basic Thuganomics", and it was featured on the WWE soundtrack album WWE Originals.

John Cena recorded a song, "Untouchables", for the company's next soundtrack album WWE ThemeAddict: The Music, Vol.

John Cena collaborated on a remix for the song "H-U-S-T-L-E" along with Murs, E-40, and Chingo Bling.

In October 2014, John 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.

John Cena is a self-taught pianist, starting to learn the instrument in 2016.

In 2008, John Cena filmed a commercial as part of Gillette's "Young Guns" NASCAR campaign.

In 2009, John Cena expanded his relationship with Gillette by introducing a new online campaign called "Be A Superstar" featuring himself alongside fellow WWE wrestlers Chris Jericho and Cody Rhodes.

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

On October 13,2016, John Cena made his debut as the voice of Ernie the Elephant in a new commercial campaign launched by Wonderful Pistachios.

John Cena was named to Adweek's "Creative 100" and received praise for his performance.

The Guinness Book of World Records confirmed that not only had John Cena granted this many wishes by mid-2022, but that second place was fewer than 200.

From late 2011 until WrestleMania XXVIII, John Cena wore a black "Rise Above Hate" T-shirt promoting WWE's "Be a Star" anti-bullying campaign.

In September and October 2012, Cena wore pink and black with the phrase "Rise Above Cancer" in partnership with Susan G Komen for the Cure as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

In November 2016, John Cena appeared in a public service announcement, "We Are America", sponsored by the Ad Council as part of its "Love Has No Labels" campaign.

John Cena accepted the dare, but did it in reverse by waving his hand in front of his face instead to make it look more visible to his brother.

John Cena has been the subject of many memes due to his catchphrase, "You can't see me" such as being invisible in photos.

John Cena has often said that he does not want children because he would not want to be an absentee parent due to focusing on his career.

John Cena filed for divorce on May 1,2012, and the divorce was finalized on July 18 of that year.

John Cena began dating engineer Shay Shariatzadeh in early 2019, and they were married on October 12,2020, in a private ceremony in Tampa, Florida.

John Cena started learning Mandarin Chinese in 2016 to help the WWE expand its reach, and he spoke in Mandarin at a press conference in China.

Ford and John Cena settled the dispute on June 19,2018.

From July to November 2018, John Cena lived in Yinchuan, China, in order to work with Jackie Chan on the film Hidden Strike.

On March 31,2025, John Cena revealed he had previously had skin cancer.