John Cena

John Felix Anthony Cena (born April 23, 1977) is an American professional wrestler, actor, and former rapper.

As a wrestler, he has been signed to WWE, but has been performing part-time.

A record 16-time world champion as recognized by WWE, Cena is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.

Cena was born in West Newbury, Massachusetts on April 23, 1977, to Carol (née Lupien) and John Joseph Cena.

His mother is of English and French-Canadian descent, while his father, a former ring announcer for Chaotic Wrestling, has Italian ancestry.

He was raised Roman Catholic.

His maternal grandfather was baseball player Tony Lupien, while his maternal great-grandfather was businessman Ulysses J. Lupien.

He is the second oldest of five brothers: Dan, Matt, Steve, and Sean.

A fan of wrestling growing up, he would create championship belts out of cardboard for himself and his brothers.

He is a cousin of computer scientist Natalie Enright Jerger.

Cena was teased and beaten up while in school, and asked for a weightlifting bench at the age of 12.

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

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

Cena moved to California in 1998 to pursue a career as a bodybuilder and switched to professional wrestling in 1999, and made his debut for Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW).

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 (UPW) Ultimate University, operated by Rick Bassman.

He 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.

Some of this period of his career was documented in the Discovery Channel program Inside Pro Wrestling School.

He 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.

Cena worked in the store area of Gold's Gym for $6 an hour.

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

He held the UPW Heavyweight Championship for 27 days in April 2000, and 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.

In 2001, he signed with the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF; renamed WWE in 2002) and was assigned to its developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), winning the OVW Heavyweight Championship and OVW Southern Tag Team Championship.

He received another tryout on January 9, 2001, at a SmackDown! taping in Oakland, California, defeating Aaron Aguilera before wrestling again in a dark match at a SmackDown! taping on March 13.

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.

After moving up to WWE's main roster on SmackDown in 2002, Cena gained fame and success after adopting the character of a trash-talking rapper.

A 16-time world champion, Cena has held the WWE Championship a record 13-times and the World Heavyweight Championship (2002–2013 version) three times.

He is also 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.

He has also headlined multiple major WWE pay-per-view events, including its flagship event, WrestleMania, five times.

His professional wrestling 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.

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 Hall of Famer Big Boss Man and Charlie Haas, in a winning effort against Lance Cade, Trevor Murdoch and Sean O'Haire.

Cena's call-up to the main roster meant that he was part of OVW's now legendary Class of 2002, alongside Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton and Dave Bautista, a class which would eventually become known as the "OVW 4".

After winning his first WWE Championship in 2005, Cena transitioned into a clean-cut, heroic character which he described as a "goody-two shoes Superman".

He released a studio album, You Can't See Me, in 2005.

Outside his work in entertainment, Cena is known for his involvement in numerous charitable causes, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, where he has granted the most wishes, at over 650.

Cena's first starring film role was in The Marine (2006) and he subsequently gained praise for his performances in Trainwreck (2015), Ferdinand (2017), Blockers, and Bumblebee (both 2018).

He starred in F9 (2021) as Jakob Toretto, reprising his role in Fast X (2023), and portrayed Peacemaker in The Suicide Squad (2021) and the eponymous television series (2022–present).