Cena,
first appeared on television as a hunter in the short-lived
reality show Manhunt. He then
began wrestling in the WWE's developmental system Ohio Valley
Wrestling (OVW) where he enjoyed success as the Prototype,
winning the OVW Championship and the OVW Tag Team Championship
with Rico Constantino.
Cena made
his debut on WWE Smackdown when he was given a chance to join
the Smackdown roster if he could beat Kurt Angle. Cena
scored an upset win over the self-proclaimed Olympic hero and
he began wrestling for the Smackdown
brand.
Cena's
early months as a Smackdown wrestler went relatively unnoticed
until Cena changed his image from an ordinary run of the mill
wrestler to a rapping thug. He turned heel and began his
matches with battle raps where he frequently insulted his
opponents. Over time, the audience warmed to Cena's
character and it was obvious that he was becoming popular with
fans.
Prior to
the 2003 Survivor Series, Cena was asked to join Kurt Angle's
team. Instead of joining, Cena insulted Angle and
his teammates and ended up turning face.
Since
then, Cena has won the United States Championship and recently
feuded with WWE Champion John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL) and his
cabinet. At Wrestlemania XXI, John Cena defeated JBL to
become the WWE champion.
During
the 2005 Draft Lottery, John Cena was traded from SmackDown!
to RAW where he took the WWE Title. Cena appeared
on Chris Jericho's interview segment
"The Highlight Reel" where he was confronted by Christian and
Tyson Tomko. Cena laid into Christian with his cutting
raps and a match was scheduled for the next week between
Cena/Jericho and Christian/Tomko. Cena and Jericho won
the match but fans were shocked when Jericho attacked Cena
after the match in an attempt to get a title shot from
Cena.
RAW's
general manager Eric Bischoff scheduled a three-way match at
the pay-per-view Vengeance between Cena, Jericho, and
Christian. Cena went on to defeat both men, retaining
his WWE Championship. Recently, Cena teamed with Shawn
Michaels and Hulk Hogan to
defeatJericho, Christian, and Edg on Monday Night
RAW.
In the
last several months, John Cena has fought off the challenge of
Kurt Angle. At the Taboo Tuesday pay-per-view, Cena
battled both Angle and Shawn Michaels in a three-way match
with Cena retaining the title. Angle and Cena
are met again at the 2005 Survivor Series with Cena
retaining the title.
Despite
stiff competition from both Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels,
Cena retained the belt time and time again. Some fans
began to grow tired with Cena though and boos were noticeable
for the once super popular champion. Cena acknowledged
the boos stating that he had his fans and his critics and the
fans had the right to choose. As the competition
continued to grow, Cena expanded his repertoire to include a
variation on the submission hold the STF which he called the
"STFU".
In
January 2006, Cena faced the biggest challenge of his career
when he had to defend his WWE Championship against five
opponents in an "Elimination Chamber" match at the New
Year's Revolution PPV. Cena defended the belt
against Carlito, Chris Masters, Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels,
and Kane. Cena fought hard and in the end was
victorious. However after the match, WWE CEO Vince
McMahon announced that the night was not over and that Cena
had another title defense. Edge came out and cashed in
his "Money in the Bank" contract (which enabled him to
challenge the WWE champion at any time for a title
shot). The bruised and battered Cena was no match for
the fully rested Edge. Edge delivered two "Spears" to
Cena and pinned him for the belt.
The next
night on Monday Night RAW, Edge and Lita celebrated in the
middle of the ring by having sex. "Nature Boy" Ric Flair
came out to break up the spectacle only to be beat down by
Edge. Cena came to the "Nature Boy's" rescue and drove
Edge away. He then gave Edge's valet Lita an FU,
infuriating the champion. At the 2006 Royal
Rumble, Cena regained the WWE Championship when he forced
Edge to tap out to the STFU.
After he
won a "Road to Wrestlemania" tournament, Triple H was
announced as Cena's opponent for Wrestlemania XXII.
During the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania, Cena was ordered
into a tag match with Triple H against Rey Mysteriom Kurt
Angle, and Randy Orton during an episode of Saturday
Night's Main Event. Cena and Triple H formed an effective
tag team but in the end, Triple H attacked Cena, leaving him
to fend for himself.
At
Wrestlemania XXII Cena successfully defended his WWE
title against Triple H, winning the match with the
STFU. Despite strong challenges from "The Cerebral Assassin",
Cena held on to the belt.
After defeating Triple H, a
new challenger faced Cena, yet another Money in the Bank winner.
Rob Van Dam (RVD) decided to cash in his "Money in the Bank"
title shot (won at Wrestlemania XXII) at the Extreme
Championship Wrestling (ECW) PPV in June of 2006. Cena put
on a tremendous effort as the ECW fans cheered RVD on
passionately and let Cena know how much they hated him.
The match ended under a cloud of controversy after Edge
interfered in the match and speared Cena. Nonethess, RVD
went on to become the new WWE Champion.
RVD and Cena squared off again as former WWE Champion Edge
stalked both wrestlers. In July 2006, all three grapplers
met in a three way match on an episode of Monday Night RAW.
After landing the FU on RVD, Cena appeared to have the match won
but Edge stole a victory by knocking Cena down and pinning the
fallen RVD. Since then, Cena has chased Edge around the
country, meeting the "Rated R Superstar" in a variety of
matches. At the 2006 edition of SummerSlam, "The
Doctor of Thuganomics" faced Edge in a title match with the
stipulation that Edge would lose the belt if he was
disqualified. Despite this advantage, Cena was unable to
wrest the belt away. As a rematch became less likely, Cena
sweetened the pot by requesting a rematch against Edge with the
stipulation that he would leave RAW for SmackDown!
if Edge were to retain the belt. The thought of
eliminating Cena from RAW was too tempting and Edge has agreed
to meet Cena in Toronto, Ontario in a TLC Match, a match Edge
has never lost.
