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JOHN CENA
John Cena is the wrestling
embodiment of the hip-hop culture. Like Enimen,
John Cena uses his rapping ability to insult
those he doesn't like. He even personalized the
WWE title into a piece of bling-bling featuring
a spinning WWE logo. This young superstar has
reached the top of his profession and his future
only looks brighter. He has released a rap album
and will star in a movie in 2006.
Pre-WWE:
John Cena was born in Massachusetts in 1977.
While wrestling in the Ohio Valley Wrestling
development territory of the WWE, he was known
as Prototype. He was on the 2001 UPN reality TV
show Manhunt which was cancelled due to bad
ratings and a controversy about the legitimacy
of the program.
The Doctor of
Thuganomics:
In June 2002, he made his SmackDown debut by
accepting an open challenge from Kurt Angle. The
one thing he was missing was a compelling
gimmick. That Halloween, he dressed like a
Vanilla Ice impersonator and did his first rap.
With this new hip-hop persona, he would insult
the crowd before the matches by making bad raps
about their city and wearing throwback jerseys
of the enemies of the local sports team.
U.S. Champion:
With the help of his gimmick and improving
wrestling ability, he was in a main event title
match by April 2003. That November, the
inevitable face turn occurred and his career has
skyrocketed since. He was involved in a feud
with then U.S. champ, the 500+ pound Big Show.
At WrestleMania XX, he won the title. Even
though he wasn't the World Champ, he solidified
his spot as the most popular wrestler on
SmackDown.
The Champ is Here:
For the next few months, Cena was involved
in feuds with Booker T and Carlito for the U.S.
title. In the beginning of 2005, he won a
tournament to fight JBL for the WWE title at
WrestleMania. Prior to this match, he lost his
U.S. title due to the interference of JBL. Cena
got his revenge by becoming WWE champ at
WrestleMania 21. He beat JBL in a rematch the
next month in an I Quit Match.
From SmackDown to RAW:
During the annual draft lottery, John Cena
moved to Raw. This move put him into an
immediate feud with Chris Jericho. Jericho has
released rock albums with his band Fozzy and
Cena had just released his rap album. In this
battle, hip-hop pinned rock. John Cena also
started out on bad terms with GM Eric Bischoff,
who vowed to do all he can to get the title off
Cena and make his life miserable on Raw.
The End of an Era:
Cena began feuding with Shawn Michaels and
Kurt Angle and also caused the firing of Eric
Bischoff by beating Kurt Angle and Chris
Masters. At New Year's Revolution he beat both
men plus Kane, Carlito & Shawn Michaels in an
Elimination Chamber Match. Immediately following
the match, Edge used his Money in the Bank Title
Shot and easily beat the worn out champ. He
regained the belt a few weeks later but later
lost the title to Rob Van Dam.
The Marine: Shortly before the release of his
movie, The Marine, John beat Edge in a Tables,
Ladders, and Chairs Match to win the WWE
Championship for a third time.
Title Reigns:
WWE Championship
• 4/3/05 WrestleMania 21 - beat JBL to become
WWE champ
1/8/06 New Year's Revolution - lost the title to
Edge
• 1/29/06 Royal Rumble - regained the title from
Edge
6/11/06 ECW One Night Stand - lost the title to
Rob Van Dam
• 9/17/06 Unforgiven - beat Edge in a TLC Match
(Sources: Pro Wrestling
Illustrated Almanac & Obsessed with
Wrestling.com)
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