Events

1503 – Disfida di Barletta – famous challenge between 13 Italian and 13 French knights near Barletta.

1542 – Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, is executed for adultery.

1575 – Henry III of France is crowned at Rheims, marrying Louise de Lorraine-Vaudémont on the same day.

1633 – Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition.

1668 – Spain recognizes Portugal as an independent nation.

1689 – William and Mary are proclaimed co-rulers of England.

1692 – Massacre of Glencoe: About 78 Macdonalds at Glen Coe, Scotland are killed early in the morning for not promptly pledging allegiance to the new king, William of Orange.

1739 – Battle of Karnal: The army of Iranian ruler Nadir Shah defeats the forces of the Mughal emperor of India, Muhammad Shah.

1867 – Work begins on the covering of the Zenne, burying Brussels's primary river and creating the modern central boulevards.

1880 – Thomas Edison observes the Edison effect.

1881 – The feminist newspaper ''La Citoyenne'' is first published in Paris by the activist Hubertine Auclert.

1894 – Auguste and Louis Lumière patent the ''Cinematographe'', a combination movie camera and projector.

1914 – Copyright: In New York City the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is established to protect the copyrighted musical compositions of its members.

1920 – The Negro National League is formed.

1931 – New Delhi becomes the capital of India.

1934 – The Soviet steamship ''Cheliuskin'' sinks in the Arctic Ocean.

1935 – A jury in Flemington, New Jersey finds Bruno Hauptmann guilty of the 1932 kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby, the son of Charles Lindbergh.

1945 – World War II: The siege of Budapest concludes with the unconditional surrender of German and Hungarian forces to the Red Army.

1945 – World War II: Royal Air Force bombers are dispatched to Dresden, Germany to attack the city with a massive aerial bombardment.

1951 – Korean War: Battle of Chipyong-ni, which represented the "high-water mark" of the Chinese incursion into South Korea, commences.

1954 – Frank Selvy becomes the only NCAA Division I basketball player ever to score 100 points in a single game

1955 – Israel obtains 4 of the 7 Dead Sea scrolls.

1960 – With the success of a nuclear test codenamed "Gerboise Bleue", France becomes the fourth country to possess nuclear weapons.

1960 – Black college students stage the first of the Nashville sit-ins at three lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee.

1961 – A 500,000-year-old rock is discovered near Olancha, California, US, that appears to anachronistically encase a spark plug.

1967 – American researchers discover the Madrid Codices by Leonardo da Vinci in the National Library of Spain.

1970 – ''Black Sabbath'', arguably the very first heavy metal album, is released.

1971 – Vietnam War: Backed by American air and artillery support, South Vietnamese troops invade Laos.

1978 – Hilton bombing: a bomb explodes in a refuse truck outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, Australia, killing two refuse collectors and a policeman.

1979 – An intense windstorm strikes western Washington and sinks a 1/2-mile-long section of the Hood Canal Bridge.

1981 – A series of sewer explosions destroys more than two miles of streets in Louisville, Kentucky.

1982 – Río Negro massacre in Guatemala.

1984 – Konstantin Chernenko succeeds the late Yuri Andropov as general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

1990 – German reunification: An agreement is reached on a two-stage plan to reunite Germany.

1991 – Gulf War: Two laser-guided "smart bombs" destroy the Amiriyah shelter in Baghdad. Allied forces said the bunker was being used as a military communications outpost, but over 400 Iraqi civilians inside were killed.

2000 – The last original "Peanuts" comic strip appears in newspapers one day after Charles M. Schulz dies.

2001 – An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter Scale hits El Salvador, killing at least 400.

2004 – The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announces the discovery of the universe's largest known diamond, white dwarf star ''BPM 37093''. Astronomers named this star "Lucy" after The Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".

2007 – Taiwan opposition leader Ma Ying-jeou resigns as the chairman of the Kuomintang party after being indicted by the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office on charges of embezzlement during his tenure as the mayor of Taipei; Ma also announces his candidacy for the 2008 presidential election.

2008 – Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd makes a historic apology to the Indigenous Australians and the Stolen Generations.

2010 – A bomb explodes in the city of Pune, Maharashtra, India, killing 17 and injuring 60 more.

Births

711 BC – Jimmu, Japanese emperor (d. 585 DC)

1457 – Mary of Burgundy, daughter of Charles the Bold and wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1482)

1480 – Girolamo Aleandro, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1542)

1516 – Bayinnaung, King of Burma (d. 1581)

1599 – Pope Alexander VII (d. 1667)

1672 – Étienne François Geoffroy, French chemist (d. 1731)

1683 – Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, Italian painter (d. 1754)

1719 – George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, British naval officer (d. 1792)

1721 – John Reid, British army general and composer (d. 1807)

1728 – John Hunter, Scottish surgeon (d. 1793)

1768 – Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, French marshal (d. 1835)

1769 – Ivan Krylov, Russian fabulist (d. 1844)

1805 – Peter Gustav Dirichlet, German mathematician (d. 1859)

1811 – François Achille Bazaine, French marshal (d. 1888)

1831 – John Aaron Rawlins, American soldier, civil servant, and 29th United States Secretary of War (d. 1869)

1834 – Heinrich Caro, German Chemist (d. 1910)

1835 – Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (d. 1908)

1849 – Lord Randolph Churchill, British statesman (d. 1895)

1849 – Friedrich Wilhelm Voigt German impostor who became famous as The Captain of Köpenick (Der Hauptmann von Köpenick) (d. 1922)

1855 – Paul Deschanel, French President (d. 1922)

1866 – Lev Shestov, Russian philosopher (d. 1938)

1870 – Leopold Godowsky, Polish-American pianist, composer (d. 1938)

1873 – Feodor Chaliapin, Russian bass (d. 1938)

1876 – Fritz Buelow, German-born American baseball player (d. 1933)

1879 – Sarojini Naidu, Indian freedom fighter (d. 1949)

1881 – Eleanor Farjeon, English author (d. 1965)

1883 – Yevgeny Vakhtangov, Russian-Armenian director (d. 1922)

1884 – Alfred Carlton Gilbert, American athlete, inventor, and businessman (d. 1961)

1885 – Bess Truman, First Lady of the United States, wife of President Harry S. Truman (d. 1982)

1887 – Géza Csáth, Hungarian writer (d. 1919)

1888 – George Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1968)

1889 – Leontine Sagan, Austrian actress and theatre director (d. 1974)

1891 – Kate Roberts, Welsh nationalist and writer (d. 1985)

1891 – Grant Wood, American painter (d. 1942)

1892 – Robert H. Jackson, American jurist, 57th United States Attorney General and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (d. 1954)

1897 – William S. Bowdern, American Jesuit Roman Catholic priest (d. 1983)

1900 – Roy Harrod, English economist (d. 1978)

1901 – Paul Lazarsfeld, American Sociologist (d. 1976)

1902 – Harold Lasswell, American political scientist (d. 1978)

1903 – Georgy Beriev, Russian aircraft designer (d. 1979)

1903 – Georges Simenon, Belgian writer (d. 1989)

1906 – Patsy Callighen, Canadian Hockey Player (d. 1964)

1906 – Agostinho da Silva, Portuguese philosopher (d. 1994)

1907 – Katy de la Cruz, Filipino singer (d. 2004)

1910 – William Shockley, British-American physicist and eugenicist, Nobel Laureate (d. 1989)

1911 – Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Pakistani Urdu poet, Lenin Peace Prize winner (d. 1984)

1911 – Jean Muir, American actress (d. 1996)

1913 – Khalid bin Abdul-Aziz, King of Saudi Arabia (d. 1982)

1915 – Aung San, Burmese general and politician (d. 1947)

1915 – Lyle Bettger, American actor (d. 2003)

1916 – John Reed, British actor and singer (d. 2010)

1918 – Patty Berg, American golfer (d. 2006)

1919 – Tennessee Ernie Ford, American musician (d. 1991)

1919 – Eddie Robinson, American football coach (d. 2007)

1920 – Boudleaux Bryant, American songwriter (d. 1987)

1920 – Eileen Farrell, American opera soprano (d. 2002)

1921 – Aung Khin, Burmese painter (d. 1996)

1921 – Jeanne Demessieux, French organist, pianist, composer (d. 1968)

1922 – Francis Pym, British Foreign Secretary 1982-83 (d. 2008)

1922 – Gordon Tullock, American economist

1923 – Michael Anthony Bilandic, American politician (d. 2002)

1923 – Yfrah Neaman, Lebanese violinist (d. 2003)

1923 – Chuck Yeager, American fighter and test pilot

1924 – Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, French journalist (d. 2006)

1928 – Dorothy McGuire, American singer (The McGuire Sisters)

1929 – Omar Torrijos, Panamanian ruler (d. 1981)

1930 – Ernst Fuchs, Austrian artist

1930 – Israel Kirzner, American economist

1932 – Susan Oliver, American actress (d. 1990)

1933 – Paul Biya, Cameroon politician

1933 – Caroline Blakiston, British actress

1933 – Costa Gavras, Greek-French filmmaker

1933 – Patrick Godfrey, British actor

1933 – Kim Novak, American actress

1933 – Peter L. Pond, American activist and philanthropist (d. 2000)

1933 – Emanuel Ungaro, French fashion designer

1934 – George Segal, American actor

1935 – Dr. Don Panoz, American entrepreneur and motorsports impresario (ALMS)

1937 – Ali El-Maak, Sudanese writer (d. 1992)

1938 – Oliver Reed, English actor (d. 1999)

1939 – Beate Klarsfeld, German Nazi hunter

1940 – Arne Sølvberg, Norwegian computer scientist

1941 – Andrea Conte, First Lady of Tennessee

1941 – Sigmar Polke, German painter

1942 – Carol Lynley, American actress

1942 – Peter Tork, American musician and actor (The Monkees)

1942 – Donald E. Williams, NASA astronaut

1943 – Elaine Pagels, American theologian

1944 – Rebop Kwaku Baah, Nigerian percussionist (d. 1983)

1944 – Stockard Channing, American actress

1944 – Jerry Springer, American television host

1944 – Bo Svenson, Swedish-born actor

1944 – Oduvil Unnikrishnan, Indian actor (d. 2006)

1945 – King Floyd, American musician (d. 2006)

1945 – Simon Schama, British historian

1945 – William Sleator, American science fiction author

1945 – David Tremlett, English artist

1946 – Richard Blumenthal, American Senator

1946 – Louis Kondos, Greek actor

1946 – Colin Matthews, British composer

1947 – Stephen Hadley, U.S. National Security Adviser

1947 – Dick Kaysø, Danish actor

1947 – Mike Krzyzewski, American basketball player and coach

1949 – Judy Dyble, British singer/songwriter (Fairport Convention)

1950 – Peter Gabriel, English musician (Genesis), composer and humanitarian

1950 – Ewa Aulin, Swedish actress

1950 – Donna Hanover, American journalist, radio and television personality

1951 – Greg Fulginiti, American mastering engineer

1951 – David Naughton, American actor and singer

1952 – Freddy Maertens, Belgian cyclist

1953 – Rico J. Puno, Filipino pop singer

1954 – Donnie Moore, American baseball player (d. 1989)

1955 – Joe Birkett, American lawyer

1956 – Princess Alia bint Al Hussein, Jordanian Royal Family member

1956 – Liam Brady, Irish footballer

1956 – Peter Hook, English bassist (Joy Division and New Order)

1956 – Yiannis Kouros, Greek-Australian runner

1957 – Denise Austin, American fitness expert

1958 – Pernilla August, Swedish actress

1958 – Marc Emery, Canadian cannabis activist

1958 – Derek Riggs, British artist

1958 – Tip Tipping, British actor and stuntman (d. 1993)

1959 – Richard Eden, American actor

1959 – Gaston Gingras, National Hockey League defenceman

1959 – Gord Hampson, Canadian ice hockey player

1960 – Pierluigi Collina, Italian football referee

1960 – Gary Patterson, American football coach

1960 – Matt Salinger, American actor

1960 – Artur Yusupov, Russian-German chess player

1961 – Marc Crawford, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

1961 – Kyi Hla Han, Burmese golfer

1961 – Cevin Key, Canadian musician (Skinny Puppy, Subconscious Communications)

1961 – Henry Rollins, American musician, comedian, and actor (Black Flag)

1962 – Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, American politician and 8th Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

1962 – May Sweet, Burmese singer

1963 – Thomas Miller, German footballer

1964 – Stephen G. Bowen, NASA astronaut

1964 – Mark Patton, American actor

1964 – Ylva Johansson, Swedish politician

1964 – Yamantaka Eye, Japanese musician (Boredoms)

1966 – Jeff Waters, Canadian musician (Annihilator)

1967 – Stanimir Stoilov, Bulgarian footballer and coach

1968 – Kelly Hu, American actress

1968 – Niamh Kavanagh, Irish singer

1969 – Ahlam, Bahraini singer

1969 – Andrew Bryniarski, American film actor

1970 – Karoline Krüger, Norwegian singer

1970 – Diane Youdale, British television personality

1971 – Sonia, British singer

1971 – Galen Gering, American actor

1971 – Mats Sundin, Swedish ice hockey player

1971 – Todd Williams, American baseball player

1972 – Charlie Garner, American football player

1973 – Jorg Bergmeister German race car driver

1974 – Jeff Duran, American radio personality

1974 – Gus Hansen, Danish professional poker player

1974 – Robbie Williams, English singer

1974 – Fonzworth Bentley, American hip-hop artist

1975 – Sabine Bätzing-Lichtenthäler, German politician

1975 – Ben Collins, British racing driver

1975 – Tony Dalton, Mexican (American born) actor and screenwriter

1975 – Iván González, Puerto Rican writer and musician

1976 – Feist, Canadian singer and songwriter

1976 – Dave Padden, Canadian musician (Annihilator)

1976 – Martin Sastre, Uruguayan artist

1977 – Randy Moss, American football player

1978 – Hamish Glencross, Scottish guitarist (My Dying Bride)

1978 – Philippe Jaroussky, French sopranist countertenor

1979 – Lucy Brown, British actress

1979 – Rafael Márquez, Mexican footballer

1979 – Mena Suvari, American actress

1979 – Anders Behring Breivik, Norvegian spree-killer

1980 – Sebastian Kehl, German footballer

1980 – Mark Watson, British comedian

1981 – Matías Agüero, Argentine-born Italian rugby player

1981 – Sam Burley, American middle-distance track athlete

1981 – Luisão, Brazilian footballer

1981 – Liam Miller, Irish footballer

1981 – Luke Ridnour, American basketball player

1982 – Lanisha Cole, American model

1983 – Mike Nickeas, American baseball player

1985 – Matthieu Franke, French-born German rugby player

1985 – Kwak Ji-min, South Korean actress

1985 – Alexandros Tziolis, Greek footballer

1986 – Stephen Colletti, American TV star

1986 – Luke Moore, English footballer

1986 – Jamie Murray, Scottish tennis player

1987 – Eljero Elia, Dutch footballer

1988 – Fuat Kalkan, Turkish footballer

1988 – Aston Merrygold, English singer

1989 – Carly McKillip, Canadian actress

1989 – Rhys Palmer, Australian footballer

1989 – Rodrigo Possebon, Brazilian Footballer

1990 – Olivia Allison, British synchronized swimmer

1990 – Gyaincain Norbu, 11th Panchen Lama

1993 – Sophie Evans, Welsh musician

1995 – Ayame Koike, Japanese actress

Deaths

858 – Kenneth I of Scotland

1130 – Pope Honorius II

1141 – Béla II of Hungary (b. 1110)

1199 – Stefan Nemanja, Serbian Grand Prince (b. 1113)

1219 – Minamoto no Sanetomo, Japanese shogun (b. 1192)

1332 – Andronikos II Palaiologos, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1259)

1539 – Isabella d'Este, Marquise of Mantua (b. 1474)

1542 – Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII of England (executed) (b.c. 1521)

1542 – Jane Boleyn, Dowager Viscountess of Rochford, lady-in-waiting of the above (b.c. 1505)

1571 – Benvenuto Cellini, Italian artist (b. 1500)

1585 – Alfonso Salmeron, Spanish Jesuit biblical scholar (b. 1515)

1592 – Jacopo Bassano, Italian painter

1600 – Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Italian painter (b. 1538)

1602 – Alexander Nowell, English clergyman

1608 – Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski, Lithuanian prince (b. 1526)

1624 – Stephen Gosson, English satirist (b. 1554)

1657 – Miles Sindercombe, attempted assassin of Oliver Cromwell

1660 – King Charles X of Sweden (b. 1622)

1662 – Elizabeth Stuart (b. 1596)

1727 – William Wotton, English scholar (b. 1666)

1728 – Cotton Mather, American Puritan minister (b. 1663)

1732 – Charles-René d'Hozier, French historian (b. 1640)

1787 – Ruđer Josip Bošković, Croatian scientist and diplomat (b. 1711)

1787 – Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, French statesman and diplomat (b. 1717)

1813 – Samuel Ashe, Governor of North Carolina (b. 1725)

1818 – George Rogers Clark, American military leader (b. 1752)

1826 – Petr Alekseevich Pahlen, Russian general (b. 1745)

1831 – Edward Berry Royal Navy admiral (b.1768)

1837 – Mariano José de Larra, Spanish journalist and writer (b. 1809)

1845 – Henrik Steffens, Norwegian-German philosopher (b. 1773)

1883 – Richard Wagner, German composer (b. 1813)

1888 – Jean Baptiste Lamy, 1st Archbishop of Santa Fe (b. 1814)

1889 – João Maurício Wanderley, Brazilian magistrate and politician (b. 1815)

1905 – Konstantin Savitsky, Russian painter (b. 1844)

1906 – Albert Gottschalk, Danish painter (b. 1866)

1934 – József Pusztai, Slovene writer, poet, journalist in Hungary (b. 1864)

1942 – Epitácio Pessoa, Brazilian president (b. 1865)

1950 – Rafael Sabatini, Italian author (b. 1875)

1951 – Lloyd C. Douglas, American author (b. 1877)

1952 – Josephine Tey, English author (b. 1896)

1956 – Jan Łukasiewicz, Polish mathematician (b. 1878)

1958 – Georges Rouault, French painter (b. 1871)

1958 – Dame Christabel Pankhurst, English suffragette (b. 1880)

1964 – Werner Heyde, German psychiatrist (b. 1902)

1968 – Mae Marsh, American actress (b. 1895)

1974 – Ustad Amir Khan, Indian classical singer (b. 1912)

1975 – André Beaufre, French General (b. 1902)

1976 – Murtala Mohammed, Nigerian military leader (b. 1938)

1976 – Lily Pons, French-born soprano (b. 1904)

1980 – David Janssen, American actor (b. 1931)

1984 – Andre Stander, South African police captain and bank robber (b. 1946)

1989 – Dave Tarras, klezmer clarinetist (b. 1897)

1989 – Wayne Hays, American politician (b. 1911)

1991 – Arno Breker, German sculptor (b. 1900)

1991 – Ron Pickering, athletics coach and BBC sports commentator and presenter (b. 1930)

1992 – Nikolay Bogolyubov, Russian mathematician (b. 1909)

1996 – Martin Balsam, American actor (b. 1919)

1997 – Robert Klark Graham, American businessman and eugenecist (b. 1906)

1997 – Mark Krasnosel'skii, Russian-Ukrainian mathematician (b. 1920)

2000 – Anders Aalborg, Canadian politician (b. 1914)

2000 – James Cooke Brown, American author and inventor (b. 1921)

2002 – Waylon Jennings, American musician (b. 1937)

2003 – Kid Gavilan, Cuban boxer (b. 1926)

2003 – Axel Jensen, Norwegian author (b. 1932)

2003 – Walt Rostow, U.S. government official (b. 1916)

2004 – Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, Chechen leader (b. 1952)

2005 – Nelson Briles, baseball player (b. 1943)

2005 – Lúcia Santos, Carmelite nun and Fatima visionary (b. 1907)

2005 – Maurice Trintignant, French race car driver (b. 1917)

2005 – Dick Weber, American professional bowler (b. 1929)

2005 – Emilios T. Harlaftis, Greek astrophysicist (b. 1965)

2006 – Andreas Katsulas, Greek-American actor (b. 1946)

2006 – Peter Frederick Strawson, British philosopher (b. 1919)

2007 – Elizabeth Jolley, Australian writer (b. 1923)

2007 – Charlie Norwood, American politician (b. 1941)

2007 – Johanna Sällström, Swedish actress (b. 1974)

2007 – Richard Gordon Wakeford, Air Marshal, Royal Air Force (b. 1922)

2008 – Roger Voisin, Trumpet player, Boston Symphony (b. 1918)

2009 – Edward Upward, British novelist and short-story writer (b. 1903)

2010 – Lucille Clifton, American poet (b. 1936)

2010 – John Reed, British singer of Gilbert & Sullivan (b. 1916)

Holidays and observances

Christian Feast Day:

*Beatrice of Ornacieux

*Ermenilda of Ely

*Fulcran

*Polyeuctus (Roman Catholic church)

*Castor of Karden (Roman Catholic church)

*February 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

The first day of Lupercalia (Roman Empire)

The Festival of Parentalia (Roman Empire)

External links

On this day in Canada

BBC: On This Day

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Category:Days of the year Category:February

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Name	Jeremy Lin
Position	Point guard
Team	Golden State Warriors
Number	7
Career start	2010
Height ft	6
Height in	3
Weight lb	200
Birth date	August 23, 1988
Birth place
Nationality	American
High school	Palo Alto
College	Harvard (2006-2010)
Draft year	2010
Years1	–present |team1Golden State Warriors
Years2	2010–2011 |team2→Reno Bighorns (D-League)
Highlights	2× All-Ivy League First Team (2009–2010) All-Ivy League Second Team (2008) CIF Division II champion (2006) 2× SCVAL MVP (2005–2006) }}

)}} Jeremy Shu-How Lin () (born August 23, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After receiving no athletic scholarship offers out of high school and being undrafted out of college, the Harvard University graduate reached a partially-guaranteed contract deal with his hometown Warriors. Lin is the first American player in the NBA to be of Chinese or of Taiwanese descent.

High school career

In his senior year in 2005–2006, Lin captained Palo Alto High School to a 32–1 record and upset nationally ranked Mater Dei, 51–47, for the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division II state title. According to Dana O'Neil of ESPN, "... Lin was the runaway choice for player of the year by virtually every California publication." He was named first-team All-State and Northern California Division II Player of the Year ending his senior year averaging 15.1 points, 7.1 assists, 6.2 rebounds and 5.0 steals.

College career

Recruiting process

Lin sent his resume and a DVD of highlights to all the Ivy League schools, Cal, Stanford, and his dream school, UCLA. The Pac-10 schools wanted him to walk-on. Harvard and Brown were the only teams that guaranteed him a spot on their basketball teams, but Ivy League schools do not offer athletic scholarships. Lin chose to attend Harvard.

Joe Lacob, incoming Warriors' owner and Stanford booster, said Stanford's failure to recruit Lin "was really stupid. The kid was right across the street. You can’t recognize that, [then] you've got a problem."

Kerry Keating, the UCLA assistant who offered Lin the opportunity to walk-on, would say in hindsight that Lin would probably have ended up starting at point guard for UCLA.

Rex Walters, University of San Francisco men's basketball coach and a retired NBA player, said NCAA limits on coaches’ recruiting visits impacted Lin. “Most colleges start recruiting a guy in the first five minutes they see him because he runs really fast, jumps really high, does the quick, easy thing to evaluate," Walters said. Lin added, “I just think in order for someone to understand my game, they have to watch me more than once, because I’m not going to do anything that’s extra flashy or freakishly athletic."

Bill Holden, Harvard assistant coach, had initially told Lin's high school coach, Peter Diepenbrock, that Harvard was not interested in Lin. "Three weeks later, he calls me and says, 'I may have spoken a little too soon,'" Diepenbrock said.

Harvard

In his sophomore season (2007–08), Lin averaged 12.6 points and was named All-Ivy League Second Team.

By his junior year during the 2008–09 season, he was the only NCAA Division I men's basketball player who ranked in the top ten in his conference for scoring (17.8), rebounding (5.5), assists (4.3), steals (2.4), blocked shots (0.6), field goal percentage (0.502), free throw percentage (0.744), and 3 point shot percentage (0.400), and was a consensus selection for All-Ivy League First Team. He had 27 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds in an 82–70 win over 17th-ranked Boston College, three days after the Eagles had knocked off No. 1 North Carolina.

In his senior year (2009–10), Lin averaged 16.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.1 blocks, and was again a unanimous selection for All-Ivy League First Team. He was one of 30 midseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award and one of 11 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award. He was also invited to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. Fran Fraschilla of ESPN picked Lin among the 12 most versatile players in college basketball. He gained national attention for his performance against the 12th ranked Connecticut Huskies, against whom he scored a career-high tying 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds on the road. After the game, Hall of Fame Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said of Lin:

"I've seen a lot of teams come through here, and he could play for any of them. He's got great, great composure on the court. He knows how to play."

For the season, Harvard set numerous program records including wins (21), non-conference wins (11), home wins (11) and road/neutral wins (10).

Lin finished his career as the first player in the history of the Ivy League to record at least 1,450 points (1,483), 450 rebounds (487), 400 assists (406) and 200 steals (225).

He graduated from Harvard with a degree in economics and a 3.1 grade-point average.

NBA career

Undrafted

If drafted, Lin would have been the first Ivy Leaguer selected by the NBA since Jerome Allen of Pennsylvania in the second round in 1995. The last Ivy Leaguer to play in the NBA was Yale's Chris Dudley in , while the last Harvard player in the league was Ed Smith in . After graduating from Harvard University, Lin went undrafted in the 2010 NBA Draft. Eight teams had invited Lin to predraft workouts. Diepenbrock said that NBA tryouts do not play five on five. Lin acknowledged that the workouts were "one on one or two on two or three on three, and that’s not where I excel. I’ve never played basketball like that."

He later joined the Dallas Mavericks for mini-camp as well as their NBA Summer League team in Las Vegas. Donnie Nelson of the Mavericks was the only General Manager that offered him an invitation to play in the Summer League. "Donnie took care of me," said Lin. "He has a different type of vision than most people do."

In five Summer League games, while playing both guard positions, Lin averaged 9.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.2 steals in 18.6 minutes per game and shot a team leading 54.5% from the floor. Lin turned heads in his matchup against first overall pick John Wall when Lin scored 13 points to Wall's 21, but did so on 6-for-12 shooting in 28 minutes. Wall was 4-for-19 in 33 minutes.

While Wall received the biggest cheer for any player during introductions, the crowd had turned on Wall and was cheering for Lin by the end of the game.

Lin received offers to sign from the Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, and an unnamed Eastern Conference team. The Golden State Warriors would also offer Lin a contract in addition to the original three teams.

Golden State Warriors

On July 21, 2010, Lin signed a two-year deal with his hometown Warriors, his favorite team growing up. Lin's deal was partially guaranteed for 2010-11, and the Warriors hold a team option for the second season. The reports noted that the deal would include a first-year salary of close to $500,000 with more than half of it guaranteed. Lacob had made the decision to sign Lin. Lin said the counteroffers from the three other teams were higher, but he wanted to come home and play for the Warriors.

Lin also signed a three-year guaranteed contract with Nike. His jersey was already on sale before his first NBA game.

On October 8 in the Warriors' exhibition opener at their home in Oracle Arena, the loudest ovation of the night from the crowd of 10,004 was for Lin when he entered the game with 10:49 remaining in the fourth quarter. The crowd started chanting for Lin in the third quarter. They cheered whenever he touched the ball. "That really touched me. It's something I'll remember forever," Lin said. He ended up with seven points, three rebounds and two assists in 11 minutes. Warriors' head coach Keith Smart said Lin drew the crowd's attention on the road as well. Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com attributes the attention Lin had received out of town to the unique angle of "an Asian-American rising to rare basketball prominence".

Lin notices the expectations that follow him. "I've got news for them," Lin said with a smile, "I won't be an All-Star this year."

The attention Lin has received is tricky for him. While he would prefer to be able to just concentrate on his play without all the attention, he is appreciative of the unbelievable support he has received, especially from the Asian-American community. Lin wants to be a role model to young Asian-Americans. He has found the attention awkward as he says he has not "proven anything to anybody."

Frank Hughes of ''Sports Illustrated'' wrote that Lin talks with the occasional "seeds of self-doubt" which is not common to hear in the NBA. Hughes also found it rare when Lin compared himself to the Phoenix Suns' backup point guard Goran Dragić. “Neither of us is a freak athlete, but we’re both effective and know how to play the game,” Lin said.

Lin and Stephen Curry, 2009–10 runner-up Rookie of the Year and a gold medal winner in the 2010 FIBA World Championship, get more interview requests than any other Warrior. Team officials regularly deny requests for Lin to help him keep his focus. He has been approached to be the subject of documentaries.

Smart planned to take pressure off Lin since Lin has a tendency to be hard on himself and get frustrated. Smart admitted that he succumbed to the home crowd's wishes and put Lin into a game in the wrong situation. He vowed not to repeat that mistake.

Lin made the Warriors' opening day roster for the 2010–11 regular season, but he was placed on the inactive list. While he was disappointed, Lin noted that "part of being on this team is putting your ego aside." Lin made his official NBA debut in the next game against the Los Angeles Clippers. It was Asian Heritage Night for the Warriors' home game, and Lin received a standing ovation from the crowd of 17,408 when he entered the game with 2:32 remaining in the fourth quarter. He did not score in the 109–91 win but recorded one steal after tying up the ball and winning the subsequent jump ball.

In the next game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Lin scored his first NBA basket, had three assists, and recorded four steals. He was applauded by the road crowd at Staples Center when he entered the game in the third quarter. He played 11 of his 16 minutes in the third quarter and committed five fouls but played a role in a 12-1 run by the Warriors. "[Lin] came in and did a good job, gave us a good tempo," Smart said after the 107–83 loss to the defending NBA champions. Lakers' guard Derek Fisher praised him for his energy and aggressiveness.

Similar to the exhibition home opener, Oracle Arena fans continued to root for Lin to play in the end of games and cheered every time he touched the ball. "When I'm on the road, I don't feel like the spotlight is on me," Lin admitted. Smart noted that Lin looked more relaxed on the road. "There's a lot of pressure on him at home, with all of the applause for just checking into the game, so I'm sure that cranks his nerves up a little bit," said Curry. "You can tell on the road he plays a lot better, because he can just go out there, play and have fun."

At Toronto on November 8, the Raptors held Asian Heritage Night to coincide with Lin's visit with the Warriors. Over 20 members of Toronto's Chinese media covered the game. Lin played 15 minutes, most coming in the first half, and finished with three points, three assists, two steals and two blocks in the 109–102 Warriors' win. In the following game at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks, Lin again entered the game in the first half. According to ESPN.com NBA editor Matt Wong, "Lin checked into the game to loud applause, presumably from the many Asian-Americans in attendance." He had scored seven total points in his first six games played during the year. In a 89-117 road loss to the Lakers, Lin scored a career-high 13 points in 18 minutes and again earned big cheers from fans in Los Angeles.

An April 5, 2011, article posted by Slam Online stated that during intrasquad scrimmages between Warriors players, head coach Keith Smart implemented a rule. The rule was that no foul committed against Lin would ever be called. The idea behind this is that since Lin was rookie and a not a well-known established player, he would not get many calls from the referees. Thus Jeremy would learn how to play through it and coach Smart acknowledged that Jeremy has. In the same article, Lin credits Reno Bighorns coach Eric Musselman with "helping him regain [his] swagger."

Three times during the season, Lin was assigned to the Warriors' D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns. Each time, he was later recalled by the Warriors. He competed in the NBA D-League Showcase and was named to the All-NBA D-League Showcase First Team on January 14, 2011. He helped lead the Bighorns to a 2-0 record at the Showcase with averages of 21.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.5 steals. Lin posted a season-high 27 points with the Bighorns on March 18. Lin had some misgivings when sent to the D-League because he felt he was being demoted and was not good enough to play in the NBA. After playing in the D-League, he realized he was still learning and putting in work and getting playing time in the D-League, which he wouldn't have received at the time with the Warriors. Lacob said the Warriors received more than one trade offer for Lin while he was in the D-League, but he was happy with Lin's progress as an undrafted free agent. "He’s a minimum, inexpensive asset. You need to look at him as a developing asset. Is he going to be a superstar? No."

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010–11 | style="text-align:left;"| Golden State | 29 || 0 || 9.8 || .389 || .200 || .760 || 1.2 || 1.4 || 1.1 || .3 || 2.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 29 || 0 || 9.8 || .389 || .200 || .760 || 1.2 || 1.4 || 1.1 || .3 || 2.6

International competition

Lin has been invited by Chinese Taipei, which is the designated name used by the Republic of China (Taiwan) in international events, to play for their men's national basketball team in FIBA competitions. On July 28, 2010 while in Taipei to play in Yao Ming's charity game, Lin said he had not made a decision yet on whether he would represent Chinese Taipei. In June 2011, the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) included Lin in its preliminary squad of 24 players for the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship. The next month, however, the CTBA announced that Lin would not be included on their roster due to a knee injury. Lin was also approached by People's Republic of China to play in the same tournament, but he declined their offer.

On August 4, 2011, Lin stated that he would consider playing overseas during the 2011 NBA lockout. He wants to be fully recovered from his injury before making a decision.

Asian American stereotypes

Sean Gregory of ''Time'' wrote of Lin's zero Division I scholarship offers: "[Lin] was scrawny, but don't doubt that a little racial profiling, intentional or otherwise, contributed to his underrecruitment." Lin said: "I'm not saying top-5 state automatically gets you offers, but I do think (my ethnicity) did affect the way coaches recruited me. I think if I were a different race, I would've been treated differently."

Lin's high school coach, Peter Diepenbrock, said that people without meaning any harm assume since Lin is Asian that he is not a basketball player. The first time Lin went to a Pro-Am game in Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco, his coach said, someone there informed him: "Sorry, sir, there's no volleyball here tonight. It's basketball." During Lin's college career, fewer than 0.5% of men's Division 1 basketball players were Asian-American.

Lin has regularly heard bigoted jeers at games such as "Wonton soup", "Sweet and sour pork", "Open your eyes!", "Go back to China", "Orchestra is on the other side of campus", or Chinese gibberish. Lin says this occurred even at most if not all Ivy League gyms. He does not react to it. "I expect it, I'm used to it, it is what it is," says Lin. The heckling came mostly from fans and not as much from players. According to Harvard teammate Oliver McNally, a fellow Ivy League player did once call Lin a "chink".

In January 2010, Harvard played against Santa Clara University at the Leavey Center, just 15 miles from his hometown of Palo Alto, California. Playing to a capacity crowd that included droves of Asian Americans wanting to see his homecoming, his teammates told him, "It was like Hong Kong."

Lin considers himself a basketball player more than an Asian American. He understands that there are not many Asians in the NBA. "Maybe I can help break the stereotype," said Lin. Asian Americans who have played in the NBA prior to the 2010–11 NBA season include Wataru Misaka, Raymond Townsend, Corey Gaines, Rex Walters, and Robert Swift. "[Lin's] carrying the hopes of an entire continent. I only had to carry the hopes of Little Rock, Arkansas. He's accomplished a lot more than I have already," said Derek Fisher, who had won five NBA championships with the Lakers, after his first game against Lin. Lin is setting an example for prospective Asian athletes in America who rarely see Asian-Americans playing on their favorite teams. "I don't look Japanese," Walters said, referring to his mother's ethnicity. "When they see [Lin], it's an Asian-American.

Larry Riley, the Warriors' general manager, denied that Lin’s signing was done to cater to the Bay Area’s large Asian population. He understood that some people would look at it that way. “We evaluated him throughout summer league," Riley said. “All that had to happen was for him to confirm what we already believed." While the team was creating a campaign around him, Riley said it would not have been advisable if Lin was not a basketball player first.

Personal

Lin grew up in Palo Alto, California. His parents, Gie-Ming and Shirley, emigrated from Taiwan to the United States in the mid-1970s. They are both 5 feet 6 inches tall. His paternal family comes from Beidou, Changhua in Taiwan. with ancestry in Zhangpu, Fujian; while his maternal grandmother is from Pinghu, Zhejiang in today's China. He has an older brother, Josh, and a younger brother, Joseph, who is set to play basketball for Dickinson College in the fall of 2010. Gie-Ming taught his sons to play basketball at the local YMCA. Lin grew up in a devout Christian family and would one day like to be a pastor who can head up non-profit organizations, either home or abroad. He has also talked of working in inner-city communities to help with underprivileged children.

In a video interview conducted by Elie Seckbach, he asked Jeremy how it felt to be representing so many people. Jeremy responded by stating, "It's humbling, a privilege, and a honor. I'm really proud of being Chinese, I'm really proud of my parents being from Taiwan. I just thank God for the opportunity." He was then asked if he was fluent in Chinese. Jeremy stated that he could understand it, but could use some help speaking it. In an interview conducted with NBADraft.net, Jeremy stated that he could only speak Mandarin, not Cantonese but can only read and write a little but had also taken classes while attending Harvard to try to improve. In a later interview attended by basketball players (under the age of 19) from Taiwan, he stated he would like to visit Taiwan again but also work on speaking Chinese. Later this summer Jeremy will being making a trip to Asia, which is sponsored by Nike where he hopes to converse with fans in Mandarin.

Public image

In July 2011, ''Vivid Magazine'', a glossy magazine dedicated to overseas Chinese around the world, named Lin one of its top eight influential Chinese-Americans.

References

Further reading

The Faith and Fate of Jeremy Lin at Patheos – part 1

Jeremy Lin – Faith and Ethnicity at Patheos – part 2

Harvard Basketball Takes Off on InterVarsity.org (from InterVarsity Christian Fellowship)

Jeremy Lin: Taking Harvard basketball to new levels – Student Soul interview with Jeremy

Jeremy Lin at Ivy League Basketball News – Jeremy Lin videos & news clips at Ivybbn.com

External links

NBA profile

NBA biography

NBA D-League profile

NBA.com 2010 Draft profile

Category:American sportspeople of Taiwanese descent Category:American sportspeople of Chinese descent Category:American Christians Category:Basketball players from California Category:Harvard Crimson men's basketball players Category:Palo Alto High School alumni Category:Living people Category:1988 births Category:Golden State Warriors players Category:Undrafted National Basketball Association players Category:Reno Bighorns players

es:Jeremy Lin fr:Jeremy Lin it:Jeremy Lin zh:林書豪

Name	John Cena
Names	John CenaThe Prototype
Height
Weight
Birth date	April 23, 1977
Birth place	West Newbury, Massachusetts
Resides	Tampa, Florida
Billed	Classified (UPW)West Newbury, Massachusetts (WWE)
Trainer	Ultimate Pro WrestlingOhio Valley Wrestling
Debut	2001 }}

John Felix Anthony Cena (; born April 23, 1977) is an American actor, professional wrestler and rapper. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its WWE Raw brand.

In WWE, Cena has won 19 championships in total, including 12 World Titles (having won the WWE Championship a record 10 times and the World Heavyweight Championship twice). In addition, Cena has also won the WWE United States Championship three times, and is a four-time Tag Team Champion, having held the World Tag Team Championship twice (once each with Shawn Michaels and Batista), and the WWE Tag Team Championship twice (once each with David Otunga and The Miz). Cena also won the 2008 Royal Rumble match, and is a two-time Superstar of the Year Slammy Award winner (2009 and 2010). He also has the fourth highest number of combined days as WWE Champion behind Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan & Bruno Sammartino.

Cena started his professional wrestling career in 2000, wrestling for Ultimate Pro Wrestling, where he held the UPW Heavyweight Championship. In 2001, Cena signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) where he held the OVW Heavyweight Championship and the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (with Rico Constantino).

Outside of wrestling, Cena has released the rap album ''You Can't See Me'', which debuted at No.15 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, and starred in the feature films ''The Marine'' (2006), ''12 Rounds'' (2009), and ''Legendary'' (2010). Cena has also made appearances on television shows including ''Manhunt'', ''Deal or No Deal'', ''MADtv'', ''Saturday Night Live'', ''Punk'd'', and ''Psych''. Cena was also a contestant on ''Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race'', where he made it to the final round before being eliminated, placing third in the overall competition.

Early life

Cena, who is of part Italian descent was born April 23, 1977, in West Newbury, Massachusetts, the son of Carol and John Cena, Sr. He is the second eldest of five brothers – Dan, Matt, Steve, and Sean. After graduating from Cushing Academy, Cena attended Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts. In college he was a Division III All-American center on the college football team, wearing the number 54, which is still used on some of his WWE merchandise. He graduated from Springfield in 1998 with a degree in exercise physiology, after which he pursued a career in bodybuilding, and also worked as a chauffeur for a limousine company.

Professional wrestling career

Training (2000–2001)

UPW

Cena started training to become a professional wrestler in 2000 at the California-based "Ultimate University" operated by Ultimate Pro Wrestling. 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''. While in UPW, Cena held the UPW Heavyweight Championship for just shy of a month in April 2000.

OVW

In 2001, he signed a developmental contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and was assigned to its developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). During his time there, Cena wrestled as both The Prototype and Mr. P, and held the OVW Heavyweight Championship for three months and the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (with Rico Constantino) for two months.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2002–present)

Debut (2002–2004)

Cena made his television debut answering an open challenge by Kurt Angle on June 27, 2002. Inspired by a speech given by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to the rising stars of the company, exhorting them to show "ruthless aggression" to earn a place among the legends, Cena took advantage of the opportunity and almost beat Angle kicking out of his finishing move, the Angle Slam and enduring the ankle lock submission hold. Cena ultimately lost to a hard amateur wrestling-style pin. Following the near-win, Cena became a fan favorite and started feuding with Chris Jericho. In October, Cena and Billy Kidman took part in a tag team tournament to crown the first WWE Tag Team Champions of the SmackDown! brand, losing in the first round. The next week, Cena turned on and attacked Kidman, blaming him for their loss, becoming a villain.

Shortly after the Kidman attack, on a Halloween themed episode of ''SmackDown'', Cena dressed as Vanilla Ice performing a freestyle rap. The next week, Cena received a new character: a rapper who cut promos while rhyming. As the gimmick grew, Cena began adopting a variant of the 1980s WWF logo – dropping the "F" – as his "signature symbol", along with the slogan "Word Life". Moreover, he was joined by an enforcer, Bull Buchanan, who was rechristened B-2 (also written B² and pronounced "B-Squared"). Buchanan was later replaced by Red Dogg, until he was sent to the Raw brand in February.

For the first half of 2003, Cena sought the WWE Championship and chased the reigning champion, Brock Lesnar, performing weekly "freestyles" challenging him to matches. During the feud, Cena unveiled a new finishing maneuver: the FU, a Fireman's carry powerslam, named to mock Lesnar's F-5. Cena won a number one contenders tournament against Lesnar at Backlash. However, Cena was defeated by Lesnar. At Vengeance Cena lost a singles match against The Undertaker. At the end of the year, Cena became a fan favorite again when he joined Kurt Angle as a member of his team at Survivor Series.

United States and WWE Champion (2004–2005)

In early 2004, Cena participated in the Royal Rumble match at the 2004 Royal Rumble, making it to the final six before being eliminated by Big Show and the Match being won by Chris Benoit. The Royal Rumble elimination led to a feud with Big Show, which Cena won the United States Championship from Big Show at WrestleMania XX. During his reign, Cena came into contention with SmackDown General Manager Kurt Angle over issues arising with René Duprée and Torrie Wilson. The reign ended almost four months later, when he was stripped of the belt on July 8 by Angle after he accidentally knocked him over, thus attacking an official. Cena won the championship back defeating Booker T in a best of five series that culminated at No Mercy, only to lose it to the debuting Carlito Caribbean Cool the next week. After the loss to Carlito, the duo began a feud, which Cena was 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 Cena was filming ''The Marine''. Immediately on his return in November, Cena won the United States Championship back from Carlito debuting a "custom made" spinner-style championship belt.

Cena took part in the 2005 Royal Rumble match, making it to the final two. Cena and Raw brand wrestler Batista went over the top rope at the same time, ostensibly ending the match. Vince McMahon, however, appeared on stage and re-started the match in sudden death rules, with Batista eventually eliminating Cena. The next month, Cena defeated Kurt Angle to earn a spot in the SmackDown brand's WrestleMania 21 main event match, beginning a feud with WWE Champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) and his Cabinet in the process. In the early stages of the feud, Cena lost his US belt to Cabinet member Orlando Jordan, who proceeded to "blow up" the spinner championship with JBL and returning a more traditional style belt. Cena defeated JBL at WrestleMania winning the WWE Championship, giving Cena his first world championship. Cena then had a spinner WWE Championship belt made, while JBL took the original belt and claimed to still be WWE Champion,

Cena was drafted to the Raw brand on the June 6, 2005, becoming the first wrestler selected by General Manager Eric Bischoff in the annual draft lottery. Cena immediately entered a feud with Bischoff, after refusing to participate in the "war" against the Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) roster at One Night Stand. 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 fan favorite and Jericho as the villain, a vocal section of live crowds, nonetheless, were booing Cena during their matches. More crowds followed suit during Cena's 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 ''Raw''. As the feud continued and the dissenters grew more vocal, sometimes seeming to outnumber fans by wide margins, the announce team was forced to acknowledge the booing on television and began calling Cena a "controversial champion", claiming some people disliking him on account of his "in-ring style" and his chosen fashion. Despite the mixed and negative reactions, Cena held on to his championship through his feud with Angle, losing to him by disqualification – which titles do not change hands in WWE – at Unforgiven and pinning him at Survivor Series. The feud with Angle also 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 ''Raw''.

WWE Championship feuds and injury (2006–2007)

Cena lost the WWE Championship at New Year's Revolution, but not in the Elimination Chamber match that he had been advertised to participate in beforehand. Instead, immediately after winning the Elimination Chamber, he was forced into a match against Edge, who cashed in his Money in the Bank contract – a "guaranteed title match for the WWE Champion at a time and place of the owners choosing." After two quick spears pinned Cena, winning the championship. Three weeks later, Cena won the championship back at the Royal Rumble. After winning the championship, Cena began feuding with Triple H, which the crowd began booing Cena and cheering the intended villain, Triple H. Cena beat Triple H at Wrestlemania 22 to retain his WWE Title. The negative reaction towards Cena intensified when facing Rob Van Dam at One Night Stand. Taking place in front of a crowd of mostly "old school" ECW fans at the Hammerstein Ballroom, Cena was met with raucous jeering and chants of "Fuck you, Cena", "You can't wrestle", and "Same old shit". When he began performing different moves into the match, the fans began chanting "You still suck". Cena lost the WWE Championship at One Night Stand, with Van Dam pinning Cena after interference from Edge.

In July, after Edge won the championship from Van Dam in a Triple Threat match that also involved Cena, re-ignited the feud between him and Cena from earlier in the year. After Edge went about retaining the title by dubious means – getting himself disqualified (for which Championships do not change hands) and using brass knuckles – he introduced his own version of Cena's "custom" belt, this one with his logo placed on the spinner. Cena eventually won the championship back in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at Unforgiven. The match had an added stipulation that had Cena lost he would leave the Raw brand and go to SmackDown. Cena returned his version of the spinner belt on the next night's ''Raw''.

On the heels of his feud with Edge, Cena was placed in an inter-brand angle to determine the "Champion of Champions" – or which was the most dominant champion in WWE's three brands. Cena, the World Heavyweight Champion King Booker, and the ECW World Champion The Big Show engaged in a mini-feud leading to a Triple Threat match at Cyber Sunday, with the viewers voting on which of the three championships would be placed on the line. At the same time, Cena became involved in a storyline with non-wrestler Kevin Federline, when he began appearing on Raw with Johnny Nitro and Melina. After getting into a worked physical altercation with Federline on ''Raw'', Federline appeared at Cyber Sunday to hit Cena with the World Heavyweight Championship during the match, helping King Booker retain his championship. 2006 ended with Cena beginning a feud with the undefeated Umaga over the WWE Championship, while 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.

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. On the April 2 episode of ''Raw'', after losing a WWE Championship match to Cena at WrestleMania 23, Michaels turned on Cena, costing them the championship in the second of two 10 team battles royals, by throwing Cena over the top rope and eliminating the team. The Hardys (Matt and Jeff) eventually won the match and the championship. For the rest of the month, Cena feuded with Michaels, Orton, and Edge until The Great Khali declared his intentions to challenge for Cena's championship attacking and "laying out" all three of the top contenders before assaulting Cena himself and stealing the physical belt. For the next two months, Cena feuded with Khali over the championship, eventually becoming the first person in WWE to defeat him by submission at Judgment Day and then by pinfall at One Night Stand. Later that summer, Randy Orton was named the number one contender for the WWE championship, starting a feud between the two. Leading up to SummerSlam, Orton delivered a number of sneak-attacks, performing three RKOs to Cena, but in the actual match, Cena retained the championship. A rematch between the two occurred at Unforgiven, with Orton winning by disqualification after Cena ignored the referee's instructions and continued to beat on him in the corner.

During a match with Mr. Kennedy on the October 1, 2007 episode of ''Raw'', Cena suffered a legitimate torn pectoral muscle while executing a hip toss. Though finishing the match and taking part in the scripted attack by Randy Orton after the match, surgery the following day found that his pectoralis major muscle was torn completely from the bone, estimating at the time to require seven months to a year of rehabilitation. As a result, Cena was stripped of the title in an announcement by Vince McMahon on the next night's episode of ''ECW'', ending what was the longest WWE Championship reign in over 19 years. Cena's surgery was performed by orthopedic surgeon James Andrews at St. Vincent's Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. Two weeks later, in a video update on WWE.com, Dr. Andrews and Cena's physical trainer both said that he was several weeks ahead of where he was expected to be in his rehabilitation at that time. Despite his injury, Cena attended the annual WWE Tribute to the Troops show filmed at Camp Speicher in Tikrit, Iraq on December 7, and aired on December 24.

Return and various feuds (2008–2010)

Cena made an unannounced return as the final participant of the Royal Rumble match, winning the match, and the traditional WrestleMania title shot, by last eliminating Triple H. Instead of waiting until WrestleMania, the title shot was cashed in against WWE Champion Randy Orton at February's No Way Out pay-per-view in a match where Cena won by disqualification, resulting in him not getting the championship. The night after No Way Out, Cena was placed back into WrestleMania XXIV's WWE Championship match, making it a Triple Threat match also involving Triple H, 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 pinned by Orton. Triple H won the title during that match. During the 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. JBL, however, defeated him in a New York City Parking Lot Brawl at The Great American Bash in July.

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 titles the following week against the former champions. Batista defeated Cena at SummerSlam; shortly after, he was named one of four contenders for CM Punk's World Heavyweight Championship in the Championship scramble match at Unforgiven. He was replaced by Rey Mysterio, however, after announcing Cena had suffered a herniated disc in his neck, which would require surgery. Cena underwent successful surgery to repair the injury.

Cena made his in-ring return at the November pay-per-view event, Survivor Series, defeating Chris Jericho to win his first World Heavyweight Championship. The two continued their rivalry up to Armageddon, where Cena retained his championship. Cena lost the championship at No Way Out, to Edge after Kofi Kingston was attacked by Edge, who took his place in the Elimination Chamber match. Cena was given an opportunity to regain the title at WrestleMania XXV in a Triple Threat match also involving Big Show, which Cena won.

Cena lost the championship back to Edge in a Last Man Standing match at Backlash after interference from Big Show, who chokeslammed Cena through a big spotlight. This angle resulted in Cena beginning a feud with Big Show. Cena defeated Big Show at Judgment Day and at Extreme Rules in a Submission match by applying the STFU.

At the July pay-per-view, Night of Champions, he participated in a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship, which also involved Triple H and WWE Champion Randy Orton. Cena, however, did not win the match. Two months later, at Breaking Point, Cena defeated Randy Orton for the WWE Championship in an "I Quit" match to win his fourth WWE Championship. At Hell in a Cell, Cena dropped the title to Orton in a Hell in a Cell match. Three weeks later, at WWE Bragging Rights, Cena defeated Orton in a 60-minute Iron Man match.

Two months later, Cena would lose the title to Sheamus at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in a Tables match.

In February 2010, Cena regained the WWE title at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in an Elimination Chamber match after last eliminating Triple H. However, immediately after the match Mr. McMahon declared that he would immediately defend his title against Batista, who had been involved with Cena in Vince McMahon and Bret Hart's rivalry. Cena lost that match to Batista, and the WWE Championship and marking one of the shortest WWE Championship reigns in history. The following night after the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Cena asked for a rematch for the title at WrestleMania, which McMahon gave him the opportunity to as long as he defeated Batista that night. Later that night, Batista intentionally got himself disqualified by kicking Cena in the groin to set up their match at WrestleMania XXVI. At the event, Cena defeated Batista to win back the WWE title. At the April pay-per-view, Extreme Rules, Cena defeated Batista in a rematch for the WWE title in a Last Man Standing match. He faced Batista one more time in an I Quit match at Over the Limit which he successfully won.

Feuding and joining Nexus (2010–2011)

On the June 7, 2010 episode of ''Raw'', Cena was suddenly thrust into a new storyline when during his main event match against CM Punk, he was attacked by all eight former contestants of WWE NXT Season 1, with Wade Barrett as their leader. Punk, his follower Luke Gallows, and other personnel around the ring were attacked as well, but Cena took the worst of the attack and was carried out on a stretcher. This group would later refer to themselves as The Nexus.

At June's Fatal 4-Way event, Cena lost the WWE title to Sheamus in a fatal four-way match that also involved Edge and Randy Orton due to interference by Nexus. The following month, in a WWE title rematch against Sheamus in a steel cage match at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, the group interfered, thus costing Cena the chance of regaining the championship. Cena later formed an alliance with Edge, Chris Jericho, John Morrison, R-Truth, The Great Khali and Bret Hart to face the Nexus at SummerSlam, where Cena's team defeated Nexus with the returning Daniel Bryan, a former member of Nexus, who replaced Khali after getting injured.

Nexus's actions, however, did not stop after SummerSlam. Hoping to end Nexus for good, Cena challenged Wade Barrett to a match at "Hell in a Cell" only to lose due to interference by two fans, later identified as Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty. Due to the stipulations in place, Cena was forced to join Nexus. Cena had originally planned to destroy Nexus from within as a member of the group, but the Raw general manager ordered him to follow orders from Barrett, or else he would be fired. At Bragging Rights, Cena and Nexus member David Otunga defeated "Dashing" Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre to win the Tag Team Championship.

Later in the show Cena was forced to help Barrett to win his WWE Championship match against Randy Orton. If Barrett didn't win the match Cena would be fired. Cena twisted his words around and attacked Barrett, giving Barrett the win via disqualification but not Orton's title. The following day, Cena and Otunga lost the Tag Team Championship to fellow Nexus members Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel, when Barrett ordered Otunga to lay down and lose the title. At Survivor Series, Cena officiated a match for the WWE Championship between Wade Barrett and Randy Orton. As a part of a pre-match stipulation, if Barrett didn't win the championship, Cena would be fired from the WWE.

Orton defeated Barrett to retain the title, thus ending Cena's career in the WWE. The following day on ''Raw'', Cena gave a farewell speech, before costing Wade Barrett the WWE Championship by interfering in his rematch with Randy Orton. A week later, Cena invaded ''Raw'', first as a spectator, but he then attacked members of Nexus, explaining that he would still take down Nexus one by one, despite not having a job in the WWE anymore. On the December 13 episode of ''Raw'', Cena was rehired by Barrett, in exchange that he would face him at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in a Chairs Match. Prior to TLC, Cena teamed up with Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio to defeat Wade Barrett, The Miz and Alberto Del Rio at The WWE Tribute to the Troops. On December 19 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, John Cena was victorious against Wade Barrett in a Chairs match in the main event of the evening.

On the December 27 episode of ''Raw'', The Nexus, minus Wade Barrett, announced they were under new management and offered to bury the hatchet with John Cena, to which Cena refused. The Nexus attacked Cena, leaving a Nexus armband in the ring during the process. As the group retreated, CM Punk, who had attacked Cena with a steel chair twice the week before, came to the ring to, what looked like attack John Cena, but instead put on the armband left behind to symbolically announce his allegiance with The Nexus. The next week, Wade Barrett returned to ''Raw'' and confronted CM Punk over the issue of who the leader of The Nexus was and who was responsible for Cena's attack the week before. Barrett was placed into a Triple Threat Steel Cage Match that night that would determine the No. 1 contender for the WWE Championship. CM Punk added his own stipulation to the match saying if Barrett lost, he would be banished from the group, but if he won he would remain leader. Wade Barrett would lose the match after CM Punk interfered by ripping of Barrett's armband.

On the January 17 episode of ''Raw'', Cena returned and faced Punk in a match. During the match, a man, who would later be revealed to be Mason Ryan, attacked Cena. During the 2011 Royal Rumble match, Cena would eliminate most of the Nexus, ending his feud with them.

WWE Champion and various feuds (2011)

Cena competed in the 2011 Royal Rumble match at the pay-per-view, making it to the final five before being eliminated by The Miz, the current WWE Champion at the time, who wasn't an official participant in the match. On the January 31 episode of ''Raw'', Cena competed in a 7-man ''Raw Rumble'' match, where the winner would challenge The Miz for his WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber, but Cena was eliminated by Sheamus. As a result, Cena was entered into the Elimination Chamber match with the other five competitors who lost the match, to determine the number one contender for the title at WrestleMania XXVII. At the pay-per-view, Cena won the match, earning his title shot at WrestleMania against The Miz. On the February 21 episode of ''Raw'', Cena replied to The Rock's comments about him from the previous week, as The Rock returned as the announced guest host of WrestleMania, where he made a rap about Rock. That same night, Cena was placed into a WWE Tag Team Championship match, with him teaming with The Miz, where they defeated Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater to become WWE Tag Team Champions. After the match, Wade Barrett invoked Gabriel and Slater's rematch clause straight away, where they won their titles back, after Miz attacked Cena. After weeks of insults to each other, Cena met Rock face-to-face on the March 28 episode of ''Raw'', where Cena would hit his Attitude Adjustment finishing move on Rock. At WrestleMania, Cena and Miz would fight to a double count-out, but guest host Rock would restart the match, only for him to hit his Rock Bottom finishing move on Cena, allowing Miz to retain his title. The next night on ''Raw'', Cena and Rock agreed to face each other at WrestleMania XXVIII, making it the first match to be set up at WrestleMania one year in advance. At Extreme Rules, Cena would defeat Miz and Morrison to become WWE Champion. Cena would then defend his title successfully against Miz at Over the Limit in an "I Quit" match and against R-Truth at Capitol Punishment.

Cena was scheduled to defend his title against CM Punk at Money in the Bank, but Punk would deliver a shoot promo on-air on the June 27 episode of ''Raw'', concerning the way in which the company is run and owner Vince McMahon. This would then result in Punk being suspended from televised WWE events. Cena would petition against McMahon to reinstate Punk, to which McMahon would agree, adding that Cena would get fired if he were to lost the WWE Championship to Punk at the pay-per-view. At the pay-per-view, McMahon tried to recreate the Montreal Screwjob by sending John Laurinaitis down to ringside to end the match as Cena had Punk in the STF submission move. Cena would hit Laurinaitis before he could, only for Cena to lose the match as he re-entered the ring. The following night on ''Raw'', before McMahon announced Cena was fired, Triple H returned, announcing he is the new COO of the WWE, which would see him run the day-to-day operations of the company. Triple H then announced that McMahon was relived of his duties. On the July 25 episode of ''Raw'', Cena defeated Rey Mysterio to become WWE Champion for a record breaking ninth time. Following the match, CM Punk returned to the company, with the WWE Championship he won at Money in the Bank. The following week, Triple H would announce that Cena and Punk where both recognized as WWE Champion, which would lead to a title unification match at SummerSlam, with Triple H serving as special guest referee for the match, where the winner would become "undisputed" WWE Champion. At the pay-per-view, Punk defeated Cena to become "undisputed" WWE Champion. Punk would lose the championship following the match, after Kevin Nash returned and attacked him, with Alberto Del Rio then cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase to win the title. On the August 22 episode of ''Raw'', Cena defeated Punk to become number one contender for the WWE Championship, where Cena would defeat Del Rio at Night of Champions to become WWE Champion. Cena would then lose the title back to Del Rio two weeks later at Hell in a Cell, in a Triple Threat Hell in a Cell match also involving Punk, after Ricardo Rodriguez and Del Rio locked Cena outside of the Cell. Cena would get a rematch with Del Rio at Vengeance in a Last Man Standing match, where Del Rio defeated Cena after The Miz and R-Truth would attack Cena during the match. After a few weeks of Miz and Truth attacking Cena and other employees, Cena was allowed to choose his partner to challenge Miz and Truth at Survivor Series. Cena would announce that he had chosen The Rock to be his partner. At the pay-per-view, after Cena and Rock defeated Miz and Truth, Rock gave Cena another Rock Bottom.

On the December 12 episode of ''Raw'', during his match with Mark Henry, Cena was attacked by the returning Kane. The following week on ''Raw'', Cena would call out Kane for his actions last week, but Henry would come out instead. Kane would then come out soon after, and once again attacked Cena. The following week, Kane would explain to Cena that the reason he had attacked him was in disgust of Cena's "Rise Above Hate" t-shirt slogan, stating that hate is a "natural impulse" and shouldn't be contained. He then lead the fans in attendance who were not fond of Cena into chanting "Cena Sucks!" as RAW went off the air.

Other media

Film

WWE Studios, a division of World Wrestling Entertainment which produces and finances motion pictures, produced Cena's first movie — ''The Marine'', which was distributed theatrically by 20th Century Fox America beginning on October 13, 2006. In its first week, the film made approximately US$7 million at the United States box office. After ten weeks in theaters, the film grossed $18.7 million. Once the film was released on DVD, it fared better, making $30 million in rentals in the first twelve weeks. His second film, also produced by WWE Studios, was ''12 Rounds''. Filming began on February 25, 2008 in New Orleans; the film was released on March 27, 2009.

Cena co-starred in his third film produced by WWE Studios, titled ''Legendary'', which was played in selected theaters starting on September 10, 2010, for a limited time, then it was released on DVD on September 28, 2010.

That same year, 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 father. The movie was released on the Nickelodeon channel in September 2010.

Filmography

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2000	''Ready to Rumble''	Gym Trainer	Extra
2006	''The Marine''	John Triton	Lead role
2007	''Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race''	Himself	Reality TV series
2009		Danny Fisher	Los Angeles Film Festival Award for Best Actor
2010	''Psych''	Ewan O'Hara	"You Can't Handle This Episode" (season 4: episode 10)
2010	''True Jackson, VP''	Himself	"Pajama Party" (season 2: episode 12)
2010		Mike Chetley	Nominated—Nevada Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
2010	''Hannah Montana''	Himself	"Love That Let's Go" (season 4: episode 7)
2010	''Fred: The Movie''	Fred's (imaginary) Dad	TV film
2010	''Generator Rex''	Hunter Cain	Voice role"The Hunter" (season 1: episode 13)
2011		Sam Cleary
2011	''Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred	Fred's (imaginary) Dad	TV film

Guest appearances

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

During his WWE career, Cena has appeared on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' three times. Cena 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 ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', Fuse's ''Celebrity Playlist'', Fox Sports Net's ''The Best Damn Sports Show Period'', ''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.

In January 2007, Cena, Batista, and Ashley Massaro appeared representing WWE on an episode of ''Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'', giving the children of the family whose house was being renovated WWE merchandise and eight tickets to WrestleMania 23. Two months later, he and Bobby Lashley appeared on the NBC game show ''Deal or No Deal'' as "moral support" to long time WWE fan and front row staple, Rick "Sign Guy" Achberger. Edge and Randy Orton also appeared, but as antagonists. On April 9, 2008, Cena, along with fellow wrestlers Triple H and Chris Jericho, appeared on the ''Idol Gives Back'' fund-raising special. In March 2009, Cena made an appearance on ''Saturday Night Live'' during the show's cold opening sequence. On March 7, 2009, he was a guest on NPR's quiz show ''Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'' in a Not My Job sequence titled "Sure, pro wrestling is a good gig, but when you win, do they throw teddy bears into the ring?"

Television

In 2001, between his training in Ultimate Pro Wrestling and Ohio Valley Wrestling, Cena was involved in the UPN produced reality show ''Manhunt''. Cena 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.

Cena was also 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 Cena was also 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'll 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 his 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 in a statement, saying they felt the true answer to the question began with the phrase "My answer to that question". They did, however, edit the documentary on subsequent airings to include the "Absolutely not".

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

He guest starred as Ewan O'Hara in an episode of the fourth season of the comedy drama ''Psych'', as the brother of Juliet O'Hara, played by Maggie Lawson.

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

Make-A-Wish Foundation

John Cena has granted over 200 wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and in 2009 was a recipient of the Chris Greicius Celebrity Award.

Endorsements

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 next 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.

In 2009, Cena expanded his relationship with Gillette by introducing a new online campaign called "Be A Superstar" featuring himself alongside WWE Superstars Chris Jericho and Cody Rhodes. The campaign features motivational videos.

Fashion

For the extent of his WWE career, Cena's attire has attempted to reflect the most current thug fashions and stylings within the hip hop culture that his character represents. Cena started out wearing "throwback jerseys" until WWE produced specific Cena merchandise which he began wearing. While Cena was a member of the ''SmackDown!'' brand, one of his WWE produced t-shirts bore the suggestive spoonerism "Ruck Fules". Whenever it appeared on television the image was censored, not by the network, but by WWE to sell more shirts under the premise that it was "too hot for TV." He also 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—reminiscent of the ones worn by members of G-Unit—matching his spinner title belt.

Around the time ''The Marine'' was released, Cena began wearing attire more military related, including camouflage shorts, dog tags, a Marine soldier cap and a WWE produced shirt with the legend "Chain Gang Assault Battalion." Shortly after WrestleMania 23, when promotion for The Marine ended, the military attire diminished and was replaced with apparel bearing his new slogan "American Made Muscle" along with denim shorts, not seen since he was a member of the SmackDown roster. He then wore shirts that promoted Cenation and his trademark line "You Can't See Me." In late 2011, Cena again switched to wearing camo shorts (to honor the U.S. Armed Forces), coininciding with his new black "Rise Above Hate" T-shirt promoting WWE's "Be a Star" anti-bullying campaign.

Music

In addition to his wrestling career, Cena is a rapper and a hip hop musician. Cena performed his fifth WWE theme song, "Basic Thugonomics," himself, and it was featured on the WWE soundtrack album ''WWE Originals''. He also recorded a song,"Untouchables", for the company's next soundtrack album ''WWE ThemeAddict: The Music, Vol. 6''. He collaborated on the song H-U-S-T-L-E remix along with Murs, E-40, and Chingo Bling.

Cena's debut album, ''You Can't See Me'', was recorded with his cousin Tha Trademarc. It features, amongst 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," and premiered on the August 8 ''Raw''. Cena and Tha Trademarc were later featured on a track by The Perceptionists named "Champion Scratch." Cena will appear on Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins' upcoming album ''Still Cool'' featuring other guests.

;Albums

''You Can't See Me''

* Released: May 10, 2005

Chart positions: 15 U.S. ''Billboard'' 200, 10 U.S. Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums, 3 U.S. Rap, 103 UK Albums Chart

* Singles: "The Time Is Now", "Bad Bad Man" (featuring Bumpy Knuckles), "Right Now"

Personal life

Cena writes left-handed. He is a fan of Japanese animation and has mentioned that his favorite animated movie is ''Fist of the North Star''. He has also said he is a fan of the video game series ''Command & Conquer'' and noted that it was his favorite game. Cena is also a fan of the Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, Boston Celtics, Cena collects muscle cars and has over 20, some of which are one-of-a-kind.

While promoting his 2009 film, ''12 Rounds'', Cena announced his engagement to his girlfriend Elizabeth Huberdeau. They were married on July 11, 2009.

In wrestling

Finishing moves

''Attitude Adjustment'' (formerly ''FU'') (Fireman's carry transitioned into a takeover or a powerslam, sometimes from the second rope) – 2003–present

STF (formerly ''STFU'') – 2005–present

Signature moves

Diving leg drop bulldog

Dropkick, sometimes from the top rope

* Emerald Flowsion

Fisherman suplex

''Five Knuckle Shuffle'' (Running delayed fist drop, with theatrics, sometimes diving from the top rope)

* Gutwrench suplex

* ''Protobomb'' (OVW / UPW) / Spin-out powerbomb (WWE)

Running leaping shoulder block

Running one–handed bulldog

Sitout hip toss

''Rapper Punch'' ("You can't see me!" taunt followed by haymaker)

Spinebuster - 2002 - 2005 used rarely there after

''Throwback'' (Running neck snap to a bent–over opponent)

Twisting belly to belly suplex

Nicknames

"The Doctor of Thuganomics"

"The Champ" (as either the WWE Champion or the World Heavyweight Champion) – 2005–present

* "The Chain Gang Commander"

"The Chain Gang Soldier"

*"The CeNation Commander-in-Chief"

"The Marine"

* "Superman"

* "The Voice of Little Jimmys" (while feuding with R-Truth)

Managers

Kenny Bolin

* B–2

* Redd Dogg

Entrance themes

"Slam Smack" by R. Hardy (FirstCom Production Music) (June 27, 2002–November 7, 2002)

"Insert Bass Here" by DJ Case (FirstCom Production Music) (November 14, 2002–February 13, 2003)

* "Basic Thuganomics" by John Cena (March 27, 2003–March 10, 2005; April 5, 2009 for his entrance at WrestleMania XXV)

*"We Are One" by 12 Stones (WWE; October 3, 2010-November 21, 2010; Used While a part of Nexus)

* "The Time is Now" by John Cena and Tha Trademarc (March 17, 2005–present)

Championships and accomplishments

Ohio Valley Wrestling

OVW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Rico Constantino

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

PWI Feud of the Year (2006)

PWI Feud of the Year (2011)

PWI Match of the Year (2007)

PWI Match of the Year (2011)

PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2003)

PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (2004, 2005, 2007)

PWI Wrestler of the Year (2006, 2007)

PWI ranked #1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2006 and 2007

Pro Wrestling Report

*Match of the Year (2006) vs. Rob Van Dam at ECW One Night Stand II

Ultimate Pro Wrestling

UPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

World Wrestling Entertainment

World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Shawn Michaels (1) and Batista (1)

WWE Championship (10 times)

WWE Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with David Otunga (1), and The Miz (1)

WWE United States Championship (3 times)

* Royal Rumble (2008)

* Slammy Award winner – 2009 and 2010 Superstar of the Year

Slammy Award for Holy $#!+ Move of the Year (2010)

*Slammy Award for Game Changer of the Year (2011) – with The Rock

'''Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Wrestler of the Year (2007, 2010)

* 5 Star Match vs. CM Punk at WWE Money in the Bank on July 17, 2011

Best Box Office Draw (2007)

Best on Interviews (2007)

Most Charismatic (2006–2010)

Most Charismatic of the Decade (2000–2009)

Best Gimmick (2003)

References

Further reading

External links

John Cena at WWE.com

Professional wrestling record for John Cena from The Internet Wrestling Database

John Cena at Online World of Wrestling

Category:1977 births Category:American film actors Category:American football offensive linemen Category:American professional wrestlers Category:American professional wrestlers of Italian descent Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Drifting drivers Category:Formula D drivers Category:Living people Category:People from Essex County, Massachusetts Category:People from Tampa, Florida Category:Rappers from Florida Category:Springfield College (Massachusetts) alumni Category:Springfield Pride football players

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Alt	A close-up of a woman with dark brown hair and green eyes. She is wearing a khaki-coloured vest, sunglasses on top of her head, and large gold hoop earrings.
Name	Eve Torres
Names	EveEve Torres
Height
Weight
Birth date	August 21, 1984
Birth place	Boston, Massachusetts
Resides	Los Angeles, California
Billed	Denver, Colorado
Trainer	FCW Staff
Debut	2007
Retired	}}

Eve Torres (born August 21, 1984), is an American dancer, model, and professional wrestler. She is working for WWE on its Raw brand as Eve, as well as her full name. She is a two time WWE Divas Champion.

Torres began her career as a model and dancer. She danced for The Southern California Summer Pro League and went on to become a member of the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Clippers Spirit Dance Team for the 2006–2007 season. She has also appeared on several television shows, including ''Show Me The Money'', ''Sunset Tan'', and ''Deal or No Deal''.

In 2007 she entered the 2007 Diva Search and won, earning a contract with WWE. She first appeared on WWE programming as a backstage interviewer in 2008, and also appeared in non-wrestling contests such as bikini contests and dance competitions. She later became a full-time wrestler in 2009, and was involved in feuds with Michelle McCool, Layla and Natalya. She also managed the tag team of Cryme Tyme. After being traded to the Raw brand in late 2009, she managed Chris Masters before winning the WWE Divas Championship in April 2010, making her the first Diva search winner to win a championship in WWE. She held the championship for 69 days, before losing it in June. After acting as the valet for R-Truth in late 2010, she won the Divas Championship for the second time at the 2011 Royal Rumble in January. Her second reign lasted until April 2011. Afterward, she began accompanying Kelly Kelly during her reign as the Divas Champion.

Dancing and modeling career

While attending the University of Southern California (USC), Torres appeared in commercials and music videos. Torres was the co-captain of the USC Fly Girls dance squad and created much of their choreography. She also danced for The Southern California Summer Pro League, the only summer league for National Basketball Association (NBA) players, in Long Beach, California. After graduating from college, she moved into dancing and modeling full-time. After reaching the tryout finals in previous years, Torres became a member of the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers Spirit Dance Team for the 2006–07 season. She also appeared on ''Show Me The Money''.

Professional wrestling career

World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE (2007–present)

2007 WWE Diva Search

In May 2007, Torres entered WWE's Diva Search. She was chosen by WWE officials as one of the eight finalists from a group of 50. On October 29, 2007, in Philadelphia, live on ''Raw'', she was crowned the 2007 WWE Diva Search winner, defeating finalist Brooke Gilbertsen and becoming an official WWE Diva. Following her win, she began training for her wrestling debut in WWE's developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling.

SmackDown (2008–2009)

Videos promoting Eve's debut on ''SmackDown'' began airing on January 11, 2008. The promo aired for three weeks before Eve made her official debut on the February 1, 2008 episode of ''SmackDown'' interviewing former World Heavyweight Champion Batista. During early 2008, Eve participated in a "Diva Competition" contest to determine the top Diva on ''SmackDown'', participating in a bikini contest, an obstacle course, and an arm wrestling competition before being eliminated. Eve appeared at WrestleMania XXIV as a Lumberjill in the BunnyMania match between Maria and Ashley against Beth Phoenix and Melina. Eve spent the rest of the year competing in similar contests, including a dance-off and a bikini contest, before participating in the Halloween Costume Contest on October 26 at the Cyber Sunday pay-per-view, where she was dressed as Raphael from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. On the 800th episode of ''Raw'' on November 3, 2008, Eve made her televised in-ring debut in a 16-Diva tag team match, which her team lost although she was never tagged in.

Her first main storyline began in early 2009, when she began a scripted feud with Michelle McCool after McCool attacked her. On the February 6 episode of ''SmackDown'', Eve made her singles match debut in a losing effort against McCool via submission. Their feud continued for the next few months, with them competing against each other in singles and tag team matches. Eve then moved into a feud with Layla in mid-2009. After the pair competed in dance and arm wrestling competitions, Eve defeated Layla on the May 29 episode of ''SmackDown'' in a wrestling match. On the June 18 episode of ''Superstars'', Eve pinned Layla once again. After the match, they both shook hands.

Around the same as her scripted rivalry with Layla, Eve became associated with Cryme Tyme (Shad and JTG), appearing in several backstage segments with them. She also began accompanying them to the ring as their manager during their storyline rivalry with The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith, Tyson Kidd, and Natalya). Eve and Cryme Tyme participated in multiple six-person mixed tag team matches against The Hart Dynasty, and Eve also faced Natalya in singles matches and tag team matches involving other Divas. Eve then competed in a Divas Battle Royal at Summerslam making it to the end but getting eliminated by Beth Phoenix. Her final match on ''SmackDown'' was on October 9, when she was defeated in a singles match by Michelle McCool.

Raw and Divas Champion (2009–2011)

On October 12, 2009, Eve was traded to the Raw brand. On the November 2nd edition of ''Raw'', she competed in her first match after being traded: a battle royal which was won by Alicia Fox. She then entered a love storyline with Chris Masters in December 2009, becoming his valet. In January 2010, the WWE Divas Championship was vacated and a tournament was set up to determine the new champion. Eve made it to the semi-finals, before being defeated by the eventual winner, Maryse. At WrestleMania XXVI Eve was on the losing team in a 10-Diva tag team match, but the following night on ''Raw'', she pinned Maryse in a rematch to earn the victory for her team.

On the April 5th edition of ''Raw'', Eve won a "Dress to Impress" battle royal to become the number one contender to the WWE Divas Championship, and the following week on ''Raw'', she defeated Maryse to win the championship for the first time. She successfully defended the championship against Maryse at the Over the Limit pay-per-view in May. At the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view in June, Eve lost the championship in a fatal four-way match, when Alicia Fox pinned Maryse to win the championship. On the July 5th edition of ''Raw'', Eve invoked her rematch clause against Fox but was unsuccessful after Fox feigned an ankle injury. As a result, she received another rematch at the Money in the Bank pay per-view, but lost again to Fox. In mid-2010 she began acting as the valet for R-Truth.

At the Royal Rumble on January 30, 2011, the Raw General Manager added Eve to a two-on-one handicap match for the Divas Championship, turning it into a fatal four-way match. Eve pinned Layla to win the match and become a two-time Divas Champion, despite Michelle McCool pinning Natalya at the same time with Eve pinning Layla. She retained the championship against Natalya in a Lumberjill match on the February 14 edition of ''Raw'', and against Nikki Bella on the March 7 edition of ''Raw''. She held the championship until the April 11 edition of ''Raw'', when she lost it to Brie Bella. Eve appeared at the 2011 Over the Limit event, performing her signature moonsault on Michael Cole after his loss to Jerry "The King" Lawler. On the night of ''Raw'' 23 May, she teamed with Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly and Beth Phoenix, against The Bella Twins, Maryse and Melina. The match, however ended in a no-contest following an interruption by Kharma. On the 30 May edition of ''Raw'', she teamed with Kelly Kelly to defeat The Bella Twins. On the June 13 edition of ''Raw'', an All-Star special, her team got victorious, in a 7 on 7 diva tag team match, teaming with Beth Phoenix, Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly, Natalya, A.J. and Kaitlyn to defeat The Bella Twins, Melina, Alicia Fox, Rosa Mendes, Maryse and Tamina.

Alliance with Kelly Kelly (2011-present)

On the June 20 edition of "Raw", special Power To The People, she one of among three divas who will face Brie Bella for WWE Divas Championship but lost voted to Kelly Kelly.Afterward she mainly saved and accompannying Kelly Kelly every match over the Bella Twins. On the 4th of July special Independence Day edition of Raw, Kelly teamed up with Eve to defeat The Bella Twins in a tag team match. Eve accompanying Kelly Kelly in her Divas Championship match at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view in which Kelly Kelly retained against Brie Bella. On the July 25th edition of ''Raw'', she and Kelly Kelly defeated Maryse and Melina in a divas tag-team match. On the August 1 edition of ''Raw'', Eve was a part of a battle-royal to determinate who will face Kelly on the SummerSlam pay per-view for the Divas Championship, however the match was won by Beth Phoenix. On the 8th of August, Eve took on Beth Phoenix in a singles match but failed to win. Kelly Kelly then came to the ring to help Eve. On SummerSlam 2011, Eve accompanied Kelly Kelly for WWE Divas Championship match, which she successfully retained from Beth Phoenix despite accompanied by Natalya.On the August 15, 2011 edition of ''Raw'', Eve teamed up with Kelly Kelly in a winning effort against the Bella Twins. A week later on the August 22, 2011 edition of ''Raw'' she defeated Nikki Bella in singles match.

Other media

In August 2008, Torres, along with fellow WWE Divas Maria and Candice Michelle, appeared on an episode of ''Sunset Tan''. On October 2, 2008, Torres and Maria appeared on a special episode of ''Magic’s Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed''. Torres, along with Maryse and Michelle McCool, appeared in the January 2009 issue of ''Muscle & Fitness'' magazine. Torres appeared on the November 3, 2009 episode of ''Deal or No Deal'' with Maria and Dolph Ziggler. On July 1, Eve was a Muscle and Perfomance cover girl.

Personal life

Torres was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but grew up in Denver, Colorado and is of Nicaraguan American background. She has one younger brother, Phillip, who appeared on ''Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?'' in October 2008 and won $100,000. She attended the University of Southern California on a full tuition scholarship. During college, she was one of the founding members of the Omega Phi Beta sorority chapter on her campus and held the vice-president position for several years. While in Omega Phi Beta, Torres was awarded for Academic Excellence at the Order of Omega Greek Awards. She graduated with honors and a Grade Point Average above 3.5 in May 2006, with a degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering. While at USC, she dated future NFL player Reggie Bush Torres is trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and holds a blue belt from the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Torrance, California. Torres also participates in kickboxing.

In wrestling

Finishing moves

Handspring standing moonsault – 2009

Moonsault – 2009–present

Snap swinging neckbreaker – 2010–present

Signature moves

Enzuigiri

Standing moonsault with dance theatrics

Wrestlers managed

Cryme Tyme (Shad and JTG)

Chris Masters

*R-Truth

*Kelly Kelly

Entrance themes

*"Pop Energia" by Jim Johnston (2007-2008)

"She Looks Good" by Jim Johnston (October 2008 - July 2011;August 15 2011-present)

*"She Looks Good (Remix)" by Jim Johnston (August 1 - August 15 2011)

Championships and accomplishments

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

PWI ranked her #5 of the best 50 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2010

World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE

WWE Divas Championship (2 times)

WWE Diva Search (2007)

References

External links

WWE profile

Online World of Wrestling profile

Official Website

Official Fansite

Facebook

Category:1984 births Category:American ballroom dancers Category:American cheerleaders Category:American female models Category:American female professional wrestlers Category:American practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Category:Female Brazilian-Jiu-Jitsu practitioners Category:Living people Category:People from Denver, Colorado Category:University of Southern California alumni Category:WWE Diva Search contestants

ar:إيف توريس ca:Eve Torres de:Eve Torres es:Eve Torres fa:ایو تورس fr:Eve Torres it:Eve Torres nl:Eve Torres ja:イヴ・トーレス pl:Eve Torres pt:Eve Torres ru:Торрес, Ив simple:Eve Torres fi:Eve Torres th:อีฟ ทอร์เรส tr:Eve Torres

Name	Shawn Michaels
Names	Sean MichaelsShawn Michaels
Weight
Birth date	July 22, 1965
Birth place	Chandler, Arizona
Resides	San Antonio, Texas
Billed	San Antonio, Texas
Trainer	Jose Lothario
Debut	October 16, 1984
Retired	March 28, 2010 }}

Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American television host and retired professional wrestler. He presents the Outdoor Channel show ''MacMillan River Adventures'', and is currently signed to WWE, where he has served in an ambassadorial role since December 2010. He consistently performed for WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), from 1988 until his retirement in early 2010, albeit in non-wrestling roles from 1998 to 2002. Hickenbottom began his wrestling career with Mid-South Wrestling, now known as Universal Wrestling Federation, and American Wrestling Association (AWA). During his time with AWA, he performed in partnership with Marty Jannetty, as The Midnight Rockers; winning the AWA World Tag Team Championship twice. Hickenbottom and Jannetty briefly signed with World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1987, while in contract with AWA. They returned to AWA, only to go back to the WWF in 1988.

Hickenbottom later worked as a singles performer, taking on a new persona of "The Heartbreak Kid" and, first as a villain and later as a fan favorite, moved into the main event sphere. He wielded considerable influence on booking decisions as the leader of The Kliq, a backstage group, which however fell apart in 1996. The following year, he teamed up with Hunter Hearst Hemsley, who often was referred to as Triple H (HHH), Chyna, and Rick Rude to form D-Generation X (DX). This group of wrestlers was known for their sophomoric crude humor. That same year, Hickenbottom took part in one of the most controversial matches in wrestling history, dubbed as the "Montreal Screwjob." After a back injury forced him to retire following his WWF Championship loss at WrestleMania XIV, Hickenbottom opened a wrestling academy, called The Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy, in which he trained upcoming wrestlers. He made his in-ring return at SummerSlam in 2002. In 2006, Hickenbottom and Triple H briefly reformed DX, but after an injury that Triple H sustained, Hickenbottom returned to singles wrestling. Although as of 2009, the duo reunited as a tag team once more, with the two capturing the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship. In the WWF/WWE, Michaels held championships, and headlined pay-per-view events, in each decade from the 1990s to the 2010s; at WrestleMania XXVI, he was forced to retire from in-ring competition when he lost a career-threatening match. In December 2010, he signed a long-term deal with WWE, making his first live appearance at a WWE show since WrestleMania later that month. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2011.

Among other accolades, Hickenbottom is a four-time world champion: a three-time WWF Champion and a former World Heavyweight Champion. He was also the winner of the 1995 and 1996 Royal Rumbles and was the company's first Grand Slam Champion. He has also won the PWI Match of the Year Award a record eleven times. Hickenbottom currently resides in San Antonio, Texas with his wife, Rebecca, and their two children.

Early life

Shawn was born on July 22, 1965 in Chandler, Arizona. The last of four children – Randy, Scott, and Shari are his older siblings – he was raised in a military family and spent a brief part of his early years in Reading, Berkshire, England, but grew up in San Antonio, Texas. As a child, Hickenbottom disliked the name Michael, so his family and friends just called him Shawn. Ever since, he has been referred to as Shawn. Additionally, Hickenbottom moved around frequently since his father was in the military.

He knew he wanted to become a professional wrestler at the age of twelve. Hickenbottom was already an athlete; his career began at the age of six when he started playing football. He was a stand-out linebacker at Randolph High School and eventually became captain of the football team. After graduating, Hickenbottom attended Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, but soon realized that college life was not for him. He then began pursuing a career in professional wrestling.

Professional wrestling career

AWA and WWF(1984–1988)

Hickenbottom began to train under Mexican professional wrestler Jose Lothario. During his training, Hickenbottom adopted the ring name, Shawn Michaels. After his training with Lothario, he debuted as Shawn Michaels with Mid-South Wrestling and Texas All-Star Wrestling (TASW) promotions in October 1984 at the age of 19. During his time with TASW, Michaels replaced Nick Kiniski in the American Breed tag team, teaming with Paul Diamond. Michaels and Diamond were awarded the TASW Tag Team Championship by Chavo Guerrero, Sr. The team was later renamed American Force. He also worked for Central States Wrestling. There, he and tag team partner Marty Jannetty defeated The Batten Twins for the Central States Tag Team Championship, later losing it back to the Battens. Michaels also made several appearances in the Dallas, Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling throughout 1985.

Michaels made his national-level debut at the age of twenty in American Wrestling Association (AWA), once again teaming with Marty Jannetty. The pair were billed as The Midnight Rockers and held the AWA World Tag Team Championship, defeating Doug Somers and Buddy Rose. In 1987, The Rockers were signed by a competing promotion: the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). They were fired from WWF two weeks later, for a bar incident (a misunderstanding, according to Michaels' autobiography). They then returned to AWA, but were re-signed by WWF a year later.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment

The Rockers (1988–1991)

The Rockers redebuted at a WWF live event on July 7, 1988. Due to WWF chairman Vince McMahon's desire to have his performers carry WWF-exclusive ring names, Michaels and Jannetty were renamed, as simply "The Rockers." The team proved popular with both children and women. The team was a mid-card stalwart of television and pay-per-view shows for the next two years.

In October 1990, The Rockers were scheduled to win the WWF Tag Team Championship from The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart), as Neidhart, half of the championship team, was in the process of negotiating his release from the company. The match was taped with The Rockers winning the belts, but soon after, Neidhart came to an agreement with management and was rehired. The belts were returned to the Hart Foundation, while the title change was never broadcast or even acknowledged on television. When news spread, WWF explained that the original result was void due to a collapsed turnbuckle in the ring during the bout. A buckle had indeed broke, but not to a noticeable or dangerous extent during the match. The Rockers continued their partnership, eventually splitting on December 2, 1991 during an incident on Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake's televised ''Barber Shop'' talk show promotional segment. Michaels superkicked Jannetty and threw him through a glass window on the set of Beefcake's talk show. Jannetty returned to the WWF the following year and enjoyed moderate success before leaving the company in 1994, while Michaels became a prominent villain of the early-to-mid 1990s as "The Boy Toy."

The Heartbreak Kid (1992–1995)

At the suggestion of "Mr Perfect" Curt Hennig, Michaels adopted the nickname "The Heartbreak Kid." Along with his new name came a new gimmick as a vain, cocky villain. He was put together with mirror-carrying manager, Sensational Sherri, who, according to the storyline, had become infatuated with him. Sherri even sang the first version of his new theme music, "Sexy Boy." During that period, after Michaels had wrestled his scheduled match at live events, his departure was announced with the words, "Shawn Michaels has left the building" (alluding to the phrase "Elvis has left the building").

At WrestleMania VIII, in his first pay-per-view singles match, Michaels defeated El Matador: both men had simultaneously eliminated each other from that year's Royal Rumble. He subsequently became a contender to the promotion's singles championships. Michaels competed in his first pay-per-view main event when he co-headlined ''UK Rampage'' on April 19 at the Sheffield Arena, in a losing effort against "Macho Man" Randy Savage for the WWF Championship. He failed to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Bret Hart in the WWF's first-ever ladder match at a ''Wrestling Challenge'' taping on July 21, which would subsequently be made available on multiple Coliseum/WWE Home Video releases. He, however, won the title from The British Bulldog on the October 27, 1992 edition of ''Saturday Night's Main Event'', which aired on November 14. Shortly thereafter, he faced Hart for the WWF Championship in the main event of the 1992 Survivor Series, but lost the match. Michaels and Hart were moved to the main event after The Ultimate Warrior was unable to compete in the tag team match that involved Randy Savage against the team of Ric Flair and Razor Ramon. During this time, Michaels and Sherri split and he engaged himself in a feud with former tag team partner Marty Jannetty. Michaels lost the Intercontinental Championship to Jannetty on ''Monday Night Raw'' on May 17, 1993. He then regained it on June 6 with the help of his debuting "bodyguard" (and off-air friend) Diesel, and co-headlined the King of the Ring in a title defense against Crush.

In September 1993, Michaels had quit the company, after it was announced that he had failed to defend his title enough times during a set period; in reality, he had been suspended for testing positive for steroids – a charge that Michaels denies to this day. After turning down World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s advances, Michaels returned to the WWF and made several appearances in the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) during a WWF/USWA cross-promotion. He returned to WWF television in November at the Survivor Series pay-per-view, substituting for Jerry Lawler, who was dealing with legal issues, in a match pitting himself and three of Lawler's "Knights" against the Hart brothers, Bret, Bruce, Keith, and Owen.

He soon entered a staged rivalry with Razor Ramon, who had won the vacated Intercontinental Championship, during Michaels' absence. Since Michaels had never been defeated in the ring for the title, he claimed to be the rightful champion and even carried around his old title belt. This feud culminated in a ladder match between the two at WrestleMania X. Michaels lost the match, which featured both his and Ramon's belts suspended above a ladder in the ring. This match was voted by fans as "PWI Match of the Year" by ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated''. It also received a 5-star rating from ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' member Dave Meltzer, one of five WWE matches to do so. Over the next few months, Michaels battled various injuries and launched the ''Heartbreak Hotel'' television talk show segment, mainly shown on ''WWF Superstars''.

On August 28, 1994, Michaels and Diesel captured the Tag Team Championship from The Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu). The next day, at SummerSlam, Diesel lost the Intercontinental Championship to Ramon when Michaels accidentally superkicked Diesel. This triggered a split between Michaels and Diesel, a storyline that was drawn out until Survivor Series that November. Michaels went on to win the Royal Rumble in 1995, which set up a championship grudge match at WrestleMania XI against Diesel (who had gone on to win the WWF Championship from Bob Backlund). As part of the storyline, Michaels recruited Sycho Sid as his bodyguard for the build-up, lost the match, and was attacked by Sid the following night. After this, Michaels took time off, because Vince McMahon wanted Michaels to become a fan favorite.

Kliq, World Champion and D-Generation X (1995–1997)

Michaels returned to the ring, as a fan favorite, in May 1995. He went on to defeat Jeff Jarrett in July at the In Your House pay-per-view event, to win his third Intercontinental Championship. This led to a title defense against Razor Ramon at SummerSlam, in a ladder match, which Michaels won. Around this time Michaels became the alleged leader of a backstage group known as The Kliq. Others perceived the group to have sufficient clout with WWF owner Vince McMahon, becoming dominant wrestling figures in the WWF for several years in the mid-1990s. Michaels disputes the perception, saying that McMahon pushed only deserving wrestlers. Michaels' fan base was later nicknamed "The Kliq" as an inside reference to the real "Kliq". In October 1995, he was legitimately attacked by several men outside a bar in Syracuse, New York. Shortly afterwards, at the In Your House: Great White North pay-per-view, Michaels forfeited the Intercontinental Championship to staged rival Dean Douglas because he was, according to WWF, unable to compete. Later in the night, Douglas lost the championship to Kliq member Razor Ramon. The next month, during a match with Owen Hart on an episode of ''Monday Night Raw'', Owen performed an enzuigiri that struck the back of Michaels' head. They continued the match, but Michaels collapsed in the ring, supposedly because he had suffered a concussion. The concussion was scripted, which was kept from most fans at the time. A retirement angle was written so that Michaels could take some time off, after he came back from an injury too soon.

After teasing a retirement, Michaels returned to WWF at the Royal Rumble match in 1996, which he wound up winning for a second year in a row, to receive a WWF Championship match in the main event at WrestleMania XII. Around this time, Jose Lothario became Michaels' on-screen manager. At WrestleMania XII, Michaels defeated WWF Champion Bret Hart in the overtime of their sixty minute Iron Man match, which had ended in a 0–0 tie. On May 19, 1996, Michaels and his fellow Kliq members were involved in the incident known as "Curtain Call". Diesel and Razor Ramon were about to leave WWF to company rival WCW. After Michaels won a match against Diesel, Ramon and Hunter Hearst Helmsley came to the ring and joined Michaels and Diesel in a group-hug. As Diesel and Helmsley were seen as villains at the time, in contrast to Michaels and Ramon, this constituted a breach of "kayfabe", as acting out of character, which was rare and controversial at the time. As WCW gained momentum due to the signings of Hall and Nash, Michaels held the championship for most of the year. Michaels' championship reign ended at the 1996 Survivor Series event, where he lost to Sycho Sid, his former bodyguard. Michaels recaptured the championship from Sid in January 1997 at the Royal Rumble.

On a special episode of ''Raw'' dubbed ''Thursday Raw Thursday'', Michaels vacated the WWF Championship; he explained to fans that he was informed by doctors that he had conjured a knee injury, and that he had to retire. His speech was regarded as controversial, as Michaels was allegedly unwilling to lose to Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13 (since it was noted that he was going to have a rematch with Hart at WrestleMania). Michaels contemplated thoughts of retirement and stated that he "had to find his smile again," which he had "lost" somewhere down the line. After knee surgery by Dr. James Andrews, Michaels returned a few months later, briefly teaming with Stone Cold Steve Austin to win the WWF Tag Team Championship. In his autobiography, Michaels reveals about his real-life feud with Bret Hart, claiming that Bret did interviews on live television claiming that he [Michaels] was faking his whole injury.

At SummerSlam, Michaels officiated the WWF Championship match between WWF Champion The Undertaker and Bret Hart. The match ended in controversial fashion, with Michaels hitting Undertaker with a chair (unintentionally, as he was aiming for Bret after he spat in his face). Michaels was then forced to award the championship to his nemesis, Bret Hart. The next night on Raw, signs of a heel turn started to show from Michaels as he told the WWF fans what happened at Summerslam was an accident and that he'd deal with the Undertaker when the time came. At WWF One Night Only, held in Birmingham, England in September, Michaels defeated The British Bulldog to capture the WWF European Championship. The fans at the event were so appalled at the result of the match they booed Michaels out of the building, to the extent that they littered the ring with garbage, cementing his second heel turn. With this win, Michaels became the first Grand Slam Champion. At the October pay-per-view event, In Your House: Badd Blood, Michaels and Undertaker participated in the first Hell in a Cell match. During the match, it saw Michaels fall off the side of the high structure through a table and saw him as the winner in the match. The match received a 5-star rating from Dave Meltzer.

In the summer, Michaels joined forces with real-life friend, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Hunter's then-girlfriend, Chyna, and Rick Rude to form the stable, D-Generation X (DX). Moving away from the family-oriented product, this marked the beginning of the WWF Attitude Era. Michaels continued his rivalry with Bret Hart and his reformed Hart Foundation, which was now a pro-Canada stable. Michaels taunted the group and Canada by engaging in acts, such as blowing his nose with and humping the Canadian Flag. Michaels later claimed the flag desecration was Bret's idea. Michaels' feud with the Hart Foundation culminated in a championship match at Survivor Series in 1997 against Bret Hart. Michaels came out of this match, dubbed by fans the "Montreal Screwjob", as the WWF Champion. Michaels now held both the WWF and European championship at the same time. Michaels, however, lost the European Championship to D-Generation X member, Hunter Hurst Hemsley, who often was referred to as Triple H (HHH), when he pinned him during a farcical match, making Triple H the European Champion.

Commisioner (1998–2000)

At the 1998 Royal Rumble, Michaels received a legitimate back injury in a Casket match against The Undertaker. Michaels took a back body drop to the outside of the ring and smashed his lower back on the casket, causing him to herniate two discs and crush one completely. This forced Michaels into retirement after losing the WWE Championship to Steve Austin at WrestleMania XIV.

Michaels would continue to make non-wrestling appearances on WWF programming, and on November 23, 1998, replaced Sgt. Slaughter as the WWF Commissioner, a portrayed match maker and rules enforcer, eventually joining Vince McMahon's group of wrestlers called the Corporation as a villain. Throughout late 1998 and early 1999, Michaels made regular television appearances on ''Raw'', in which he scheduled matches, throwing around his authority, and sometimes even deciding the outcome of matches. In early 1999, Michaels re-joined DX as a fan favorite, but disappeared from WWF television for a few months to have back surgery, and by the time he had returned, DX had broken up.

Michaels made occasional appearances as the WWF Commissioner during the spring and summer of 1999, but remained absent from television until May 15, 2000, upon which he returned on ''Raw'' to announce himself as the special guest referee for the Iron Man match between The Rock and Triple H at Judgment Day. One month later, Michaels briefly reappeared on ''Raw'' to hand over the role of Commissioner to Mick Foley and afterwards did not make any in-ring appearances until mid-2002, (he did, however, make a short speech at WWF New York during Armageddon 2000). During this time, believing that his wrestling career was over, Michaels was interested in training individuals who wanted to become professional wrestlers. He saw potential in using his name and opening the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy, after his lawyer, Skip McCormick, suggested the idea. Michaels eventually left the academy. During this time, Michaels was a sportscaster for San Antonio's local news for a short time during his retirement.

Return (2002–2005)

In 2002, Michaels returned to WWE television for the first time in over two years of absence. On the June 3 episode of ''Raw'' and was announced as a new member of the New World Order (nWo) by Kevin Nash(diesel). After the nWo had disbanded, Triple H appeared to make amends with Michaels. This was solidified when Michaels pleaded Triple H to return to ''Raw''. Later on, they came down to the ring sporting their DX music and attire. When the pair was about to perform their trademark "Suck It" taunt, Triple H turned on Michaels by performing a Pedigree on him. Continuing the angle, a week later, Triple H attacked Michaels from behind in a parking lot and put his head through a car window, in storyline. In response, Michaels challenged Triple H to "a fight" (a non-sanctioned match) at SummerSlam, which Triple H accepted, laying the foundation for a rivalry that would last for several years. In his first official wrestling match since WrestleMania XIV, Michaels won at SummerSlam, but was attacked by Triple H with a sledgehammer after the match. At Survivor Series, Michaels won the World Heavyweight Championship from Triple H in the first-ever Elimination Chamber match. Michaels' reign as champion came to an end a month later when he lost the championship to Triple H in a Three Stages of Hell match, a series of three matches in which wrestlers attempt to win the majority of matches, at Armageddon.

Michaels then began a rivalry with Chris Jericho, after Jericho claimed that he was the next Shawn Michaels. On January 13, 2003, after Jericho won a battle royal to select his entry number for the Royal Rumble, choosing number two in order to start the match with Michaels, who had already been named number one. At the Royal Rumble, Jericho, with the help of Christian, eliminated Michaels. Michaels defeated Jericho at WrestleMania XIX. After the match, Michaels offered his hand to Jericho, who instead of shaking it, hugged Michaels. At first it seemed like good sportsmanship by Jericho until he quickly kicked Michaels in the groin.

As a part of an ongoing feud with Triple H, the two competed alongside Chris Benoit in the main event match at WrestleMania XX for the World Heavyweight Championship. The former DX partners both came up short in the match, however, as Benoit won the championship. At Bad Blood in June, Michaels lost to Triple H in a Hell in a Cell match. Four months later, he lost a World Heavyweight championship match against Triple H, after Edge interfered at Taboo Tuesday, when the fans voted for him ahead of Edge and Chris Benoit to face Triple H one more time. Following this, Michaels was out of action for a few months with a legitimate torn meniscus.

At the Royal Rumble in 2005, Michaels competed in the Rumble match and eliminated Kurt Angle. In seeking revenge, Angle re-entered the ring and eliminated Michaels, and thus placed him in an ankle lock submission hold, outside of the ring. Michaels issued a challenge to Angle for a match at WrestleMania 21, which Angle accepted when he appeared on ''Raw'' to attack Michaels. The following week on ''Raw'', Marty Jannetty and Michaels had a one time reunion as The Rockers and defeated La Résistance (Robért Conway and Sylvain Grenier). Three days later on ''SmackDown!'', Angle defeated Jannetty, after Angle made Jannetty submit to the ankle lock. To send a "message" to Michaels, Angle also humiliated Michaels' former manager, Sensational Sherri, when he applied the ankle lock hold on her. At WrestleMania 21 in April, Angle defeated Michaels by submission, again with an ankle lock. Two months later, at a WrestleMania 21 rematch, Michaels defeated Angle at the Vengeance pay-per-view event.

Following the events of WrestleMania 21, the next night on ''Raw'', Muhammad Hassan and Daivari came out to confront and assault Michaels. On the April 11 episode of ''Raw'', Michaels approached authority figure Eric Bischoff, in which he demanded a handicap match with Hassan and Daivari, a match consisting of one wrestler or team of wrestlers facing off against a team of wrestlers with numerical superiority such as two against one, or three against two. Bischoff refused to schedule the match, but informed Michaels to find a partner and he would grant him the match. Michaels then made a plea for Hulk Hogan to come back and team with him. On the April 18 episode of ''Raw'', Hassan again led an attack on Michaels until Hogan appeared to save Michaels and accept his offer. At Backlash, Hassan and Daivari lost to Hogan and Michaels when Daivari was pinned. On the July 4 episode of ''Raw'', Michaels and Hulk Hogan had a tag team match, which they won. During the post-match pose, Michaels hit Hogan with his superkick, knocking Hogan to the ground and making Michaels a villain for the first time since returning in 2002. The following week on ''Raw'', Michaels appeared on ''Piper's Pit'' where he superkicked Roddy Piper and then challenged Hogan to a match at SummerSlam. Hogan defeated Michaels at SummerSlam, and after the match Michaels extended his hand to him, saying "I needed to know, and I found out" and he and Hogan shook hands. Michaels left the ring to allow Hogan to celebrate with the crowd, and Michaels once again became a fan favorite.

D-Generation X reunion (2006–2007)

On the December 26, 2005 episode of ''Raw'', Vince McMahon lauded Michaels for his part in the "Montreal Screwjob". Michaels said he was only being loyal to his company, he had moved on, and McMahon should move on as well. McMahon then began setting unusual stipulations for Michaels' matches and interfering on behalf of Michaels' opponents. During the Royal Rumble, McMahon made his way to the ring, and as Michaels stared at McMahon, Shane McMahon made a surprising appearance, eliminating Michaels from the match. On the February 13 episode of ''Raw'', McMahon tried unsuccessfully to force Michaels to sign retirement papers. The following week, Michaels won a handicap match against the Spirit Squad (Kenny, Johnny, Mitch, Nicky and Mikey) and after the match, Michaels' former partner, Marty Jannetty, came down to help Michaels from the assault by the Spirit Squad. After the two reunited, McMahon offered Jannetty a contract if he "kissed his ass." The following week, Jannetty refused McMahon's offer and instead took Chris Masters' "Masterlock challenge." Michaels tried to help Jannetty, which ultimately resulted in Shane attacking Michaels and forcing him to kiss his father's ass. At ''Saturday Night's Main Event'', Shane defeated Michaels in a Street Fight, a match without disqualifications and where scoring conditions can occur anywhere, after he applied a sharpshooter on Michaels, which led to McMahon immediately ordering for the bell to be rung, even though Michaels did not submit, which was an allusion to the "Montreal Screwjob". Despite interference from the Spirit Squad and Shane, Michaels defeated McMahon at WrestleMania 22 in a No Holds Barred match, a match where there are no disqualifications. At Backlash, The McMahons (Vince and Shane) defeated Michaels and "God" in a tag team match, with help from the Spirit Squad in a no disqualification match. On the May 22 episode of ''Raw'', the Squad was scripted to injure Michaels' knee. This was angle was written so that Michaels could have surgery on his knee, which had been legitimately injured for some time. In 2006, a series of events took place which suggested a reunion of Michaels and Triple H as DX. They began at WrestleMania 22, where both Michaels and Triple H performed the crotch chop, during their matches. On ''Raw'', the two continued to deliver chops, as Michaels feuded with Vince McMahon and Triple H went for the WWE Championship, repeatedly butting heads with Vince McMahon in the process. On the June 12 episode of ''Raw'', DX officially reunited. During Triple H's gauntlet match, which had him compete against the Spirit Squad. Michaels came in to help Triple H, and the two did the DX "crotch chops." At Vengeance, DX defeated the Spirit Squad in a 5–on–2 handicap match. They also defeated the Spirit Squad at ''Saturday Night's Main Event'' in a 5-on-2 elimination match and defeated The McMahons at SummerSlam. At Unforgiven, DX once again defeated the McMahons and ECW World Champion The Big Show in a Hell in a Cell match.

At Cyber Sunday, DX took on Rated-RKO (Edge and Randy Orton). The fan-selected referee Eric Bischoff allowed the illegal use of a steel chair to give Rated-RKO the ill-gotten win and the plaudit of being the first tag team to defeat DX in a tag team match since their reformation in June 2006. At Survivor Series, however, Team DX emerged victorious against Team Rated-RKO. At New Year's Revolution, Triple H suffered a legitimate torn right quadriceps during their match with Rated-RKO. Rated-RKO claimed victory over DX, citing Triple H's injury, as the "end" of DX. On January 15, Michaels lived up to his word of "dealing" with Rated-RKO, from his comments the previous week before, when he took out Randy Orton with a con-chair-to after a handicap match against Edge and Orton.

Various feuds (2007–2009)

On the January 29 episode of ''Raw'', Michaels captured the World Tag Team Championship with WWE Champion John Cena after defeating Rated-RKO. He then defeated both Edge and Orton in a Triple Threat number one contender's match on another episode of ''Raw'' to earn a shot at the WWE Championship. At WrestleMania 23, Cena retained the championship, after he made Michaels submit to the STFU. The next night on ''Raw'', Michaels and Cena competed in two back-to-back ten team battle royals, winning the first and losing the titles in the second to The Hardys (Matt and Jeff) when Michaels threw Cena over the top rope. Michaels' feud with Cena continued and he faced off with Cena, Edge and Randy Orton in a Fatal Four-Way Match at Backlash for the WWE Championship. Cena retained the championship when Michaels performed Sweet Chin Music on Cena causing him to fall on Orton, which gained Cena the pinfall.

Michaels then entered a feud with Randy Orton when Orton claimed that he could beat Michaels. The week before their scheduled match at Judgment Day, after Michaels won a match against Edge, Orton interfered, punting Michaels in the head. Orton assaulted Michaels again, just prior to their match at Judgment Day, interrupting Michaels' interview segment. Michaels collapsed during the course of their match, causing Orton to win by referee stoppage. Afterwards, Orton continued the beating, when he performed an RKO to a fallen Michaels. Michaels was then removed out of the ring in a stretcher. During the feud, Michaels conjured a storyline concussion. This injury was used to keep Michaels out of action, as he required surgery for his knee. Michaels made his return on the October 8 episode of ''Raw'', performing a superkick to newly-crowned WWE Champion, Randy Orton, during his title ceremony at the end of the show and then celebrating over the knocked-out champion as Vince McMahon watched. At Cyber Sunday, Michaels was voted by the fans to face Orton for the WWE Championship; though he won via disqualification when Orton hit Michaels with a low blow, which resulted in Orton retaining the championship. Michaels got another opportunity at the WWE Championship, when he was granted his rematch against Orton at Survivor Series. In their match, Michaels was banned from using Sweet Chin Music upon request by Orton, referring to as Michaels superkicking Orton week after week. Michaels lost the match, when Orton performed an RKO for the win.

As part of the storyline involving Ric Flair, Michaels faced Flair in a Career Threatening match at WrestleMania XXIV, in which he won by performing Sweet Chin Music and thus ending Flair's career. Afterwards, Batista confronted Michaels about his actions at WrestleMania, calling him selfish and egotistical. The two faced off at Backlash with Chris Jericho as the guest referee. Michaels won after faking a knee injury and performing Sweet Chin Music. Jericho then confronted Michaels on this matter, in which Michaels admitted to faking the injury in order to defeat Batista. Michaels then defeated Jericho at Judgment Day. At One Night Stand, Michaels lost to Batista in a stretcher match, thus ending their feud. On the June 9 episode of ''Raw'', Michaels was attacked by Chris Jericho during his talk show segment, ''The Highlight Reel'', being thrown directly through a television screen. The following week, it was revealed that, within the context of the storyline, Michaels had suffered a detached retina. At The Great American Bash, a match between Michaels and Jericho was scheduled, in which Jericho assaulted Michaels' eye, which caused Jericho to win by referee stoppage.

A month later at SummerSlam, Michaels was scripted to announce his retirement from professional wrestling, though the staged rivalry between Jericho and himself continued after Jericho punched Michaels' wife in the face. On the August 25 episode of ''Raw'', Michaels denounced his decision to retire and challenged Jericho to an unsanctioned match at Unforgiven, which Jericho accepted. The following week, Michaels and Jericho held a scripted official contract signing for the unsanctioned match. During the contract signing, a confrontation with Jericho occurred. A predicament ensued when Michaels suffered a small tear on his left triceps, though Michaels was medically cleared to compete in the match. At Unforgiven, Michaels defeated Jericho, after the referee stopped the match, due to the severity of the beating Michaels was giving Jericho. It was at the same September event that Jericho replaced CM Punk in the World Heavyweight Championship scramble match, which saw him win the match and become World Heavyweight Champion. The following month at No Mercy, Michaels met Jericho in a ladder match in which Jericho defended the championship against Michaels. At the event, Jericho defeated Michaels to retain the title.

In December 2008, Michaels accepted an offer to become an employee of John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL). The storyline was that Michaels had lost his family's personal savings due to the global recession, forcing him to accept JBL's offer of employment. After failing to secure JBL the World Heavyweight Championship against John Cena at the Royal Rumble, Michaels agreed to take part in an "All or Nothing" match at No Way Out in February. Michaels won the match, letting Michaels out of his one-year contract with JBL immediately while still receiving full payment. Michaels became the first person to successfully defeat Vladimir Kozlov on the March 2 episode of ''Raw'', and as a result earned the right to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXV in April. At the event, The Undertaker defeated Michaels to extend his WrestleMania winning streak to 17–0. After WrestleMania, Michaels took a hiatus from WWE.

Final storylines and retirement (2009–2010)

Michaels returned to WWE programming in a series of segments that aired on the August 10, 2009 episode of ''Raw'', where he had scripted left the WWE. Triple H met with Michaels at an office cafeteria in Texas where he was working as a chef; throughout the segments, Triple H would try to convince Michaels to return to WWE and reform DX. After several incidents during the segments, Michaels agreed to team with Triple H to face The Legacy (Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase) at SummerSlam. At the pay-per-view event, DX defeated Legacy. The two teams would exchange victories, with their feud concluding in October. Two months later, at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, DX defeated Chris Jericho and The Big Show to win the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match (TLC). thumb|right|150px|Michaels at WWE's Tribute to the Troops show in Dec. 2010. On the January 4, 2010 episode of ''Raw'', Michaels buried the hatchet with long-time rival Bret Hart, as they shook hands and hugged in the ring. In contrast to the storylines featured on the show, this was in fact a real-life reconciliation which laid to rest animosities surrounding the Montreal Screwjob. While some cast doubts on its sincerity, both men have confirmed that it was indeed genuine. DX lost the Unified Tag Team Championship in a Triple Threat match to the team of The Miz and Big Show on the February 8 episode of ''Raw'', the match also included The Straight Edge Society (CM Punk and Luke Gallows). At the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Michaels cost The Undertaker the World Heavyweight Championship in the main event. At WrestleMania XXVI, Michaels lost to The Undertaker and, as a result, was forced to retire due to the match stipulation. The following night, on the March 29 episode of ''Raw'', Michaels gave an emotional farewell speech, departing with the familiar sentence, "Shawn Michaels has left the building."

Hall of Famer and part-time appearances (2010–present)

On the December 14 episode of ''Raw'', Michaels won the Slammy award for Moment of the Year for his match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI. Michaels made an appearance via satellite to accept the award. Three days later, he announced a long-term deal with WWE, where he will serve in an ambassadorial role. Michaels made his first live appearance at a WWE show since the night after WrestleMania at the December 11 ''Tribute to the Troops'' taping, where he and Triple H made a special appearance for a one-night only DX reunion. Michaels appeared on the January 10, 2011, episode of ''Raw'', where it was announced he was to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2011. After being ridiculed by Alberto Del Rio, Michaels hit Del Rio with Sweet Chin Music. On the March 28 episode of ''Raw'', Michaels addressed Triple H and The Undertaker about their match at WrestleMania XXVII. Michaels was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 2 by Triple H. The two were also joined by Kevin Nash (who had returned to WWE previously to participate in the recent Royal Rumble) and Sean Waltman, reuniting the majority of The Kliq. He further made an appearance on the June 27 edition of Raw where he was confronted by CM Punk, and gave the WWE Tag Team Champions, David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty, a ''Sweet Chin Music''. Later that night when Diamond Dallas Page made a special appearance and was interrupted and threatened by Drew McIntyre, Michaels gave McIntyre a ''Sweet Chin Music'' from out of nowhere. He (Michaels) then told Page, who was promoting WWE's ''The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro'' DVD, that he had never seen any of the material on the disc, as he was "working that night".

Personal life

Hickenbottom's marriage to his first wife, Theresa Wood, was brief and ended in divorce, but was amicably settled. He is now married to former WCW Nitro Girl Rebecca Hickenbottom (née Curci), who went by the stage name of Whisper. They were married on March 31, 1999 at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada in a small ceremony. The only people present were the couple and an Elvis impersonator. The couple have a son, Cameron Kade (born on January 15, 2000) and a daughter, Cheyenne Michelle (born on August 19, 2004 ). His cousin Matt Bentley is also a professional wrestler having wrestled in TNA & WWE.

Hickenbottom has several tattoos. He has a tattoo of a heart with a sword through it, that has a snake around it in the shape of an "S." He has one on his wedding finger, that has an ''R'' for his wife Rebecca. Another in his left wrist, is a bracelet design that says "Cameron" for his son and "Cheyenne" for his daughter. On his left leg he has a picture of his wife, the other leg has a picture of the state of Texas. Finally, he has a small broken heart with the letters "HBK" above it, tattooed on his right hip.

In 1996, Hickenbottom posed in a non-nude layout for ''Playgirl'' magazine. It was not until after he posed that he discovered that ''Playgirl'' has a mostly homosexual readership, which was seen as humorous by his fellow wrestlers. He is ambidextrous, which caused him problems as a boy playing football, as he had trouble differentiating between his right and left directions. He uses his right hand to draw and color and his left hand to write. He typically uses his right leg when performing Sweet Chin Music, but has been known to use either arm when performing his signature elbow drop. Hickenbottom is a fan of the San Antonio Spurs. He has been seen wearing Spurs merchandise and attending Spurs games. John "Bradshaw" Layfield made a reference to Hickenbottom being a season ticket holder during the 2007 Royal Rumble.

Hickenbottom is a born again Christian. He was raised as a Roman Catholic, but became a non-denominational Christian under the influence of his wife Rebecca. His ring attire often incorporated cross symbols, and while on the way to the ring, he would normally get down on his knees and mouth a prayer while his pyrotechnics went off. He has been seen in the congregation during a televised service of John Hagee's Cornerstone Church in his hometown of San Antonio, where he is also a Bible teacher. He also appeared on a Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) program along with fellow professional wrestler Sting.

In wrestling

Finishing moves

Modified figure four leglock – early 2008

''Sweet Chin Music'' (Superkick, sometimes with theatrics)

''Teardrop Suplex'' (Leg hook Saito suplex) – 1992–1993

Signature moves

Arm trap crossface – 2007–2010

Backhand chop

Belly to back suplex

Diving elbow drop, with theatrics

Dropkick

Figure-four leglock

Flying forearm smash followed by a kip-up

Inverted atomic drop

Moonsault, sometimes while springboarding to the outside

Skin the cat

Slingshot crossbody

Managers

*Diesel

*Jose Lothario

Sensational Sherri

*Sycho Sid

*Rick Rude

*Luna Vachon

*Triple H

Nicknames

"The Heartbreak Kid (HBK)"

"The Showstopper"

"The Headliner"

"The Main Event"

"The Icon"

"Mr. WrestleMania"

"Mr. Hall of Fame"

Entrance themes

The song "Sexy Boy" was originally composed for Michaels by Jimmy Hart and J.J. Maguire. Hart thanked Michaels personally for continuing to use the song as his entrance music when he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005. Michaels' entrance music was originally performed by Sherri Martel until she became a crowd favorite. The second version was performed by Michaels himself with traces of Sherri in the chorus portion of the song. The current version of the song in use today is the version Michaels sang himself.

*During DX reunions, Michaels used the DX entrance music "Break It Down," by The DX Band, even when wrestling in singles competition, but then went back to using "Sexy Boy."

*During his feud with Undertaker at Wrestlemania 25, Shawn had a new theme song that he used when dressed up as a white Undertaker. The name of the song was "Pulse Enigma", and it's composed by Jim Johnston.

Championships and accomplishments

American Wrestling Association

AWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Marty Jannetty

Central States Wrestling

NWA Central States Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Marty Jannetty

Continental Wrestling Association

AWA Southern Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Marty Jannetty

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

*PWI Feud of the Year (2008) vs. Chris Jericho

PWI Match of the Year (1993) vs. Marty Jannetty on ''Monday Night Raw'' on May 17

PWI Match of the Year (1994) vs. Razor Ramon in a Ladder match at WrestleMania X

PWI Match of the Year (1995) vs. Diesel at WrestleMania XI

PWI Match of the Year (1996) vs. Bret Hart in an Iron Man match at WrestleMania XII

PWI Match of the Year (2004) vs. Chris Benoit and Triple H at WrestleMania XX

PWI Match of the Year (2005) vs. Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 21

PWI Match of the Year (2006) vs. Vince McMahon in a No Holds Barred match at WrestleMania 22

PWI Match of the Year (2007) vs. John Cena on ''Raw'' on April 23

PWI Match of the Year (2008) vs. Ric Flair at WrestleMania XXIV

PWI Match of the Year (2009) vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXV

*PWI Match of the Year (2010) vs. The Undertaker in a Career vs. Streak match at WrestleMania XXVI

PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (2010)

PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (1995, 1996)

PWI ranked him #1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 1996

PWI ranked him #10 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003

PWI ranked him #33 of the Top 100 Tag Teams of the "PWI Years" with Marty Jannetty in 2003

Texas All-Star Wrestling

TASW Texas Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Paul Diamond

Texas Wrestling Alliance

TWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment

WWF Championship (3 times)

World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

WWF European Championship (1 time)

WWF Intercontinental Championship (3 times)

WWF/E World Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Diesel (2), Steve Austin (1), John Cena (1), and Triple H (1)

WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Triple H (1)

Royal Rumble (1995, 1996)

*Fourth Triple Crown Champion

First Grand Slam Champion

*WWF Commissioner

* Kiss My Ass Club Member

*WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2011)

*Slammy Award for Best Slammin' Jammin' Entrance (1996)

*Slammy Award for Best Threads (1996)

*Slammy Award for Squared Circle Shocker (1996) Won for collapsing; Owen Hart accepts the award for making Michaels collapse

*Slammy Award for Master of Mat Mechanics (1996)

*Slammy Award for Match of the Year (1996) vs. Razor Ramon in a Ladder match at SummerSlam

*Slammy Award for Leader of the New Generation (1996)

*Slammy Award for Best Finisher (1997)

*Slammy Award for Match of the Year (1997) vs. Bret Hart in an Iron Man match at WrestleMania XII

*Slammy Award for Match of the Year (2008) vs. Ric Flair at WrestleMania XXIV

*Slammy Award for Match of the Year (2009) vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXV

*Slammy Award for Moment of the Year (2010) vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI

In October 1990, Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty defeated The Hart Foundation for the title. Despite winning the match, the win and reign are not recognized by WWE, as the ring ropes broke and the match was not aired on television. As a result, Michaels is only officially recognized as a 5-time World Tag Team Champion.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

*5 Star Match (1994) vs. Razor Ramon in a Ladder match at WrestleMania X.

*5 Star Match (1997) vs. The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell at Badd Blood.

Best Babyface (1996)

Feud of the Year (2004) vs. Triple H and Chris Benoit

Feud of the Year (2008) vs. Chris Jericho

Match of the Year (1994) vs. Razor Ramon in a Ladder match at WrestleMania X

Match of the Year (2008) vs. Chris Jericho in a Ladder match at No Mercy

Match of the Year (2009) vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXV

Match of the Year (2010) vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI

Most Charismatic (1995, 1996)

Tag Team of the Year (1989) with Marty Jannetty as The Rockers

Worst Feud of the Year (2006) with Triple H vs. Shane and Vince McMahon

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2003)

WrestleSlam Awards

*Match of the Year (2009) vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25

*Tag Team of the Year (2009) with Triple H as D-Generation-X

*Match of the Year (2010) vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 26

See also

Texas Wrestling Academy

References

Notes

External links

Professional wrestling record for Shawn Michaels from The Internet Wrestling Database

WWE Hall of Fame Profile

Online World of Wrestling profile

Category:1965 births Category:American Christians Category:American football linebackers Category:American people of English descent Category:American professional wrestlers Category:American television actors Category:Living people Category:Military brats Category:People from Chandler, Arizona Category:Sportspeople from San Antonio, Texas Category:Professional wrestling trainers Category:Texas State University–San Marcos alumni Category:WWE Hall of Fame

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