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This list contains selected positive numbers in increasing order, including counts of things, dimensionless quantity and probabilities. Each number is given a name in the short scale, which is used in English speaking countries, as well as a name in the long scale, which is used in some of the countries that do not have English as their national language.
(0.000000000000000000000000000001; 1000−10; short scale: one nonillionth; long scale: one quintillionth)
(0.000000000000000000000000001; 1000−9; short scale: one octillionth; long scale: one quadrilliardth)
(0.000000000000000000000001; 1000−8; short scale: one septillionth; long scale: one quadrillionth)
ISO: yocto- (y)
(0.000000000000000000001; 1000−7; short scale: one sextillionth; long scale: one trilliardth)
ISO: zepto- (z)
(0.000000000000000001; 1000−6; short scale: one quintillionth; long scale: one trillionth)
ISO: atto- (a)
(0.000000000000001; 1000−5; short scale: one quadrillionth; long scale: one billiardth)
ISO: femto- (f)
(0.000000000001; 1000−4; short scale: one trillionth; long scale: one billionth)
ISO: pico- (p)
(0.000000001; 1000−3; short scale: one billionth; long scale: one milliardth)
ISO: nano- (n)
(0.000001; 1000−2; long and short scales: one millionth)
ISO: micro- (μ)
(0.001; 1000−1; one thousandth)
ISO: milli- (m)
(0.01; one hundredth)
ISO: centi- (c)
(0.1; one tenth)
ISO: deci- (d)
(1; one)
(10; ten)
ISO: deca- (da)
(100; hundred)
ISO: hecto- (h)
(1000; thousand)
ISO: kilo- (k)
(10000; ten thousand or a myriad)
(100000; one hundred thousand or a lakh)
(1000000; 10002; long and short scales: one million)
ISO: mega- (M)
(10000000; a crore; long and short scales: ten million)
(100000000; long and short scales: one hundred million)
(1000000000; 10003; short scale: one billion; long scale: one thousand million, or one milliard)
ISO: giga- (G)
which is not a prime number.
(10000000000; short scale: ten billion; long scale: ten thousand million, or ten milliard)
(100000000000; short scale: one hundred billion; long scale: hundred thousand million, or hundred milliard)
(1000000000000; 10004; short scale: one trillion; long scale: one billion)
ISO: tera- (T)
, Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): 27^9 , Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): 3^{27} , Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): 3^{3^3}
and 33 or when using Knuth's up-arrow notation it can be expressed as Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): 3 \uparrow\uparrow 3 and Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): 3 \uparrow\uparrow\uparrow 2
.
(1000000000000000; 10005; short scale: one quadrillion; long scale: one thousand billion, or one billiard)
ISO: peta- (P)
(1000000000000000000; 10006; short scale: one quintillion; long scale: one trillion)
ISO: exa- (E)
(1000000000000000000000; 10007; short scale: one sextillion; long scale: one thousand trillion, or one trilliard)
ISO: zetta- (Z)
(1000000000000000000000000; 10008; short scale: one septillion; long scale: one quadrillion)
ISO: yotta- (Y)
(1000000000000000000000000000; 10009; short scale: one octillion; long scale: one thousand quadrillion, or one quadrilliard)
(1000000000000000000000000000000; 100010; short scale: one nonillion; long scale: one quintillion)
(1000000000000000000000000000000000; 100011; short scale: one decillion; long scale: one thousand quintillion, or one quintilliard)
(1000000000000000000000000000000000000; 100012; short scale: one undecillion; long scale: one sextillion)
= 170,141,183,460,469,231,731,687,303,715,884,105,727 (≈1.7×1038) is a double Mersenne prime.
(1000000000000000000000000000000000000000; 100013; short scale: one duodecillion; long scale: one thousand sextillion, or one sextilliard)
(1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000; 100014; short scale: one tredecillion; long scale: one septillion)
books (this is a lower bound).[33]
), a googolplex.
.[38]
, order of magnitude of an upper bound that occurred in a proof of Skewes (later estimated to actually be near 1.397 × 10316).
, order of magnitude of another upper bound in a proof of Skewes.
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Julie Klausner | |
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Born | New York City, New York, U.S. |
Occupation | Writer, comedian |
Julie Klausner is a New York City-based author, podcaster, and comedy writer-performer, whose first book, I Don't Care About Your Band, was released in February 2010 by Gotham/Penguin Books.[1] In July 2010, it was announced that Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's Production Company, Gary Sanchez Productions, optioned the book for HBO. Lizzy Caplan is attached to star and co-produce.[2] In October 2011, The Hollywood Reporter reported that NBC had picked up a pilot based on Sue Margolis's novel, Apocolipstick, about a woman's father that dates her high-school nemesis. Klausner is set to write and executive produce the series.[3]
Klausner has written for Best Week Ever and The Awl.[4][5]
Her podcast, How Was Your Week was featured on Rolling Stone's 10 Best Comedy Podcasts of the Moment.[6]
Persondata | |
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Name | Klausner, Julie |
Alternative names | |
Short description | |
Date of birth | |
Place of birth | New York City, New York, U.S. |
Date of death | |
Place of death |
Ted Leo | |
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Ted Leo performing at the 2006 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Theodore Francis Leo |
Born | (1970-09-11) September 11, 1970 (age 41), South Bend, Indiana, United States |
Genres | Pop punk, indie rock, Hardcore punk, Thrashcore, Mod revival, Powerpop |
Occupations | Singer, songwriter, guitarist |
Years active | 1989–present |
Labels | Ace Fu, Gern Blandsten, Lookout!, Touch and Go, Matador Records |
Associated acts | Citizens Arrest, Chisel, The Sin-Eaters, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists |
Website | www.tedleo.com |
Ted Leo (born Theodore F. Leo on September 11, 1970, in South Bend, Indiana[1][2]), is an American punk rock/indie rock songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has played in the bands Citizens Arrest, Chisel, the Sin-Eaters, the Spinanes, and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. He has also kept up a consistent presence as a solo performer since the late 1990s.
Though born in Indiana, Leo grew up in Bloomfield, New Jersey, where his family is from, and spent many formative years in the hardcore punk scene of New York City during the 1980s and early 1990s.[3] He graduated from Seton Hall Preparatory School in West Orange in 1988 and the University of Notre Dame in the fall of 1993 with a degree in English.[4] His brothers Chris Leo and Danny Leo are also singer-songwriters, and members of Native Nod, The Lapse, The Van Pelt, Vague Angels and Holy Childhood. He is a vegan.[5]
Ted is a fan of and frequent contributor to WFMU, most notably to Tom Scharpling's "The Best Show on WFMU."
Contents |
Persondata | |
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Name | Leo, Ted |
Alternative names | |
Short description | punk rock/indie rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist |
Date of birth | September 11, 1970 |
Place of birth | South Bend, Indiana |
Date of death | |
Place of death |
CM Punk | |
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Punk at the 2011 Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards |
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Ring name(s) | CM Punk[1] |
Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1] |
Billed weight | 218 lb (99 kg)[1] |
Born | (1978-10-26) October 26, 1978 (age 33) Chicago, Illinois[2] |
Resides | Lockport, Illinois |
Billed from | Chicago, Illinois[1] |
Trained by | Ace Steel[3] Danny Dominion[4] Kevin Quinn[4] Dave Taylor[5] Fit Finlay[5] William Regal[5] Steel Dominion Wrestling School[5] |
Debut | 1999[6] |
Website | CMPunk.com |
Phillip Jack Brooks[7] (born October 26, 1978),[2] better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE and appearing on its Raw brand as the reigning WWE Champion.
In professional wrestling, Brooks is a seven time World Champion, having held the ROH World Championship and ECW Championship once, the World Heavyweight Championship three times and the WWE Championship twice.
In addition to these championships Punk has also won the World Tag Team Championship (with Kofi Kingston), and the WWE Intercontinental Championship making him the nineteenth WWE Triple Crown Champion and the man to achieve this honor fastest at 203 days.[8] Between WWE and Ring of Honor (where he is also a two-time World Tag Team Champion), Punk has won a total of eleven championships. He was also the winner of the 2008 and 2009 Money in the Bank ladder matches (the only wrestler to win the match twice in a row),[9] and was the 2011 Superstar of the Year Slammy Award winner.[10]
Punk initially came to prominence through his career on the professional wrestling independent circuit, primarily as a member of the ROH roster, where he was the first head trainer of the ROH wrestling school as well as winning both of their championships. In 2005, Punk signed a contract with WWE and was sent to its developmental promotion, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he won every championship available in the promotion. Throughout his career, Punk has consistently used the gimmick of being straight edge, a lifestyle he follows in his actual day-to-day life.[4] Depending on Punk's alignment as a crowd favorite or villain, he emphasizes different aspects of the culture to encourage the desired audience reaction.[4]
Contents
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Punk's first venture into wrestling was a stint in a backyard wrestling federation called the Lunatic Wrestling Federation with his friends and brother Mike Brooks in the mid-late 1990s. He first started using the ring name CM Punk when he was put into a tag team named the Chick Magnets with CM Venom after another performer skipped out on the card.[4][11][12] Unlike his friends, Punk genuinely wanted to be a wrestler and saw it as more than simple fun.[4] When the promotion started taking off, doing spot shows out of a warehouse in Mokena, Illinois, Punk found out that his brother Mike had embezzled thousands of dollars from the small company, causing them to become estranged. They have not spoken since.[13]
He soon left the federation and enrolled as a student at the "Steel Dominion" wrestling school in Chicago, where he was trained by Ace Steel,[3] Danny Dominion and Kevin Quinn to become a professional wrestler. As part of the training, he wrestled at Steel Domain Wrestling in St. Paul, Minnesota.[4][5] It was in the Steel Domain that he met Scott Colton,[14][15] who soon adopted the stage name Colt Cabana. Punk and Cabana became best friends and spent most of their early career together working in the same independent circuit promotions, as opponents or allies.[14] In the independents, Punk, along with fellow Steel Domain graduates Colt Cabana, Chuckee Smooth, Adam Pearce and manager Dave Prazak, formed an alliance named the Gold Bond Mafia.[4]
Punk's home promotion for his early career is usually considered to be Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South (IWA:Mid-South).[4] During Punk's time in IWA:Mid-South, he had high profile feuds with Colt Cabana and Chris Hero while also rising to the top of the roster winning the IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Championship twice and the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship on five separate occasions, beating stars like A.J. Styles, Cabana and even Eddie Guerrero for that Championship. Punk's feud with Hero included a 55-minute TLC match,[4] a 93-minute two out of three falls match,[5] and several 60-minute time limit draws.[15]
Punk's matches with Cabana led him to being hired by the Ring of Honor promotion.[5] From February 2003 until May 2004, Punk refused to wrestle for IWA:Mid-South, because he claims that this was in protest to Ian Rotten's mistreatment of Chris Hero in the company.[4] Hero, however, has stated he believes there were other reasons, and Rotten's treatment of him was just an excuse by Punk to stop working for the company.[16] Eventually Punk returned to IWA:Mid-South and continued to perform as a wrestler and commentator for them until 2005 when he was signed to World Wrestling Entertainment. His last appearance in IWA:Mid-South was on July 2, 2005 in which he competed in a 60-minute time limit draw against Delirious.[17]
Initially, Punk joined Ring of Honor (ROH) as a crowd favorite,[4] but quickly became a villain in a feud with Raven that featured numerous variants of no disqualification matches.[18] Their rivalry lasted most of 2003 and was considered one of ROH's top feuds of the year,[19] and was based around Punk's straight-edge lifestyle, with him likening Raven to his alcoholic father.[20] Their rivalry was settled at The Conclusion in November 2003, where Punk defeated Raven in a Steel Cage match.[18] At the same time, Punk joined the wrestling promotion NWA Total Nonstop Action (TNA), in which he was paired with Julio Dinero as members of Raven's TNA alliance The Gathering.[4]
Punk started climbing the ranks of ROH, including coming in second at the Second Anniversary Show during the tournament to crown the first ROH Pure Champion, losing to A.J. Styles in the finals[18] and winning the ROH Tag Team Championship twice with Colt Cabana as the Second City Saints. Both times Punk and Cabana defeated the Briscoe Brothers to win the championship.[21] Circa October 2003, Punk was hired as the first head trainer of the Ring of Honor wrestling school,[4][22] having previously been a trainer for the Steel Domain[4] and Primetime Wrestling.[23]
Shortly before a TNA show on February 25, 2004, Punk had a physical scuffle with Teddy Hart outside of a restaurant that was broken up by Sabu. The scuffle reportedly stemmed from an ROH show in which Hart performed three unplanned spots putting several other wrestlers in danger of injury.[24][25] Around the time of the scuffle, Punk and Dinero stopped appearing on TNA shows, leading to speculation he was fired for the incident.[26] Punk, however, has stated that the scuffle had no bearing on his TNA career.[26] He said the reason he and Dinero stopped appearing on TNA pay-per-views was that TNA officials believed that he and Dinero had not connected with the fans as villains, having turned against the popular Raven and instead formed a villainous tag team managed by James Mitchell.[26] The officials decided that as the teams as villains was not working decided to put the storyline on hold indefinitely, and thus had no work for Punk or Dinero.[26] Punk officially quit TNA in March 2004 during the Rob Feinstein controversy, after having a dispute with the TNA offices over his ability to compete in ROH following a TNA order that their contracted wrestlers were to no longer wrestle in ROH.[27]
In ROH, Punk faced off against ROH World Champion Samoa Joe for the championship in a three match series. The first match, on June 12, 2004 at World Title Classic in Dayton, Ohio, resulted in a 60-minute time limit draw when neither Punk nor Joe could pin or cause the other to submit in the 60 minutes. The second match between Punk and Joe was planned for December 4, 2004; however, due to Steve Corino being pulled from a match with Joe by Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE, the second match was hastily rescheduled on October 11, 2004 for October 16 in Punk's hometown of Chicago.[15] At Joe vs. Punk II on October 16, they wrestled to a second 60-minute draw.[18] In addition to Joe vs. Punk II becoming Ring of Honor's best-selling DVD at the time, the match received a five-star rating by Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter. It was the first match in North America to receive a five-star rating in seven years—the last one being the Hell in a Cell match between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker at Badd Blood: In Your House in 1997.[15] Joe ended the series by defeating Punk in the third and final match on December 4, 2004 at All-Star Extravaganza 2 in which there was a no time limit stipulation.[18]
In June 2005, Punk accepted a deal with World Wrestling Entertainment, after a try-out match against Val Venis on its Sunday Night Heat show. Even though he had accepted the deal, Punk went on to defeat Austin Aries with his Pepsi Plunge move, winning the ROH World Championship on June 18, 2005 at Death Before Dishonor III.[21] Immediately after the match, Punk proceeded to become a villain and started a storyline where he threatened to bring the ROH World Championship to WWE with him. For weeks, Punk teased the ROH locker room and the ROH fans as well as mocking the championship he possessed, going so far as to sign his WWE contract on it. During the storyline, Mick Foley made several ROH appearances, attempting to convince Punk to do the right thing and defend the title on his way out. On August 12, 2005 in Dayton, Ohio, Punk lost the ROH World Championship to James Gibson in a four corner elimination match consisting of himself, Gibson, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels, who re-debuted after a year-and-half absence.[21] Punk's final scheduled match in Ring of Honor took place at Punk: The Final Chapter on August 13, 2005 against long-time friend Colt Cabana in a two out of three falls match, which he lost.[18] In his last match, Punk was visibly crying and was showered with streamers when he posed in the middle of the ring.
Punk made a special appearance at the ROH show Unscripted II on February 11, 2006, when the original card had to be scrapped due to Low Ki leaving ROH the week prior.[18] In addition, most of the ROH roster contracted to TNA were pulled from the show because of a snowstorm that TNA officials thought might prevent performers from reaching a pay-per-view scheduled the next day.[28][29] In the main event, Punk teamed with Bryan Danielson to wrestle and ultimately defeat Jimmy Rave and Adam Pearce in a tag team match.[29]
In September 2005, Punk was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), a WWE developmental territory. He made his debut on September 8, 2005, in a dark match, where he, Nigel McGuinness and Paul Burchill were defeated by Deuce Shade, Elijah Burke and Seth Skyfire.[30] On September 26, 2005 in his OVW television debut, Punk suffered a ruptured eardrum and broken nose after Danny Inferno hit him with an overly stiff right hand. Despite the injury, Punk finished the match and quickly recovered.[31][32]
On November 9, 2005, Punk became the OVW Television Champion after defeating Ken Doane,[31] which immediately led to a feud between Punk and Brent Albright, who had previously been feuding with Doane for the Television Championship and had lost his chance to wrestle Doane after Punk hit him with a chair so he himself could wrestle Doane. They wrestled in series of matches, including one that ended in overtime with Albright having Punk submit to Albright's finisher, the Crowbar, but Punk was able to keep the championship, as he had not agreed to the extra time.[31] On January 4, 2006, Punk lost the OVW Television Championship during a three way dance among himself, Albright and Doane. Doane was injured halfway through the match and was replaced by Aaron "The Idol" Stevens. Punk submitted to Albright's Crowbar and was eliminated, but he returned later in the match to distract Albright allowing Stevens to pin Albright and become the new OVW Television Champion.[33] The feud continued after a short period in which Albright and Punk were a tag team, but they became opponents again after Albright wanted the respect of Punk, who would never give it to him, and instead proceeded to "punk out" (get the better of) Albright repeatedly. This feud continued for weeks with Punk always getting the better of Albright until a double turn occurred on February 1, 2006 when Albright became a villain during a tag match, allowing the Spirit Squad to beat Punk and, in doing so, making Punk a crowd favorite.[33] During this time, Punk had a minor appearance at WrestleMania 22 on April 2, 2006 as one of the gangsters who rode a 1930s era car to the ring before John Cena's entrance.[34]
After Matt Cappotelli vacated the OVW Heavyweight Championship because of a brain tumor in February 2006, a tournament was held to crown a new champion. The finals were Brent Albright vs. CM Punk with Albright defeating Punk to become the new champion.[33] Punk and Albright continued their feud, with Albright becoming more unstable and paranoid about maintaining his championship after several close call matches against Punk, resulting in acts such as threatening Maria. On May 3, 2006, Punk finally defeated Albright in a strap match to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship.[33] As champion, Punk retained the title in matches against opponents such as Shad Gaspard,[33] Ken Kennedy,[33] Johnny Jeter[33] and Mike "The Miz" Mizanin.[35]
On July 28, 2006, Punk and Seth Skyfire defeated Shad Gaspard and the Neighborhoodie to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship at a house show.[36] They lost the Tag Team Championship on August 2, 2006 to Deuce Shade and "Domino" Cliff Compton after an injured Skyfire tagged in an already injured Punk.[33] This altercation led to a feud between Punk and Skyfire after a rematch for the Tag Team Championship on August 7, 2006 in which a healthy Punk purposefully tagged in an injured Skyfire to be beaten by Shade and Compton.[33] On August 30, 2006, a match was scheduled to take place between Punk and Skyfire for the OVW Heavyweight Championship. Prior to the match, however, Skyfire was attacked by Charles "The Hammer" Evans, with whom Skyfire had also been feuding, and was replaced in the match by Chet Jablonski (Chet the Jet) who pinned Punk to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship.[33] As Punk no longer possessed the championship, OVW no longer required him. He was removed from the roster and brought up to the WWE roster full-time. He continued to make sporadic appearances for the company, such as at the 400th episode of OVW on television,[33] up until WWE announced it was ending its developmental territory agreement with OVW on February 7, 2008.[37]
On June 24, 2006, Punk made his ECW debut during a house show at the former ECW Arena, defeating Stevie Richards.[38] He made his TV debut on the July 4 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, cutting a brief pre-taped promo about his straight edge lifestyle emphasizing the disciplinary aspects of being drug and alcohol free.[39] Although he had retained the straight edge gimmick, he now had a Muay Thai training background. Punk made his TV wrestling debut on August 1, 2006 at the Hammerstein Ballroom, defeating Justin Credible.[40] CM Punk established himself in ECW by going undefeated, defeating opponents such as Christopher W. Anderson,[41] Stevie Richards[42] and Shannon Moore.[43]
Soon after, Punk began feuding with Mike Knox after Knox's girlfriend, Kelly Kelly, was seen to have feelings for Punk.[43] Punk defeated Knox in their first singles match (qualifying for the Extreme Elimination Chamber at December to Dismember in the process)[44] as well as the rematch, after which Kelly Kelly celebrated CM Punk's victory over her boyfriend.[45] Punk then teamed with D-Generation X and the Hardy Boyz in their Survivor Series match against Rated-RKO, Knox, Johnny Nitro and Gregory Helms, a match in which all the participants on DX's side survived elimination.[46] At December to Dismember, Punk participated in the Elimination Chamber for the ECW World Championship; however, he was the first person eliminated by Rob Van Dam.[47]
Following the pay-per-view, Punk entered into a feud with Hardcore Holly, who ended Punk's six-month unbeaten streak in singles competition on January 9, 2007.[48] Punk went on to feud with Matt Striker, who gave him his second singles loss since being in ECW on January 30.[49] Punk then qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 23 by defeating Johnny Nitro.[50] In the final week leading up to WrestleMania 23, Punk made appearances on both Raw and Friday Night SmackDown!, defeating Kenny Dykstra[51] and former World Heavyweight Champion King Booker,[52] respectively. At WrestleMania 23, Punk competed in, but did not win, the Money in the Bank ladder match, being knocked off the ladder just seconds before the winner, Mr. Kennedy, claimed the briefcase.[53]
On the April 10, 2007 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Punk briefly became a villain by officially joining the New Breed alliance,[54] after several weeks in which both the New Breed and the ECW Originals had attempted to recruit him.[55][56] Two weeks later, however, Punk betrayed the New Breed during a four on four elimination match between the New Breed and ECW Originals by kicking New Breed leader Elijah Burke in the back of the head and costing them the match. After the match, Punk proceeded to deliver his finisher, the Go To Sleep, on Burke and sarcastically apologized before leaving the ring alone, becoming a fan favorite again. WWE.com later confirmed that Punk was no longer a member of the New Breed.[57] At Judgment Day, Punk wrestled and defeated Burke in his first singles match on a pay-per-view.[58] Punk then went on to One Night Stand and teamed up with Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman in a tables match to defeat the New Breed.[59]
When ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley was drafted to Raw and stripped of the ECW World Championship, a mini-tournament was announced to declare a new champion among Punk, Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von and Chris Benoit. Punk defeated Marcus Cor Von on the June 19, 2007 episode of ECW on Sci Fi. By doing so, CM Punk was meant to face Chris Benoit at Vengeance: Night of Champions for the vacant ECW World Championship.[60] Benoit, however, was hastily replaced by Johnny Nitro when Benoit no-showed the event due to what was described on-air as "personal reasons". Nitro subsequently defeated Punk at Vengeance for the vacant championship.[61] Punk won another shot at the title at The Great American Bash against Nitro, who had changed his moniker to John Morrison by this point; however, Punk was defeated again by Morrison.[62] The next week, Punk challenged Elijah Burke and Tommy Dreamer in a triple threat match to determine the next competitor in Morrison's 15 Minutes of Fame Challenge, in which Punk came out victorious.[63] A week later, Punk defeated Morrison with the Go To Sleep to earn an ECW Championship title match at SummerSlam. At SummerSlam, however, Punk lost the match when Morrison used the ropes for leverage.[64]
At the September 1, 2007 (aired September 4) ECW taping, in a "last chance" title match, Punk defeated Morrison for the ECW Championship.[65] Punk then went on to have successful title defenses against the likes of Elijah Burke (at Unforgiven),[66] Big Daddy V via disqualification (at No Mercy)[67] and The Miz (at Cyber Sunday).[68] On the November 6, 2007 episode of ECW, Punk retained the ECW Championship in a match against Morrison following The Miz's interference.[69] At Survivor Series, Punk retained his title in a Triple Threat match, beating The Miz and John Morrison.[70] On the January 22, 2008 episode of ECW, Chavo Guerrero defeated CM Punk in a No Disqualification match to win the ECW Championship after Edge, (acting as a guest commentator at ringside) ran in and speared Punk.[71]
At WrestleMania XXIV, Punk won the Money in the Bank ladder match, after defeating Chris Jericho, Montel Vontavious Porter, Shelton Benjamin, John Morrison, Mr. Kennedy and Carlito.[72]
On the June 23, 2008 episode of Raw, CM Punk was drafted to the Raw brand during the 2008 WWE Draft.[73] His first night on Raw came the following week, and he made an immediate impact. After Batista beat down World Heavyweight Champion Edge and left him lying in the ring, Punk and referee Mike Chioda ran to the ring with Punk carrying his Money in the Bank contract. Moments later, as Edge was struggling to get up, Punk hit him with the Go to Sleep and pinned him to win the World Heavyweight Championship. Later that night, Punk won his first defense of the title against JBL, who challenged him shortly after his win.[74] His win over Edge would eventually also earn Punk the Slammy Award for the "Oh my God" Moment of the Year.[75] Punk continued to hold and defend the title until Unforgiven on September 7, 2008. Before the Championship Scramble match, Punk was attacked by an early version of The Legacy (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase with Manu). Orton finished the assault by punting Punk in the head.[76] It was announced that Punk could not participate in the match due to the attack and, as a result, he involuntarily forfeited the title. However, Punk was replaced by Chris Jericho, who went on to win the match and the title.[77] He received a rematch eight days later on the September 15 episode of Raw, where he failed to regain the title in a steel cage match against Jericho.[78]
On the October 27, 2008 episode of Raw, Punk and Kofi Kingston defeated Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase to win the World Tag Team Championship.[79] The duo were members of Team Batista at Survivor Series, where their team lost to Team Orton.[80] Punk was then entered in an Intercontinental Championship Tournament, in which the winner would get to challenge for the championship in the future. He would defeat Snitsky and John Morrison in the first two rounds.[81] Punk and Kingston lost the World Tag Team Championship to John Morrison and The Miz at a live event on December 13, 2008.[82] The next day Punk defeated Rey Mysterio at Armageddon to win the tournament.[81] On the January 5 episode of Raw, Punk received his title match against William Regal, which ended in a disqualification, when Regal grabbed the referee's jersey.[83] Due to this, Stephanie McMahon awarded Punk a rematch the following week, but this time it was himself that was disqualified.[84] McMahon awarded him another rematch, this time a No Disqualification match on January 19 episode of Raw, Punk won the match and the title.[85] With this win, he became the nineteenth Triple Crown Champion. Also, the victory made him the man to accomplish the Triple Crown in the fastest amount of time, shattering Kevin Nash's old record.[86] Punk lost the title on the March 9 episode of Raw to John "Bradshaw" Layfield.[87] At WrestleMania XXV, Punk won the Money in the Bank ladder match and became the first person to win the match twice.[88]
On April 13, 2009 during the 2009 WWE Draft, Punk was drafted from Raw to SmackDown.[89] In the period after the draft, Punk feuded with Umaga over Umaga's repeated surprise attacks while Punk was attempting to cash in his Money in the Bank Contract. This ultimately resulted in a Samoan strap match at Extreme Rules, which was won by Punk.[90]
At the end of the pay-per-view, Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to defeat Jeff Hardy for the World Heavyweight Championship.[91] Punk retained his title in a Triple Threat match against both Edge and Hardy eight days later on the June 15 episode of Raw.[92] At The Bash in Sacramento, California, Punk lost to Hardy by disqualification after kicking the referee after being afflicted with a storyline eye injury, claiming he could not see the referee, but because titles do not change hands on a disqualification, Punk retained the championship. Hardy called Punk into question about his eye injury, believing he had been feigning it, leading Punk to turn heel, claiming to be the moral superior of those who support Hardy due to his drug-free lifestyle.[93] At Night of Champions, Punk lost the championship to Hardy.[94] Their feud continued through SummerSlam, where Punk regained the title in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match; afterward, Punk was attacked by The Undertaker.[95] On the August 28 episode of Friday Night SmackDown, Punk concluded his program with Hardy and achieved his booked goal of excising him from the WWE, defeating Hardy in a steel cage match wherein the loser agreed to leave the company.[96] This act would earn Punk a second Slammy that December as he was named winner for 2009's "Shocker of the Year".[97]
At Breaking Point Punk defeated The Undertaker in a submission match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. Undertaker originally won the match with his Hell's Gate submission hold. SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long re-started the match after stating that the ban that former General Manager Vickie Guerrero had placed on the move was still in effect. Punk would win the match with his Anaconda Vise when referee Scott Armstrong called for the bell despite Undertaker never submitting (reminiscent to the Montreal Screwjob, which took place in the same venue in 1997).[98] The feud between the two continued and at the Hell in a Cell PPV, Punk lost the World Heavyweight Championship to The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match.[99] He lost two subsequent rematches against The Undertaker on Smackdown and in a Fatal Four Way match at Bragging Rights also involving Batista and Rey Mysterio.[100][101]
His character took on a more sinister demeanor on the November 27 episode of SmackDown when he revealed that he had converted Luke Gallows, who had previously been portrayed as the mentally incompetent wrestler Festus, to the straight-edge lifestyle which had rid him of his mental troubles.[102] Continuing to espouse his straight-edge philosophy, Punk began to present himself as a cult-like savior to the crowd, growing the hair on his head, face and chest in an allusion to Jesus.[103] Through January 2010, Punk began to convert planted members of the audience to a straight-edge lifestyle, making them take a pledge of allegiance to him and shaving their head as a sign of renewal and devotion.[104][105][106] After converting many people who were not seen again, convert Serena began accompanying Punk and Gallows to form the Straight Edge Society.[106][107] As well as leading this alliance, Punk was also the mentor of WWE NXT rookie Darren Young who flirted with the idea of becoming straight-edge before refusing just before his head was to be shaved.[108]
Punk continued to show messianic traits, frequently giving sermons including during the annual Royal Rumble match as well as during an Elimination Chamber match at both of the eponymous pay-per-views.[109][110] In the Chamber match, he was eliminated by Rey Mysterio, whom he had feuding with leading into the PPV. Tensions escalated as Mysterio prevented him from winning a Money in the Bank qualifying match, causing Punk to interrupt Mysterio's celebration of his daughter's ninth birthday.[111] Mysterio challenged Punk to a Street Fight at WrestleMania XXVI but lost to Gallows, meaning Punk picked the stipulation that if Rey lost he would have to join the Society.[112] At WrestleMania, Punk lost to Mysterio[113] sparking a rematch at Extreme Rules where Punk would have to shave his head, like his disciples, if he lost. Punk won this match after interference from a fourth member of the Society who kept his face covered.[114] At Over The Limit, a third and final match was booked with both stipulations reactivated. In the match Punk lost and was subsequently shaved bald.[115]
Embarrassed by being shaved bald as he considered himself always pure unlike his followers, Punk appeared on the following episode of SmackDown, May 29, wearing a mask to hide his baldness.[116] At Fatal 4 Way, Punk challenged for the World Heavyweight Championship against Mysterio, The Big Show and the champion Jack Swagger, but was unsuccessful when he was attacked by Kane, who was accusing various people of attacking The Undertaker.[117] On July 16's SmackDown, Punk was finally unmasked by Big Show while healing from an arm injury.[118] The following week Show also unmasked the anonymous member of the Straight Edge Society who was revealed to be Joey Mercury.[119] This led to a handicap match at SummerSlam where Show defeated the entire Society after Punk abandoned his teammates.[120] Show also beat Punk in a singles match at Night of Champions.[121] Following this Serena was released from WWE[122] while Mercury became injured,[123] severely thinning the Society. Gallows began showing signs of dissension too, and Punk defeated him on SmackDown, airing September 24, ending the group.[124]
Punk was traded back to the Raw brand on October 11 after being swapped with Edge. He took part in the interbrand tag team match at Bragging Rights after injuring Evan Bourne to win a place,[125] but the team lost. It was reported later that he was suffering with a hip injury that would stop him from competing.[126] To keep a presence on television, he began commentating on Raw from November 22,[127] having already commentated one episode of NXT. During his commentary, he criticized John Cena for his actions against The Nexus. Sometimes he favored heel wrestlers over face wrestlers. At the end of December, Punk left the commentary team after assaulting John Cena on Raw[128] and SmackDown[129] with a chair. Punk later revealed that his motives for the attacks were that he had joined and assumed control of The Nexus.[130] He would then use the group to attack Randy Orton, blaming him for prematurely ending Punk's first World Heavyweight Championship reign in 2008; this led to a WrestleMania XXVII match[131] and a Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules both of which Punk lost.[132]
In June, after pinning WWE Champion John Cena on Raw,[133] Rey Mysterio at Capitol Punishment[134] and finally Alberto Del Rio again in a contendership match (which included Mysterio) all within one week, Punk revealed his contract would expire at Money in the Bank and vowed to leave the company with the WWE Championship; some of his speeches and mannerisms echoed his final months with Ring of Honor. After making a scathing on-air speech concerning the way in which WWE is run and its owner Vince McMahon, he was given a storyline suspension from televised WWE events[135] but was reinstated the following week on Cena's insistence.[136] Upon his return Punk ceased to appear with the remaining members of Nexus and the group would quietly dissolve the same month.[137] This helped transition him from a villainous character back to being a fan-favorite. Two weeks later, at Money in the Bank, CM Punk defeated John Cena to become the WWE Champion on his final night under contract with WWE.[136]
On July 21, CM Punk made an unannounced appearance at a joint WWE and Mattel panel at the San Diego Comic Con to mock new Chief operating officer Triple H and offer WWE Championship tournament finalist Rey Mysterio a match for Punk's own WWE Championship, as long as it was in Punk's hometown, Chicago.[138][139] Punk appeared at July 23's All American Wrestling show, showing respect to Gregory Iron, a wrestler with cerebral palsy.[140] Mysterio won the WWE Championship tournament on the July 25 episode of Raw, only to lose it to Cena later that night. After Cena's victory, Punk returned to Raw and upstaged the new WWE Champion's victory celebration while also entering into a title dispute. Triple H would later uphold both Punk and Cena's claims to the WWE Championship as legitimate and schedule the two to a match at SummerSlam to decide the undisputed WWE Champion.[141] Punk prevailed but immediately lost the title to Alberto Del Rio, who had cashed in his Money in the Bank contract, after being attacked by Kevin Nash.[142]
The night after SummerSlam Punk accused Nash of conspiring with Triple H to keep Punk away from the WWE Championship.[143] After repeated confrontations Nash and Punk demanded to face each other at Night of Champions, to which Triple H acquiesced. However, after CM Punk's repeated verbal attacks towards him and his wife Stephanie McMahon, Triple H booked himself to replace Nash.[144] At Night of Champions Punk lost a No Disqualification match after Nash, The Miz, and R-Truth attacked both men.[145] Miz and Truth also attacked Punk at Hell in a Cell after he lost a WWE Championship Triple Threat match.[146] He attempted to avenge this by teaming with Triple H against Miz and Truth at Vengeance, but lost again due to Nash attacking Triple H.[147] This helped transition Punk's anti-establishment voice from Triple H to John Laurinaitis who became the interim Raw General Manager.[148] CM Punk balked at Laurinaitis' promotion and verbally attacked him as a dull yes man.[149][150]
On October 31, CM Punk strong-armed his way into a match with Del Rio at Survivor Series,[151] where he regained the WWE Championship by way of submission with the Anaconda Vise.[152] He went on to defend the title through the end of the year, retaining in a rematch with Del Rio on the November 28 episode of Raw[153] and against both Del Rio and The Miz in a Triple Threat TLC match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs.[154] On the December 26 episode of Raw, CM Punk was defeated by Dolph Ziggler in a gauntlet match; as a result Ziggler became #1 contender to the WWE championship. Had he been successful Punk would have earned the right to face Laurinaitis in a match.[155] The following Raw, Punk was defeated by Ziggler via countout following interference from Laurinaitis; retaining the championship as a result.[156] Intermeddling from Laurinaitis caused Punk to lose to Ziggler throughout January[157][158] which ultimately led to Punk attacking Laurinaitis in retaliation.[158] At the Royal Rumble event, CM Punk successfully defended his title against Ziggler, despite Laurinaitis acting as the outside enforcer.[159]
On the January 30 episode of Raw SuperShow, Chris Jericho attacked Punk and Daniel Bryan during their Champion vs. Champion match, giving Bryan the win.[160] The following week, Jericho explained his actions by dismissing the WWE roster as imitations of himself and singling out Punk for claiming he was the best in the world, a moniker Jericho used the last time he was in WWE.[161][162] Their rivalry continued through Elimination Chamber where Punk retained the WWE Championship in the namesake structure; while four competitors were eliminated, Jericho was unable to continue the match after being kicked out of the chamber by Punk, causing temporary injury.[163] The following night on Raw, Jericho earned a match against Punk at WrestleMania XXVIII,[164] and in a bid to psychologically unsettle him, he revealed Punk's father was an alcoholic and alleged that his sister was a drug addict, asserting that Punk's straight edge philosophy was paranoia to avoid the same vices and vowing to make Punk turn to alcohol by winning the title from him.[165] John Laurinaitis added the stipulation that the WWE Championship could change hands via disqualification, which led to Jericho inciting Punk into using a weapon, but Punk resisted and retained the title.[166] On the April 2 and 9 episodes of Raw SuperShow, Punk retained the WWE Championship against Mark Henry after losing to him via count-out and disqualification. Following both matches, Jericho attacked Punk and doused him with alcohol.[167][168] On the April 16 episode of Raw SuperShow, Punk pinned Henry in a no disqualification, no countout match to retain his title.[169] After repeated altercations, the feud between Jericho and Punk would culminate in a Chicago Street Fight at Extreme Rules where Punk defeated Jericho to retain the WWE Championship.[170]
Punk renewed an old rivalry with Daniel Bryan at the May event Over the Limit, retaining the title after reversing Bryan's submission hold the "Yes!" Lock into a pinning combination, however, replays would show Punk visibly tapping out moments after the finish of the match.[171]
Punk has adopted his real-life following of the straight edge movement as his professional wrestling gimmick, but the gimmick uses different elements of Punk's personality and the beliefs of the straight edge movement depending on his alignment. While portraying a crowd favorite, the gimmick tends to be that of Punk's normal personality,[4] largely indifferent to others who drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, partake in recreational drug use or have promiscuous sexual behavior, but emphasizing the social discipline involved with abstinence. Conversely, his villainous personality tends to be that of one who is hardline or militant straight edge, exemplifying the elitist attitudes and superiority complexes—defined by Punk's common mantra during villainous-themed promos that, because he is straight edge, he is "better than you".[4] Punk performs the straight edge symbol of crossing his arms in an X formation while having the letter X written on the back of his hands, usually drawn on his wrist tape.
Originally, the initials CM in his ring name represented the phrase "Chick Magnet", the name of the tag team he was in as a backyard wrestler.[4][12] Punk, however, later changed CM into an orphan initialism, declaring that it has no meaning,[5] though when asked since he has taken to making up meanings that fit the initials, going so far as to make up long stories to explain the origins that do not match the actual origin story at all.[5] Since beginning this practice, Punk has stated CM stands for "Cookie Monster",[172] "Cookie Master",[173] "Crooked Moonsault",[174] "Chuck Mosley",[174] "Charles Montgomery",[12] "Charles Manson",[12] "Crazy Mariachi", "Chicago Made",[175] among others.
An integral part of Punk's gimmick are the numerous tattoos that adorn his body, some of which have come to become symbols associated with Punk, as well as mantras and declarations that have been integrated into his gimmick. The tattoos as a whole, due to their large quantity and variety, have also become an attribute identifiable to Punk.[176] The most important of the individual tattoos in Punk's character, whether through association, symbol, or mantra, are:
Punk's character and gimmick have been parodied by the wrestling federation Chikara who used a mascot character CP Munk, the straight edge chipmunk. The character includes references to Punk, such as X-marked wrist tape, a Pepsi logo on the costume's left shoulder, and a high-pitch version of Punk's best-known independent circuit theme song "Miseria Cantare – The Beginning", by the band AFI.[185] On his website, Punk has said about the character CP Munk, and the people behind it:
“ | I'm split 50/50 on it. Some days I get real pissed about it, because it's disrespectful. I'm sure it's no secret that the dorks that run Chikara and I don't get along, so they're [sic] judgement on trying to "mock" me is a little off. Most other days I just laugh it off because nobody from Chikara will ever be over enough anywhere for anybody else to parody them'.[186] | ” |
Punk's entrance was emulated by British darts player Paul Nicholson during the 2011 World Matchplay and the 2011 PDC World Darts Championship.[187]
Punk made an appearance on the February 16, 2004 episode of Monster Garage, "Box Truck Wrestling Car", performing a short match with Samoa Joe.[188] On October 31, 2006, Punk joined The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) to shoot the Sci Fi Channel special Ghost Hunters Live, which was a six-hour show broadcast live Halloween night from the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. Initially skeptical about what he might find, Punk claimed to have heard children giggling and footsteps when there were not any children booked into the hotel.[189]
In 2008, Punk appeared as the Sports Grand Marshal of the nationally-televised McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade in downtown Chicago.[190][191]
On April 30, 2012 it was announced Punk would be featured in the WWE Studios and Kare Production Project "Les reines du ring" (English: Queens of the ring) alongside fellow wrestlers Eve Torres and The Miz.[192]
While working for Ring of Honor, Punk was romantically linked to professional wrestlers Shannon Spruill[193] and Tracy Brookshaw.[15] After joining Ohio Valley Wrestling Punk began dating Maria Kanellis, who was working there as an interviewer,[194][195] however they broke up sometime after Punk was moved to World Wrestling Entertainment and started working on the ECW brand.[196] Punk was dating Amy Dumas,[197] however Matt Hardy confirmed in March 2010 that Punk and Dumas were no longer dating.[198] Punk confirmed in an November 2011 Maxim Magazine interview that he was in a relationship with WWE wrestler Beth Phoenix[199] but revealed in December that he was single again.[200] Punk is also one of many figures in entertainment supporting the gender reassignment surgery of Against Me! frontman/frontwoman Tom Gabel, who changed her name to Laura Jane Grace in mid-2012.
1 ^ Punk held the title concurrently with John Cena during his first reign. After defeating him Punk became undisputed champion but was not recognized by WWE as having won the title a second time.[261]
Wager | Winner | Loser | Location | Date | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hair | Rey Mysterio | CM Punk | Detroit, Michigan | 02010-05-23May 23, 2010 | S.E.S. Pledge vs. Hair match at Over the Limit.[262] |
Find more about CM Punk on Wikipedia's sister projects: | |
Images and media from Commons |
|
Quotations from Wikiquote |
Persondata | |
---|---|
Name | Brooks, Phil |
Alternative names | CM Punk (ring name) |
Short description | Professional wrestler |
Date of birth | October 26, 1978 |
Place of birth | Chicago, Illinois |
Date of death | |
Place of death |
John Cena | |
---|---|
John Cena, 2008 |
|
Ring name(s) | John Cena[1] |
Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2] |
Billed weight | 251 lb (114 kg)[2] |
Born | (1977-04-23) April 23, 1977 (age 35)[3] West Newbury, Massachusetts[2] |
Resides | Tampa, Florida[4] |
Billed from | Classified (UPW)[5] West Newbury, Massachusetts (WWE)[2] |
Trained by | Ultimate Pro Wrestling[5] Ohio Valley Wrestling[6] |
Debut | 2001[6] |
John Felix Anthony Cena[7] (/ˈsiːnə/; born April 23, 1977)[3] is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its Raw brand.[8]
In WWE, Cena has won 19 championships in total, including 12 world titles (having won the WWE Championship a record 10 times[9] and the World Heavyweight Championship twice). In addition, Cena has also won the WWE United States Championship three times,[10] and is a four-time Tag Team Champion, having held the World Tag Team Championship twice (once each with Shawn Michaels and Batista),[11] 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).[12] He also has the fourth highest number of combined days as WWE Champion behind Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan and 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).[13] 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.
Contents |
John Cena was born April 23, 1977, in West Newbury, Massachusetts,[3] the son of Carol and John Cena, Sr.[14] He is the second eldest of five brothers – Dan, Matt, Steve, and Sean.[15] After graduating from Cushing Academy, Cena attended Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts.[16] In college he was a Division III All-American center on the college football team,[17] wearing the number 54,[16] which is still used on some of his WWE merchandise.[18][19] He graduated from Springfield in 1998 with a degree in exercise physiology,[20] after which he pursued a career in bodybuilding,[21][22] and also worked as a chauffeur for a limousine company.[23]
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.[24][25] Some of this period of his career was documented in the Discovery Channel program Inside Pro Wrestling School.[26] While in UPW, Cena held the UPW Heavyweight Championship for just shy of a month in April 2000.[27]
In 2001, he signed a developmental contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and was assigned to its developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW).[28] 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.[29][30][31]
Cena made his television debut answering an open challenge by Kurt Angle on June 27, 2002.[32] 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 to face Angle. Cena managed to counter the Angle Slam and the ankle lock submission hold,[33] but ultimately lost to a hard amateur wrestling-style pin.[33] Following the near-win, Cena became a fan favorite and started feuding with Chris Jericho, defeating Jericho at Vengeance.[32] 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.[34] The next week, Cena turned on and attacked Kidman, blaming him for their loss, becoming a villain.[32]
Shortly after the Kidman attack, on a Halloween themed episode of SmackDown, Cena dressed as Vanilla Ice performing a freestyle rap.[32] The next week, Cena received a new character: a rapper who cut promos while rhyming.[32] 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".[35] Moreover, he was joined by an enforcer, Bull Buchanan, who was rechristened B-2 (also written B² and pronounced "B-Squared").[32] Buchanan was later replaced by Red Dogg,[32] 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.[36][37][38] During the feud, Cena unveiled a new finishing maneuver: the FU, a Fireman's carry powerslam, named to Brock Lesnar's F-5, with his first victim being Rikishi.[39] 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.[32][40] 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.[41][42]
In early 2004, Cena participated in the Royal Rumble match at the 2004 Royal Rumble,[43] making it to the final six before being eliminated by Big Show and the Match being won by Chris Benoit.[44] The Royal Rumble elimination led to a feud with Big Show,[45][46] which Cena won the United States Championship from Big Show at WrestleMania XX.[47] During his reign, Cena came into contention with SmackDown General Manager Kurt Angle over issues arising with René Duprée and Torrie Wilson.[48] 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.[49] Cena won the championship back defeating Booker T in a best of five series that culminated at No Mercy,[50] only to lose it to the debuting Carlito Caribbean Cool the next week.[51] 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.[52][53] This worked injury was used to keep Cena out of action for a month, while Cena was filming The Marine.[30] Immediately on his return in November, Cena won the United States Championship back from Carlito debuting a "custom made" spinner-style championship belt.[54][55]
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.[56] The next month, Cena defeated Kurt Angle to earn a spot in the SmackDown brand's WrestleMania 21 main event match,[57] 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,[58] who proceeded to "blow up" the spinner championship with JBL and returning a more traditional style belt.[59] Cena defeated JBL at WrestleMania winning the WWE Championship, giving Cena his first world championship.[60] Cena then had a spinner WWE Championship belt made,[61] while JBL took the original belt and claimed to still be WWE Champion,[61] until Cena reclaimed the original belt in an "I Quit" match at Judgment Day.[62]
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.[63] 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.[64] With Bischoff vowing to make Cena's stint on Raw difficult, he hand picked Jericho to take Cena's championship from him.[65] 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.[66] More crowds followed suit during Cena's next feud with Kurt Angle,[67] 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.[68] As the feud continued and the dissenters grew more vocal, sometimes seeming to outnumber fans by wide margins,[69] 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.[70] Despite the mixed and negative reactions, Cena held on to his championship through his feud with Angle, losing to him by disqualification[71] – which titles do not change hands in WWE – at Unforgiven and pinning him at Survivor Series.[72] 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.[73]
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.[74] Three weeks later, Cena won the championship back at the Royal Rumble.[74] After winning the championship, Cena began feuding with Triple H, which the crowd began booing Cena and cheering the intended villain, Triple H.[75][76] Cena beat Triple H at Wrestlemania 22 to retain his WWE Title.[6] 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.[77]
In July, after Edge won the championship from Van Dam in a Triple Threat match that also involved Cena,[78] 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[79] (for which Championships do not change hands) and using brass knuckles[77] – he introduced his own version of Cena's "custom" belt, this one with his logo placed on the spinner.[80] 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.[81][82] Cena returned his version of the spinner belt on the next night's Raw.[83]
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.[84] 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,[84] Federline appeared at Cyber Sunday to hit Cena with the World Heavyweight Championship during the match, helping King Booker retain his championship.[77] 2006 ended with Cena beginning a feud with the undefeated Umaga over the WWE Championship,[85] 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.[86]
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.[87] On the April 2 episode of Raw, after losing a WWE Championship match to Cena at WrestleMania 23,[88] 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.[89] 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[90] before assaulting Cena himself and stealing the physical belt.[91] 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[92][93] and then by pinfall at One Night Stand.[94][95] Later that summer, Randy Orton was named the number one contender for the WWE championship,[96] 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.[97] 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.[98]
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.[99] 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.[100][101] As a result, Cena was stripped of the title in an announcement by Vince McMahon on the next night's episode of ECW,[102] ending what was the longest WWE Championship reign in over 19 years.[103] Cena's surgery was performed by orthopedic surgeon James Andrews at St. Vincent's Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama.[99] 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.[104] 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.[105]
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.[12] 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[106] in a match where Cena won by disqualification, resulting in him not getting the championship.[107] 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,[108] during which he was pinned by Orton.[109] At Backlash, Cena failed to regain the title in a Fatal Four-Way elimination match, in which he was pinned by Orton.[110] Triple H won the title during that match. During the match, Cena eliminated JBL,[110] renewing their feud from 2005. Cena defeated JBL at Judgment Day and then at One Night Stand in a First Blood match.[111][112] JBL, however, defeated him in a New York City Parking Lot Brawl at The Great American Bash in July.[113]
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,[114] but failed to retain the titles the following week against the former champions.[115] Batista defeated Cena at SummerSlam;[116] 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.[117] Cena underwent successful surgery to repair the injury.[118][119]
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.[120] The two continued their rivalry up to Armageddon, where Cena retained his championship.[121] 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.[122] Cena was given an opportunity to regain the title at WrestleMania XXV in a Triple Threat match also involving Big Show, which Cena won.[123]
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.[124] This angle resulted in Cena beginning a feud with Big Show. Cena defeated Big Show at Judgment Day[125] and at Extreme Rules in a Submission match by applying the STFU.[126]
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.[127] 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.[128] At Hell in a Cell, Cena dropped the title to Orton in a Hell in a Cell match.[129] Three weeks later, at WWE Bragging Rights, Cena defeated Orton in a 60-minute Iron Man match.[130]
Two months later, Cena would lose the title to Sheamus at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in a Tables match.[131]
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.[132] 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.[133] At the event, Cena defeated Batista to win back the WWE title.[134] At the April pay-per-view, Extreme Rules, Cena defeated Batista in a rematch for the WWE title in a Last Man Standing match.[135] He faced Batista one more time in an I Quit match at Over the Limit which he won.[136]
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.[137]
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.[138] 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.[139] 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.[140]
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.[141] 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.[142]
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.[142] 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.[143] 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.[144] 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.[145] 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.[146] 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.[147] 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.[148] 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.[149]
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.
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. At the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Cena won the Elimination Chamber match to face The Miz at WrestleMania XXVII for the WWE Championship.[150] 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.[151] 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.[152] 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.[153] 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.[153] Cena went on to defend the title against The Miz at Over the Limit in an "I Quit" match[154] and R-Truth at Capitol Punishment[155]
At Money in the Bank, CM Punk defeated Cena to win the WWE Championship, and left the company with the title.[156][157][158] A tournament was then conducted to determine the new WWE Champion for the "vacant" WWE title, which was won by Rey Mysterio on the July 25 episode of Raw. That same night, Cena challenged and defeated Mysterio to become WWE Champion for a record breaking ninth time.[159] Following the match, CM Punk returned to the company, with the WWE Championship he won at Money in the Bank, leading to a title unification match at SummerSlam, where Punk defeated Cena to become "undisputed" WWE Champion. Punk would lose the championship following the match to Mr. Money in the Bank Alberto Del Rio.[160] On the August 22 episode of Raw, Cena defeated Punk to become number one contender for the WWE Championship, and would defeat Del Rio at Night of Champions to become WWE Champion.[161] 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.[162] Cena lost his rematch at Vengeance in a Last Man Standing match, due to interference by The Miz and R-Truth.[163] 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.[164]
On the December 12 episode of Raw, during his match with Mark Henry, Cena was attacked by the returning Kane.[165] 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.[166] 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 led the fans in attendance who were not fond of Cena into chanting "Cena Sucks!" as Raw went off the air.[167] Kane would then attack Cena's friend Zack Ryder, which led him to lose his United States Championship.[168][169] At the Royal Rumble, Kane and Cena would fight each other to a double countout only for Kane to get the upper hand on Cena and Ryder, who was watching in a private room in a wheelchair, after the match.[170] At Elimination Chamber, Cena defeated Kane in an Ambulance match to end the feud.[171]
After Elimination Chamber, Cena and The Rock would start verbally attacking each other. At WrestleMania XXVIII, Cena faced the Rock in the main event match which had been building for a year and that was billed as "once in a lifetime" and as the biggest and most important match in John Cena's career. The climax of the match came when Cena let his arrogance get in the way of victory causing him to make the mistake of attempting the People's Elbow on the Rock, as the Rock countered with a Rock Bottom to seal the victory.[172]
The following night on Raw, Cena would address the Rock, with the crowd chanting "Your a Loser". Stating that though he lost his career's most important match, he would own up and accept his loss. Cena would call out the Rock to congratulate him only to be interrupted by Brock Lesnar, who proceeded to hit Cena with an F5.[173] On the April 9 episode of Raw Cena attacked Lesnar at the opening,[174] after John Laurinaitis announced that Cena would face Lesnar at the main event of Extreme Rules.[175] John defeated David Otunga later in the main event only to get hit with another F5 by Lesnar.[176] On April 16, it was announced on WWE.com that Lesnar versus Cena would be an Extreme Rules match.[177] On the next episode of Raw, Cena was confronted by Edge who would acknowledge Cena's loss to the Rock causing him to have a lack of focus, Edge would go on to tell Cena to wake up from his loss to the Rock and beat Brock Lesnar for all the superstars that supported the WWE is Lesnar's absence.[178] Later that night, Cena showed his lack of confidence by bringing a chain to the contract signing and refusing to fight Lesnar.[179] Cena received a Kimura lock and lacerations to the head during the match, but managed a victory against Lesnar,[180] though he strained the muscles in his arm.[181] This dovetailed into a rivalry with John Laurinaitis, who was angered at Cena because of his victory against Lesnar and his mockery and declared himself as Cena's opponent at Over the Limit.[182] Cena would go on to lose the match against Lauranitis due to interference from Big Show. [183] The following night on Raw, Lauranitis would announce that Cena would be facing Show at No Way Out.[184]
WWE Studios, a division of WWE 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.[185] After ten weeks in theaters, the film grossed $18.7 million.[185] Once the film was released on DVD, it fared better, making $30 million in rentals in the first twelve weeks.[185]
His second film, also produced by WWE Studios, was 12 Rounds.[186] Filming began on February 25, 2008 in New Orleans;[186][187] 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,[188] then it was released on DVD on September 28, 2010.[189]
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.[190] The movie was released on the Nickelodeon channel in September 2010.[191]
Before his WWE debut, Cena made an appearance on the Internet stream show Go Sick as Bruebaker, an angry, cursing wrestler in 2001.[192]
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.[193]
In January 2007, Cena, Batista, and Ashley Massaro appeared representing WWE on an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,[194] giving the children of the family whose house was being renovated WWE merchandise and eight tickets to WrestleMania 23.[195] 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.[196] On April 9, 2008, Cena, along with fellow wrestlers Triple H and Chris Jericho, appeared on the Idol Gives Back fund-raising special.[197] In March 2009, Cena made an appearance on Saturday Night Live during the show's cold opening sequence.[198] 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?"[199]
In 2001, between his training in Ultimate Pro Wrestling and Ohio Valley Wrestling,[21] 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.[200][201][202]
Cena was also featured on the ABC reality series Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race, which aired in June 2007,[203] making it to the final round before being eliminated on June 24, placing third in the competition overall.[204]
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."[205] 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".[206] A text interview on the website with Cena later had him saying the news outlet should apologize for misrepresenting him,[207] which CNN refused in a statement, saying they felt the true answer to the question began with the phrase "My answer to that question".[208] They did, however, edit the documentary on subsequent airings to include the "Absolutely not".[208]
Cena hosted the Australian Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards with Natalie Bassingthwaighte on October 11, 2008 in Melbourne, Australia.[209]
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.[210]
He also guest starred in the seventh episode of Disney Channel's Hannah Montana Forever as himself.
John Cena has granted over 250 wishes for Arizona children with life-threatening illnesses through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and is the biggest wish granter in Make-A-Wish history.[211][212] In 2009, Cena received the Chris Greicius Celebrity Award.[213]
Before his professional wrestling career, Cena appeared in an advertisement for Gold's Gym.[214] As a wrestler he has endorsed the energy drink YJ Stinger,[215] appearing in commercials beginning in October 2003, and Subway,[216] 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.[217] In 2008, Cena filmed a commercial as part of Gillette's "Young Guns" NASCAR campaign.[218]
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.[219]
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.[220] 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."[221] He also wore a chain with a large padlock, occasionally using it as a weapon,[222] 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."[223] 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.[224] He then wore shirts that promoted Cenation and his trademark line "You Can't See Me." From late 2011 until Wrestlemania XXVIII, Cena again switched to camo shorts (honoring the U.S. Armed Forces), to coinincide with his black "Rise Above Hate" T-shirt promoting WWE's "Be a Star" anti-bullying campaign.
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Sample from "The Time Is Now" by John Cena & Tha Trademarc.
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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.[225]
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.[226]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2000 | Ready to Rumble | Gym Trainer | Uncredited extra |
2006 | The Marine | John Triton | |
2009 | 12 Rounds | Danny Fisher | |
2010 | Legendary | Mike Chetley | |
Fred: The Movie | Fred's Imaginary Dad | ||
2011 | The Reunion | Sam Cleary | |
Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred | Fred's Imaginary Dad |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2001 | Manhunt | Big Tim Kingman | |
2007 | Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race | Himself | |
2009 | Saturday Night Live | Himself | Tracy Morgan/Kelly Clarkson (season 34: episode 18) |
2010 | Psych | Ewan O'Hara | "You Can't Handle This Episode" (season 4: episode 10) |
True Jackson, VP | Himself | "Pajama Party" (season 2: episode 12) | |
Hannah Montana | Himself | "Love That Lets Go" (season 4: episode 7) | |
Generator Rex | Hunter Cain | Voice role "The Hunter" (season 1: episode 13) |
Cena writes left-handed.[229] He is a fan of Japanese anime and has mentioned that his favorite anime movie is Fist of the North Star.[230] He has also said he is a fan of the video game series Command & Conquer and noted that it was his favorite game.[231] Cena is also a fan of the Boston Red Sox,[230] Tampa Bay Rays,[232] New England Patriots,[233] Boston Celtics[230] and English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.[234] Cena collects muscle cars and has over 20, some of which are one-of-a-kind.[235]
While promoting his 2009 film, 12 Rounds, Cena announced his engagement[236][237] to his girlfriend Elizabeth Huberdeau. They were married on July 11, 2009. On May 10, 2012, Cena filed for a divorce.[238]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: John Cena |
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Persondata | |
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Name | Cena, John Felix Anthony, Jr |
Alternative names | The Prototype; Mr. P; Cena, Juan |
Short description | Professional wrestler, an amateur hip hop musician and actor |
Date of birth | April 23, 1977 |
Place of birth | West Newbury, Massachusetts |
Date of death | |
Place of death |