50 Fun Facts About John Cena

At the 2024 Oscars, John Cena walked on stage nearly naked to present the award in which category?

Best Costume Design was the punchline: the bit recalled the streaker who interrupted the 1974 ceremony.

Which carmaker sued John Cena in 2017 for quickly reselling a supercar he had agreed to keep for two years?

Ford said Cena sold his 2017 GT for a profit soon after delivery. They settled in 2018, with Cena apologizing and the payout going to charity.

Which charity has seen John Cena grant a record 650-plus requests from seriously ill children since 2002?

Make-A-Wish has no bigger granter: Guinness World Records confirmed in 2022 that the runner-up had fulfilled fewer than 200.

Whom did John Cena face in back-to-back WrestleMania main events in 2012 and 2013?

The Rock won the first bout, a match announced a full year ahead, then lost the rematch and the WWE Championship to Cena.

Which DC vigilante has John Cena played since The Suicide Squad, later headlining an HBO Max series?

Peacemaker was originally meant to die in the film, until director James Gunn wrote a spin-off series around Cena's performance.

Whose mark of 16 recognized world title reigns did John Cena tie in 2017 and finally pass at WrestleMania 41?

Ric Flair's 16 was the number to beat; Cena matched it in January 2017, then waited more than eight years to claim his seventeenth.

Which language did John Cena begin learning in 2016 to help WWE expand, later using it at a press conference?

Mandarin became more than a publicity tool: Cena spent months of 2018 living in the Chinese city of Yinchuan while shooting a film there.

Which cereal put John Cena on its box in 2013 after a rival mocked his colorful gear by calling him its name?

Fruity Pebbles turned an insult into a sponsorship: the jab was aimed at Cena's brightly colored merchandise.

To which fellow wrestler did John Cena propose in the ring at WrestleMania 33 after their mixed tag win?

Nikki Bella said yes in front of the crowd, but the couple called off the engagement in April 2018, weeks before their planned wedding.

John Cena's finishing slam took which name in 2008, when WWE's move to PG programming retired its ruder original?

Attitude Adjustment replaced a ruder two-letter name to fit WWE's new PG policies, and his submission hold was retitled at the same time.

Whose open challenge did John Cena answer in his WWE television debut on SmackDown in June 2002?

Kurt Angle won, but the rookie was praised for his effort, and Angle later called Cena the greatest professional wrestler of all time.

Which champion did John Cena beat for his first WWE Championship at WrestleMania 21, then again in an I Quit match?

JBL gave up in the Judgment Day rematch, by which time Cena had swapped the title belt for his own customized version.

Who cashed in Money in the Bank on John Cena moments after an Elimination Chamber match in January 2006?

Edge held the title for only three weeks before Cena won it back, and The Baltimore Sun later named their rivalry its feud of the decade.

Which wrestler won a 16-man tournament to face John Cena in his final match, then beat him by submission?

Gunther made Cena give up in December 2025, his first submission loss since 2004, closing a career of 26 years.

Which champion did John Cena beat in the main event of WrestleMania 41 to win a record seventeenth world title?

Cody Rhodes fell after outside interference, then took the title back at SummerSlam 105 days later in a match rated five stars.

Who took the WWE World Heavyweight title from John Cena at SummerSlam 2014 after sixteen suplexes?

Brock Lesnar added two F-5 slams to end the reign at 49 days, and in 2025 he also won the last match the two ever had.

Whose WWE contract was expiring on the night he beat John Cena for the title at Money in the Bank 2011?

CM Punk left the company with the title that night, in a match that became Cena's first to earn five stars from the Wrestling Observer.

Which rival traded the WWE Championship with John Cena in 2009 via an I Quit match and an iron man match?

Randy Orton lost, regained and lost the title again inside six weeks that autumn, and was still challenging Cena for a championship in 2025.

Which veteran quickly beat John Cena at WrestleMania 34, fifteen years after their first feud on SmackDown?

Only The Undertaker had more wins at WWE pay-per-view events when Cena reached his hundredth in 2025.

Which rival, whose four Elimination Chamber wins he later tied, lost John Cena's first WrestleMania main event?

Triple H was back in a Cena title match in 2013, this time as the guest referee when Cena lost to Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam.

In which state was John Cena born, later captaining a college team in the city of Springfield?

Massachusetts shaped his loyalties: born in West Newbury, Cena supports the Boston Celtics and the New England Patriots.

John Cena was a Division III All-American center and team captain at Springfield College in which sport?

Football was his game at college: after graduating in 1999, Cena pursued a bodybuilding career before wrestling took over.

Which job did John Cena hold after college while he pursued a bodybuilding career, before turning to wrestling?

Limousine driver was the day job; Cena also worked at a Gold's Gym and appeared in one of the chain's advertisements.

John Cena graduated from Springfield College in 1999 with a degree in which field, alongside kinesiology?

Exercise physiology fit his next moves: Cena began bodybuilding and professional wrestling the same year he graduated.

Under which ring name did John Cena wrestle in California from 1999, playing a semi-robotic character?

The Prototype held the Ultimate Pro Wrestling heavyweight title in 2000, and Cena kept the name for his first unofficial WWE match that October.

In which WWE developmental territory did John Cena hold the heavyweight title before his 2002 call-up?

Ohio Valley Wrestling also made him a tag team champion alongside Rico Constantino before SmackDown came calling in June 2002.

Which item did John Cena's Doctor of Thuganomics character wear on a neck chain and sometimes use as a weapon?

A padlock hung from the chain until WrestleMania 21, when a diamond-studded medallion took its place.

Which feature of the custom WWE Championship belt John Cena introduced in 2005 reflected his hip hop character?

A spinning logo, turning like a wheel rim or a turntable, defined a belt that stayed WWE's standard until 2013, though the logo was later fixed in place.

Which submission hold did John Cena add to his arsenal in 2005 ahead of a three-way submission match on Raw?

The STF bookended his career: Cena added it in November 2005 and was still applying it in his final match twenty years later.

John Cena's face-waving hand taunt began in 2003 as a dare from which family member?

His brother dared him to do a dance move on television, and Cena reversed it into a hand wave so that his sibling would spot it.

Which 2006 WWE Studios film gave John Cena his first leading role in a movie?

The Marine made about $18.7 million in theaters, then did better at home, earning $30 million in rentals within twelve weeks.

Which 2015 comedy written by and starring Amy Schumer brought John Cena praise as a comic actor?

Trainwreck opened a busy year for Cena the comic actor: he also appeared in Sisters and had a cameo in Daddy's Home before 2015 was out.

John Cena played Sector 7 agent Jack Burns in which 2018 film, set in 1987 around a girl and an alien robot?

Bumblebee, a Transformers prequel, cast Cena as a former Army colonel whose training drill is wrecked when the robot crash-lands in California.

John Cena joined the Fast & Furious films in F9 as Jakob, the sibling of which long-running character?

Dom Toretto is Vin Diesel's lead character, and Cena came back as Jakob in Fast X two years later.

John Cena voiced the title character of which 2017 animated film nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar?

Ferdinand follows a pacifist bull across Spain, and NFL quarterback Peyton Manning voices one of the other bulls on the ranch.

John Cena lived in Yinchuan for months in 2018 while filming Hidden Strike with which martial arts star?

Jackie Chan's co-star put the stay to use: Cena made a series for WWE's YouTube channel about his trips to local markets and shops.

John Cena hosted the 2021 TBS version of which obstacle-course competition alongside Nicole Byer?

Wipeout was one of several hosting jobs: Cena also fronted American Grit, a revival of Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader and the ESPYs.

Which track from John Cena's 2005 album You Can't See Me became his long-running WWE entrance theme?

The Time Is Now comes from an album Cena recorded with his cousin Tha Trademarc, which reached No. 15 on the Billboard 200.

John Cena, a self-taught pianist, played which band's ballad Home Sweet Home on screen in his HBO Max series?

Mötley Crüe's ballad closes an episode with Cena at the keys; he had only begun learning the piano in 2016.

Whom did John Cena beat at WrestleMania XX for the United States title, his first WWE singles championship?

Big Show later said he felt most stable when lifted by Cena, despite the champion being over 200 pounds lighter than him.

Which rival, backed by Gallows and Anderson in 2016, lost the WWE Championship to John Cena in January 2017?

AJ Styles had beaten Cena three times in 2016, and their rematch at Crown Jewel in 2025 was named ESPN's match of the year.

Who beat John Cena at WrestleMania 36 in the Firefly Fun House match, a surreal tour of his career?

Bray Wyatt had lost to Cena at WrestleMania XXX six years earlier; this time Cena's motionless body simply vanished from the ring.

Which group of rookies from NXT's first season attacked John Cena in June 2010 and later forced him to join?

The Nexus, led by Wade Barrett, gained Cena as a reluctant member by stipulation, and he even won tag team gold with one of them.

Who took the WWE Championship from John Cena at ECW One Night Stand 2006 before a fiercely hostile crowd?

Rob Van Dam won thanks to outside interference, then lost the title about three weeks later in a three-way match that also involved Cena.

Which former backup dancer, promoting his album Playing with Fire, pinned John Cena on Raw on New Year's Day 2007?

Kevin Federline needed an assist from Umaga to win. By coincidence, Cena later starred in a 2019 comedy that shares the album's title.

Which television comedian, guest host of SummerSlam 2015, hit John Cena with a steel chair and cost him a title?

Jon Stewart's chair shot handed the match to Seth Rollins and ended Cena's United States title reign at 147 days.

Which rapper sided with John Cena in 2025 and helped him win his seventeenth world title at WrestleMania 41?

Travis Scott joined Cena's short-lived villain act in March 2025, but had abandoned him by August, when Cena apologized to the fans.

Which title did John Cena win for the only time in November 2025, completing WWE's Grand Slam?

The Intercontinental Championship came on Raw when Cena beat Dominik Mysterio; he lost it back to him 19 days later.

John Cena made a surprise return from a torn pectoral muscle to win which 2008 match as its final entrant?

The Royal Rumble win was the first of two for Cena, and he used the title shot it earned three weeks later rather than wait for WrestleMania.

John Cena met his wife Shay Shariatzadeh while filming Playing with Fire in which Canadian city?

Vancouver was where Shariatzadeh worked as an engineer; the couple married in a private ceremony in Tampa in October 2020.