John Cena



John Felix Anthony Cena[6] (pronounced /ˈsiːnə/; born April 23, 1977)[4] is an American actor, hip hop musician, and professional wrestler currently employed by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on its Raw brand.

In professional wrestling, Cena is an eight-time world champion having won the WWE Championship six times and the World Heavyweight Championship twice. In addition to these championships, Cena has also won the WWE United States Championship three times[7] and the World Tag Team Championship two times (once with Shawn Michaels and once with Batista).[8] Cena also won the 2008 Royal Rumble match.[9]

Cena started his professional wrestling career in 2000, wrestling for Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW), 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 #15 on the US Billboard 200 chart, and starred in the feature films The Marine (2006) and 12 Rounds (2009).[10] Cena has also made appearances on television shows including Manhunt, Deal or No Deal, MADtv, Saturday Night Live, and Punk'd. Cena was also a contestant on Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race, where he made it to the final round before being eliminated, placing third in the overall competition.

Early life
Cena was born April 23, 1977 in West Newbury, Massachusetts,[4] the second eldest of five brothers – Dan, Matt, Steve and Sean.[11] After graduating from Cushing Academy, Cena attended Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts.[12] In college he was a Division III All-American center on the college football team,[13] wearing the number 54,[12] which is still used on some of his WWE merchandise.[14][15] He graduated from Springfield in 1998 with a degree in exercise physiology,[16] after which he pursued a career bodybuilding,[17][18] and also worked as a chauffeur for a limousine company.[19]

Training
Cena started training to become a professional wrestler in 2000 at the California-based "Ultimate University" operated by Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW). Once he was placed into an in-ring role, Cena began using a semi-robotic character known as The Prototype.[20][21] Some of this period of his career was documented in the Discovery Channel program Inside Pro Wrestling School.[18] While in UPW, Cena held the UPW Heavyweight Championship for just shy of a month in April 2000.[22] In 2001, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) signed a developmental contract and was assigned to its developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW).[23] 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.[24][25][26]

2002–2003
Cena made his television debut answering an open challenge by Kurt Angle on June 27, 2002.[27] Inspired by a speech given by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to the rising stars of the company, exhorting them to show "ruthless aggression" to earn a place among the legends, Cena took advantage of the opportunity and almost beat Angle kicking out of his finishing move, the Angle Slam and enduring the ankle lock submission hold.[28] Cena ultimately lost to a hard amateur wrestling-style pin.[28] Following the near-win, Cena became a fan favorite and started feuding with Chris Jericho.[27] 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.[29] The next week, Cena turned on and attacked Kidman, blaming him for their loss, becoming a villian.[27]

Shortly after the Kidman attack, on a Halloween themed episode of SmackDown, Cena dressed as Vanilla Ice performing a freestyle rap.[27] The next week, Cena received a new character: a rapper who cut promos while rhyming.[27] 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".[30] Moreover, he was joined by an enforcer, Bull Buchanan, who was rechristened B-2 (also written B² and pronounced "B-Squared").[27] Buchanan was later replaced by Red Dogg,[27] 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.[31][32][33] During the feud, Cena unveiled a new finishing maneuver: the FU, a Fireman's carry powerslam, named to mock Lesnar's F-5.[34] Cena won a number one contenders tournament against Lesnar at Backlash. However, Cena was defeated by Lesnar.[27][35] 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.[36][37]

2004–2005
Cena, wearing his customized U.S. Championship beltIn early 2004, Cena participated in the Royal Rumble match at the 2004 Royal Rumble,[38] making it to the final six before being eliminated by Big Show.[39] The Royal Rumble elimination led to a feud with Big Show,[40][41] which Cena won the United States Championship from Big Show at WrestleMania XX.[42] During his reign, Cena came into contention with SmackDown General Manager Kurt Angle over issues arising with René Duprée and Torrie Wilson.[43] The reign ended almost four months later, when he was stripped of the belt on July 8 by Angle after he (kayfabe, accidentally) knocked him over, thus attacking an official.[44] Cena won the championship back defeating Booker T in a best of five series that culminated at No Mercy,[45] only to lose it to the debuting Carlito Caribbean Cool the next week.[46] After the loss to Carlito, the duo began a feud, which Cena was kayfabe stabbed in the kidney while at a Boston-area nightclub by Carlito's bodyguard, Jesús.[47][48] This worked injury was used to keep Cena out of action for a month, while Cena was filming The Marine.[25] Immediately on his return in November, Cena won the United States Championship back from Carlito debuting a "custom made" spinner-style championship belt.[49][50]

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.[51] The next month, Cena defeated Kurt Angle to earn a spot in the SmackDown brand's WrestleMania 21 main event match,[52] 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,[53] who proceeded to "blow up" the spinner championship with JBL and returning a more traditional style belt.[54] Cena defeated JBL at WrestleMania winning the WWE Championship, giving Cena his first world championship.[55] Cena then had a spinner WWE Championship belt made,[56] while JBL took the original belt and claimed to still be WWE Champion,[56] until Cena reclaimed the original belt in an "I Quit" match at Judgment Day.[57]

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.[58] 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.[59] With Bischoff vowing to make Cena's stint on Raw difficult, he hand picked Jericho to take Cena's championship from him.[60] 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.[61] More crowds followed suit during Cena's next feud with Kurt Angle,[62] 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.[63] As the feud continued and the dissenters grew more vocal, sometimes seeming to outnumber fans by wide margins,[64] 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.[65] Despite the mixed and negative reactions, Cena held on to his championship through his feud with Angle, losing to him by disqualification[66] — which titles do not change hands in WWE — at Unforgiven and pinning him at Survivor Series.[67] 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.[68]

2006–2007
Cena facing off against Edge at a WWE house show.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 at the WWE Champion of the owners choosing". After two quick spears pinned Cena, winning the championship.[69] Three weeks later, Cena won the championship back at the Royal Rumble.[69] After winning the championship, Cena began feuding with Triple H, which the crowd began booing Cena and cheering the intended Triple H.[70][71] The negative reaction 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.[72]

Cena, addressing fans at a Raw show.In July, after Edge won the championship from Van Dam in a Triple Threat match that also involved Cena,[73] 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[74] (for which Championships do not change hands) and using brass knuckles[72] — he introduced his own version of Cena's "custom" belt, this one with his logo placed on the spinner.[75] 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.[76][77] Cena returned his version of the spinner belt on the next night's Raw.[78]

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.[79] 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,[79] Federline appeared at Cyber Sunday to hit Cena with the World Heavyweight Chamionship during the match, helping King Booker retain his championship.[72] 2006 ended with Cena beginning a feud with the undefeated Umaga over the WWE Championship,[80] 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.[81]

During their feud, Cena ended Umaga's "undefeated" streak at New Year's Revolution[82] before Umaga caused a worked injury to Cena's spleen,[83] putting a scheduled Last Man Standing rematch at the Royal Rumble in kayfabe jeopardy. The match did, however, take place with Cena retaining his title.[84]

Cena putting his hands up meaning "Word Life".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.[85] On the April 2 episode of Raw, after losing a WWE Championship match to Cena at WrestleMania 23,[86] 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.[87] 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[88] before assaulting Cena himself and stealing the physical belt.[89] 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[90][91] and then by pinfall at One Night Stand.[92][93] Later that summer, Randy Orton was named the number one contender for the WWE championship,[94] 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.[95] 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.[96]

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.[97] 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.[98][99] As a result, Cena was stripped of the title in an announcement by Vince McMahon on the next night's episode of ECW,[100] ending what was the longest WWE Championship reign in over 19 years.[101] Cena's surgery was performed by orthopedic surgeon James Andrews at St. Vincent's Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama.[97] 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.[102] 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.[103]

2008–present
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.[9] 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[104] in a match where Cena won by disqualification, resulting in him not getting the championship.[105] The night after No Way Out, Cena was placed back in to WrestleMania XXIV's WWE Championship match, making it a Triple Threat match also involving Triple H,[106] during which he was pinned by Orton.[107] At Backlash, Cena failed to regain the title in a Fatal Four-Way elimination match, in which he was pinned by Orton.[108] Triple H won the title during that match. During the match, Cena eliminated John "Bradshaw" Layfied (JBL),[108] renewing their feud from 2005. Cena defeated JBL at Judgment Day and then at One Night Stand in a First Blood match.[109][110] JBL, however, defeated him in a New York City Parking Lot Brawl at The Great American Bash in July.[111]

On the August 4 edition of Raw, Cena became a World Tag Team Champion for a second time, teaming with Batista to defeat Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase,[112] but failed to retain the titles the following week against the former champions.[113] Batista defeated Cena at SummerSlam;[114] 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.[115] Cena underwent successful surgery to repair the injury.[116][117]

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.[118] The two continued their rivalry up to Armageddon, where Cena retained his championship.[119] 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.[120] Cena was given an opportunity to regain the title at WrestleMania XXV in a Triple Threat match also involving Big Show, which Cena won.[121] 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.[122] This angle resulted in Cena beginning a feud with Big Show. Cena defeated Big Show at Judgment Day[123] and at Extreme Rules in a Submission match by applying the STF.[124] 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.[125] 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.[126] At Hell in a Cell, Cena dropped the title to Orton in a Hell in a Cell match.[127] Three weeks later, at Bragging Rights, Cena defeated Orton in a 60-minute Iron Man match.[128] Two months later, Cena would lose the title to Sheamus at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in a Tables match.[129] 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.[130]

Film
Cena, with actual Marines, at the premiere of his film The Marine.WWE Studios, a division of World Wrestling Entertainment which produces and finances motion pictures, produced Cena's first movie — The Marine, which was distributed theatrically by 20th Century Fox America beginning on October 13, 2006. In its first week, the film made approximately $7 million at the United States box office.[131] After ten weeks in theaters, the film grossed $18.7 million.[131] Once the film was released on DVD, it fared better, making $30 million in rentals in the first twelve weeks.[131]

His second film, also produced by WWE Studios, was 12 Rounds.[132] Filming began on February 25, 2008 in New Orleans;[132][133] the film was released on March 27, 2009.

Guest appearances
Before his WWE debut, Cena made an appearance on the Internet stream show Go Sick as Bruebaker, an angry, cursing wrestler in 2001.[134]

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.[135]

In January 2007, Cena, Batista, and Ashley Massaro appeared representing WWE on an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,[136] giving the children of the family whose house was being renovated WWE merchandise and eight tickets to WrestleMania 23.[137] 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.[138] On April 9, 2008, Cena, along with fellow wrestlers Triple H and Chris Jericho, appeared on the Idol Gives Back fund-raising special.[139] In March 2009, Cena made an appearance on Saturday Night Live during the show's cold opening sequence.[140] 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 entitled "Sure, pro wrestling is a good gig, but when you win, do they throw teddy bears into the ring?"[141]

Television
In 2001, between his training in Ultimate Pro Wrestling and Ohio Valley Wrestling,[17] 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.[142][143][144]

Cena was also featured on the ABC reality series Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race, which aired in June 2007,[145] making it to the final round before being eliminated on June 24, placing third in the competition overall.[146]

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."[147] 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".[148] A text interview on the website with Cena later had him saying the news outlet should apologize for misrepresenting him,[149] which CNN refused in a statement, saying they felt the true answer to the question began with the phrase "My answer to that question".[150] They did, however, edit the documentary on subsequent airings to include the "Absolutely not".[150]

Cena hosted the Australian Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards with Natalie Bassingthwaighte on October 11, 2008 in Melbourne, Australia.[151]

He will guest star as Ewan O'Hara in an upcoming episode of the fourth season of the comedy drama Psych, as the brother of Juliet O'Hara, played by Maggie Lawson.[152]

Endorsements
Before his professional wrestling career, Cena appeared in an advertisement for Gold's Gym.[153] As a wrestler he has endorsed the energy drink YJ Stinger,[154] appearing in commercials beginning in October 2003, and Subway,[155] 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.[156] In 2008, Cena filmed a commercial as part of Gillette's "Young Guns" NASCAR campaign.[157]

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 videos to help guys look, feel and be their best.[158]

Fashion
For the extent of his WWE career, Cena's attire has attempted to reflect the most current thug fashions and stylings within the hip hop culture that his character represents. Cena started out wearing "throwback jerseys" until WWE produced specific Cena merchandise which he began wearing.[159] 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."[160] He also wore a chain with a large padlock, occasionally using it as a weapon,[161] 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."[162] 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.[163]

Music

 * "The Time is Now" by John Cena & Tha Trademarc (2005)

Problems listening to this file? See media help. In addition to his wrestling career, Cena is an 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.[164]

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."[165] Promotion for the album lead to Cena being the only professional wrestler to ever perform on BBC Two's long running Top of the Pops.[166]

Albums
You Can't See Me Released: May 10, 2005 Chart positions:[167][168] 15 U.S. Billboard 200, 10 U.S. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, 3 U.S. Rap, 103 UK Albums Chart Singles: "The Time Is Now", "Bad Bad Man" (featuring Bumpy Knuckles), "Right Now" Personal life Cena writes left-handed.[169] He is a known fan of Japanese animation and has mentioned on "Five Questions" that his favorite animated movie is Fist of the North Star.[170] He has also said that he is a fan of the video game series Command & Conquer and names it his favorite game of all time.[171] Cena is also a fan of the Boston Red Sox,[170] Tampa Bay Rays,[172] New England Patriots,[173] and Boston Celtics.[170] Cena collects muscle cars and has over 20, some of which are one-of-a-kind.[174]

While promoting his 2009 film, 12 Rounds, Cena announced his engagement[175][176] to his girlfriend Elizabeth Huberdeau. They were married on July 11, 2009.[177][178]

Finishing moves

 * Attitude Adjustment/ F–U (Fireman's carry transitioned into either a standing takeover or a powerslam) (2003-Present) – WWE
 * Killswitch (OVW) / Proto–Bomb (UPW) (Belly to back suplex lift twisted into a modified side slam) – OVW / UPW; used as a regular move in WWE
 * STF – 2005-present; WWE

Signature moves 
 * Diving leg drop bulldog – 2005–present
 * Dropkick, sometimes from the top rope – 2000-2002
 * Fisherman suplex
 * 5-Knuckle Shuffle (Running delayed fist drop, with theatrics) - 2005-Present
 * Running leaping shoulder block
 * Running one–handed bulldog
 * Sitout hip toss
 * Spinebuster – 2000–2005
 * Thesz press followed by multiple punches
 * Throwback (Running neck snap to a bent–over opponent) 2003-Present
 * Twisting belly to belly suplex

Nicknames 
 * "The Doctor of Thuganomics" (2003-2006)
 * "The Champ" (2005-present)
 * "The Chain Gang Commander"
 * "The Chain Gang Soldier" (2006-2008)

Managers 
 * Kenny Bolin
 * B–2
 * Redd Dogg

Entrance themes 
 * "Basic Thuganomics" performed by John Cena (2003-2005)
 * "The Time is Now" performed by Cena featuring Tha' Trademarc (2005-Present)

Championships and accomplishments
Ohio Valley Wrestling 
 * OVW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 * OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Rico Constantino

Pro Wrestling Illustrated 
 * PWI Feud of the Year (2006) vs. Edge
 * PWI Match of the Year (2007) vs. Shawn Michaels on Raw on April 23
 * PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2003)
 * PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (2004, 2005, 2007)
 * PWI Wrestler of the Year (2006, 2007)
 * PWI ranked #1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2006 and 2007

Ultimate Pro Wrestling 
 * UPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

World Wrestling Entertainment 
 * World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
 * World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Shawn Michaels (1) and Batista (1)
 * WWE Championship (9 times)
 * WWE United States Championship (3 times)
 * 20th Annual Royal Rumble (2008)

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards 
 * Wrestler of the Year (2007)
 * Best Box Office Draw (2007)
 * Best on Interviews (2007)
 * Most Charismatic (2006–2008)
 * Best Gimmick (2003)