The Champ visits Tinker Air Force Base
By Jen Hunt
September 25, 2006

Monday morning, WWE Champion John Cena made a special guest appearance at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City. Cena was greeted by 250 fans and did not leave until he had signed autographs for everyone.

“It was great,” Cena said after the visit. “Coming off a pretty grueling international tour in Canada and Mexico, it was actually pretty fun to get up a little early and go over to Tinker Air Force Base.”

When Cena took the stage, he hoisted his WWE Championship above his head and the crowd erupted. Many of the 250 fans had shown up about two hours early to catch a glimpse of the champ.

At the end of the event, Special Agent Kevin Bland from the Office of Special Investigation presented Cena with a special coin on behalf of the Air Force Base as a token of their appreciation.

“Believe it or not that is not the first one of those coins that I’ve gotten,” Cena admitted. “I’ve gotten a lot of coins from service men and women from Iraq, Afghanistan and various military bases. They are not kidding when they say it’s a big deal. It is a very big deal. I have a nice collection of those at my house and I hold that honor very close to me and it was a very cool thing that they did.”

The honor was a last minute surprise. While it was a highlight for the champ, it was not the best part of the trip.

“Anytime you can interact with the armed services and see how fired up they are, that makes everything else go away.”