Height: 6 foot 1
Weight: 240 pounds
From: West Newbury, Mass.
Signature Move: The FU; STFU
Career Highlights: WWE Champion; U.S.
Champion; World Tag Team Champion
Let’s be honest: hailing from the rolling
hills and broad valleys that constitute West
Newbury, Mass., will likely never earn you
“street cred”--unless, of course,
you’re John Cena. Then again, it didn’t
happen overnight for him, either. Long before he
became the Dr. of Thuganomics, young Cena had to
endure the neighborhood rocker kids’ taunts
about his baggy pants and rayon Kwamé shirts.
His love for freestyling lyrics about rebellion
and individualism just didn’t fit within the
small rural community. By the time he turned 15,
however, those same kids would stop teasing him,
for it became apparent that Cena had been
developing another passion: hitting the gym. After applying to more than 60 colleges
(and being accepted by 58), Cena attended
Massachusetts’ Springfield College, where he
excelled as a Division III All-American offensive
lineman and team captain for the Pride. But as
much as he fondly remembers his college football
accomplishments, he’s equally as proud of
earning his degree in Exercise Physiology, which
he attributes to making him a smarter, more
durable performer in the ring today.
Though a huge WWE fan since
childhood, rooting for heroes like Hulk Hogan,
Ultimate Warrior, and Shawn Michaels, Cena had
honestly never even considered a career in sports-entertainment.
Instead, he flew out to California in 2000, to
pursue a profession in bodybuilding (a move he
now admits to making simply because his father
had told him he wouldn’t make it out there).
But while working behind the counter of
Gold’s Gym in Venice, a discussion with a
wrestler-in-training encouraged Cena to enroll in
classes at Ultimate Pro Wrestling. He was
instantly hooked, and became motivated to learn
everything he could about his newfound craft. He
obviously proved a quick study; within a year,
World Wrestling Entertainment signed Cena to a
developmental contract to train at Ohio Valley
Wrestling. By June 2002, he had joined the
SmackDown roster, and less than a year later
headlined the first of what has since become
countless main-event matches.
That said, Cena has never
forgotten his roots. In fact, remembering where
he came from has helped him evolve into the man
he is today: a well-versed hip-hop artist, a
successful movie star and a blue-collared Chain
Gang Soldier who’s always ready to fight. In
his jean shorts and Reebok Pumps, he leads his
WWE fan-based army into battle with the mission
statement he’s been down with since Day One:
hustle, loyalty and respect.
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