John Cena

Juan Cena

On October 10, 2000, while billed as **The Prototype**, Cena made his unofficial debut for the then World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on a *SmackDown* taping in a dark match against Mikey Richardson, which he lost. He received another tryout on January 9, 2001, at a *SmackDown* taping in Oakland, California, this time defeating Aaron Aguilera. Cena wrestled again in a dark match at a *SmackDown* taping on March 13. Through the early months of 2002, Cena constantly found himself competing on house shows for the WWF, where he wrestled against the likes of Shelton Benjamin and Tommy Dreamer.

On the June 24 episode of *Raw*, Mr. McMahon ordered the entire roster to the ring and declared that he needed them to all find some ruthless aggression from within themselves and that he was looking for one of them to stand out from the rest of the pack. Cena made his WWE television debut on the June 27, 2002, episode of *SmackDown* by answering an open challenge by Kurt Angle. After declaring that he possessed "ruthless aggression", Cena lost by a pinning combination. After the match, Cena was congratulated by Billy Kidman, Faarooq, Rikishi, and The Undertaker. Following the near-win, Cena became a fan favorite and started feuding with Chris Jericho, defeating Jericho at Vengeance. Then, Cena feuded with Los Guerreros (Chavo and Eddie Guerrero) and Cena picked up a victory over Chavo Guerrero on the September 3, 2002, taping of *Velocity*. On the September 12 episode of *SmackDown*, Cena teamed with Edge in a losing effort against Los Guerreros, thus ending the feud in the process. Cena went on to defeat the likes of Albert and D-Von Dudley as he was restricted to appearances on *Velocity* for the rest of September.

In October 2002, 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. The next week on *SmackDown*, Cena turned on and attacked Kidman, blaming him for their loss, becoming a villain for the first and only time in his career. On the October 17 episode of *SmackDown*, Cena defeated Kidman in a singles contest, but was defeated by Kidman in a rematch on the October 24 episode of *SmackDown*.

Shortly after the Kidman attack on a Halloween themed episode of *SmackDown*, Cena dressed as Vanilla Ice performing a freestyle rap. The following week on *SmackDown*, Cena received a new character: a rapper who cut promos while rhyming. He shortly after took on the nickname The Doctor of Thuganomics and expanded his gimmick to include him rapping before his matches. This is also when he started wearing hats and sports jerseys as a part of his ring gear. As the character evolved, Cena began adopting a variant of the 1980s WWF logo – dropping the "F" – as his "signature symbol", along with the slogan "Word Life". At Rebellion, Cena would team with Dawn Marie in a losing effort against Kidman and Torrie Wilson in a mixed tag team match.

Eventually, Cena was joined by an enforcer, Bull Buchanan, who was rechristened B-2 (also written B² and pronounced "B-Squared"). B-2 helped Cena kick off 2003 in victorious fashion with a win over Rikishi on the January 2 episode of *SmackDown* and a win over Chavo Guerrero on the January 9 episode of *SmackDown*. Both Cena and B-2 participated in the 2003 Royal Rumble match, but were unsuccessful. Cena and B-2 failed to capture the WWE Tag Team Championship from Los Guerreros, resulting in Cena replacing B-2 with Red Dogg until he was sent to the Raw brand in February 2003.

For the first half of 2003, Cena sought the WWE Championship and chased the reigning champion Brock Lesnar after WrestleMania XIX, gaining upset wins over Eddie Guerrero, The Undertaker and Chris Benoit, who mocked him by wearing a "Toothless Aggression" shirt. Cena won a number one contender's tournament for the right to face off against Lesnar for the WWE Championship at Backlash, but he failed to win the title at the event. After Backlash, Cena entered into a feud with Rhyno and Chris Benoit, which led to Cena, along with Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli, defeating the team of Spanky, Rhyno and Benoit at Judgment Day. Shortly thereafter, Cena began mocking The Undertaker before and after his matches leading to a match between the two at Vengeance, where he lost a singles match against The Undertaker.

In a rematch between the two, Cena would once again defeat The Undertaker on the August 5 episode of *SmackDown*, this time with assistance from A-Train. The feud between the two came to an end on the August 19 episode of *SmackDown*, when Cena and A-Train defeated Undertaker and Orlando Jordan in a tag team match. Cena then pursued the United States Championship, but lost to then champion Eddie Guerrero in a Latino Street Fight for the title.

After losing to Kurt Angle at No Mercy, Cena became a fan favorite (of which he's remained since) when he joined Angle as a member of his team at Survivor Series, where Cena and Chris Benoit were the survivors. Despite feuding, Cena and Benoit would later join forces as a makeshift tag team and on the November 27 episode of *SmackDown,* both won a 20-man battle royal to earn a WWE Championship match when, after being the last two men remaining, they would eliminate each other at the same time and were both declared joint winners of the match. However, Benoit defeated Cena the following week on *SmackDown* to earn a WWE Championship match against Lesnar that same night.

In early 2004, Cena participated in the Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble, making it to the final six before being eliminated by Big Show. Chris Benoit was the eventual winner of the match. The Royal Rumble elimination led to a feud with Big Show. At No Way Out, Cena faced Big Show and Kurt Angle in a triple threat match for a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania XX, which Cena lost by submission to Angle. Cena won his first singles championship in WWE, the United States Championship from Big Show at WrestleMania XX. He held the title for four months with successful defenses against the likes of Rene Dupree, Rob Van Dam and Booker T, until he was stripped of the title on the July 8 episode of *SmackDown* by Angle after he accidentally knocked him over, thus attacking an official. Cena won the championship back defeating Booker T in a best of five series that culminated at No Mercy, only to drop it to the débuting Carlito Caribbean Cool the following week on *SmackDown*. After the loss to Carlito, the duo began a feud, which resulted in Cena allegedly being stabbed in the kidney while at a Boston-area nightclub by Carlito's bodyguard, Jesús. This worked injury was used to keep Cena out of action for a month while Cena was filming *The Marine*. Immediately after his return in November, Cena won the United States Championship back from Carlito. Cena later successfully defended the championship against Jesus at Armageddon in a street fight match.

Cena took part in the 2005 Royal Rumble match, making it to the final two along with Batista until both went over the top rope at the same time, ostensibly ending the match, which was restarted and won by Batista. The next month, Cena then participated in a number one contender's tournament for the WWE Championship and made to the finals at No Way Out, where he defeated Kurt Angle to earn a spot in the SmackDown brand's WrestleMania 21 main event match, beginning a feud with then WWE Champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) and his Cabinet in the process. In the early stages of the feud, Cena lost the United States Championship to Cabinet member Orlando Jordan after JBL interfered and hit Cena with his title belt.

Cena defeated JBL at WrestleMania to win the WWE Championship, giving Cena his first world championship. Cena then had a spinner WWE Championship belt made, while JBL took the original title belt and claimed to still be WWE Champion, until Cena reclaimed the original championship belt in an "I Quit" match at Judgment Day.

Cena was drafted to the Raw brand on June 6, 2005, taking his title with him and became the first wrestler selected in the annual draft lottery. Cena immediately entered a feud with Eric Bischoff, after refusing to participate in the "war" against the Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) roster at One Night Stand. At Vengeance, Cena made his first successful title defense since coming to *Raw*, defeating Christian and Chris Jericho in a triple threat match. With Bischoff vowing to make Cena's stint on Raw difficult, he hand picked Jericho to take Cena's championship from him. During their feud, even though Cena was portrayed as the "face" (hero) and Jericho as the "heel" (villain), a vocal section of live crowds, nonetheless, were cheering Jericho during their matches. Crowds started to heavily boo Cena during his next feud with Kurt Angle, 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*. Cena held on to the WWE Championship through his feud with Angle, losing to him by disqualification at Unforgiven, pinning Shawn Michaels in a triple threat match involving Angle at Taboo Tuesday, and pinning Angle at Survivor Series. The feud with Angle also saw Cena add a secondary, submission based, finishing maneuver – the *STF* (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 episode of *Raw*.

At New Year's Revolution, Cena participated in the main event Elimination Chamber match where he retained the WWE Championship when he last eliminated Carlito. Immediately after a bloodied Cena won, Edge made his way to the ring to cash in his Money in the Bank contract – a "guaranteed title match against the WWE Champion at a time and place of the owner's choosing". Two quick spears allowed Edge to pin Cena and win the championship. Three weeks later, Cena won the championship back at the Royal Rumble. After that, Cena began feuding with Triple H, in which the crowd again started booing Cena and cheering the intended villain, Triple H, after being mostly cheered the last few months. Cena beat Triple H at WrestleMania 22 to retain the WWE Championship. The negative reaction towards Cena intensified when facing Rob Van Dam at One Night Stand. Cena lost the WWE Championship to Van Dam at One Night Stand after interference from Edge.

In July, Edge won the championship from Van Dam in a triple threat match that also involved Cena, re-igniting the feud between him and Cena from earlier in the year. After Edge went about retaining the title by dubious means—getting himself disqualified (for which championships do not change hands) and using brass knuckles—he introduced his own version of Cena's "custom" title belt, this one with his logo placed on the spinner. Cena eventually won the championship back in a match and arena of Edge's choice: a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at Unforgiven at the Air Canada Centre in Edge's hometown of Toronto, Ontario, Canada after performing the *FU* on Edge through two tables off a ladder. The match had a stipulation that, had Cena lost, he would have left the Raw brand for SmackDown. Cena returned his version of the spinner title belt on the next night's *Raw*.

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 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. 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*, Federline appeared at Cyber Sunday to hit Cena with the World Heavyweight Championship during the match, helping King Booker retain his championship. 2006 ended with Cena beginning a feud with the undefeated Umaga over the WWE Championship, 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. At the pay-per-view event, New Year's Revolution, Cena defeated Umaga to end his undefeated streak and retain the WWE Championship. At the Royal Rumble, Cena defeated Umaga in a Last Man Standing match to retain the title after Umaga was unable to get to his feet before the referee's ten count.

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. At WrestleMania 23, Cena defeated Michales to retain the WWE Championship after forcing him to submit to the STF.

The next night on *Raw*, 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. 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 before assaulting Cena himself and stealing the physical title belt. 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 and then by pinfall at One Night Stand. Later that summer, Randy Orton was named the number one contender for the WWE Championship, starting a feud between the two. Leading up to SummerSlam, Orton delivered a number of sneak-attacks, performing three *RKOs* to Cena, who in the actual match retained the championship. 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.

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. Though finishing the match and taking part in the scripted attack by 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. As a result, Cena was stripped of the title by Mr. McMahon on the next night's episode of *ECW*, ending what was the longest WWE Championship reign in over 19 years. Cena's surgery was performed by orthopedic surgeon James Andrews at St. Vincent's Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. 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. Despite his injury, Cena attended the annual WWE's *Tribute to the Troops* show filmed at Camp Speicher in Tikrit, Iraq on December 7, and aired on December 24.

Cena made a surprise return as the final participant of the Royal Rumble match, winning the match, and the traditional WrestleMania title shot, by last eliminating Triple H. Instead of waiting until WrestleMania, the title shot was cashed in against then WWE Champion Randy Orton at February's No Way Out pay-per-view in a match where Cena won by disqualification, resulting in him not getting the championship. The following night on *Raw*, Cena was placed back into WrestleMania XXIV's WWE Championship match by defeating Orton in a non-title match with Triple H as special guest referee, making it a triple threat match between the three men, during which he was pinned by Orton. At Backlash, Cena failed to regain the title in a fatal four-way elimination match, in which he was eliminated by Orton. During that match, Cena eliminated JBL, renewing their feud from 2005. Cena defeated JBL at Judgment Day and then at One Night Stand in a First Blood match. However, JBL defeated him in a New York City Parking Lot Brawl at The Great American Bash in July to end the feud. Cena also failed to regain the WWE Championship from Triple H at Night of Champions.

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, but failed to retain the championship the following week against the former champions. Cena lost to Batista at SummerSlam. Shortly after, Cena was named one of four contenders for CM Punk's World Heavyweight Championship in the Championship Scramble match at Unforgiven, but he was replaced by Rey Mysterio after suffering a herniated disc in his neck, which required surgery. Cena underwent successful surgery to repair the injury.

Cena made his in-ring return at the November's Survivor Series pay-per-view event, defeating Chris Jericho to win his first World Heavyweight Championship. The two continued their rivalry up to Armageddon, where Cena retained his championship. After defeating JBL at the Royal Rumble, Cena lost the championship at No Way Out to Edge, who attacked Kofi Kingston and took his place in the Elimination Chamber match. Cena received his rematch for the title at WrestleMania XXV in a triple threat match also involving Big Show, which Cena won.

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. This resulted in Cena beginning a feud with Big Show in which Cena defeated Big Show at Judgment Day and at Extreme Rules in a submission match by applying the *STFU*. During Cena's feud with Big Show, The Miz challenged him to a match on the April 27 episode of *Raw*, but as Cena was out due to injury, Miz claimed an unofficial win via forfeit and continued to do this over the following weeks, until Cena defeated him in a singles match at The Bash.

At Night of Champions in July, Cena challenged for the WWE Championship in a triple threat match against Triple H and defending champion Randy Orton (a rematch from WrestleMania XXIV), but was pinned by Orton after interference from Orton's protèges Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. The next night on *Raw*, Cena won a beat the clock challenge to earn another shot at the WWE Championship at SummerSlam, where Orton would use several underhanded tactics to retain his title. A month later at Breaking Point, Cena defeated Orton in an "I Quit" match to win his fourth WWE Championship, but lost the title back to Orton in a Hell in a Cell match at the eponymous event. Three weeks later at Bragging Rights, Cena defeated Orton in a 60-minute Iron Man match to regain the championship. Cena successfully defended the title against both Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a triple threat match at Survivor Series, but lost it to Sheamus at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in a tables match. The next night, Cena competed in a tournament to crown the 2009 Superstar of the Year, defeating CM Punk in the first round and Orton in the finals later that night to win the honor. He would get his rematch for the WWE Championship against Sheamus on the final *Raw* of 2009, where he won by disqualification, but did not win the championship. At the Royal Rumble, Cena competed in the eponymous match and made it to the final two, where he was eliminated by the returning Edge. While Cena regained the title at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in an Elimination Chamber match, his reign was cut short after Mr. McMahon immediately made him defend the title against Batista, who won the title. Cena defeated Batista at WrestleMania XXVI for the title and successfully defended it at Extreme Rules, in a Last Man Standing rematch. Cena faced Batista one more time, winning an "I Quit" match at Over the Limit, thus ending their long-time feud.

On the June 7 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 the first season of *NXT*, with Wade Barrett as their leader. This group later referred to itself as The Nexus. The stable's interferences made him lost the WWE Title at Fatal 4-Way against Sheamus and the rematch at Money in the Bank. In retaliation to The Nexus, Cena formed an alliance with Edge, Chris Jericho, John Morrison, R-Truth, The Great Khali and Bret Hart. They defeated The Nexus at SummerSlam with help from the returning Daniel Bryan, a former member of Nexus, who replaced Khali.

Then, Cena faced Wade Barrett at Hell in a Cell with the stipulations that if he were to lose, he would join The Nexus. After Barrett defeated Cena, he joined The Nexus. Cena and fellow Nexus member David Otunga defeated Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre to win the WWE Tag Team Championship at Bragging Rights. Later that night, he was forced to help Barrett defeat Orton in a WWE Championship match, giving Barrett the disqualification win, but not the title. The following night on *Raw*, Cena and Otunga lost the WWE Tag Team Championship to fellow Nexus members Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel, when Barrett ordered Otunga to lay down and lose the title. At Survivor Series, Cena officiated a match for the WWE Championship between Wade Barrett and Randy Orton. Per stipulation, if Barrett didn't win the championship, Cena would be "fired" from the WWE.

Orton defeated Barrett to retain the title, thus terminating Cena's WWE contract (kayfabe). The following night on *Raw*, Cena gave a farewell speech, before costing Wade Barrett the WWE Championship by interfering in his rematch with Randy Orton. A week later, Cena invaded *Raw*, first as a spectator, but 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. On the December 13 episode of *Raw*, Cena was rehired by Barrett in exchange that he would face him on December 19 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in a chairs match, which Cena won.

On the December 27 episode of *Raw*, The Nexus, minus Barrett, announced they were under new management and offered to bury the hatchet with Cena, to which he 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 apparently attack Cena, but instead put on the armband left behind to symbolically announce his allegiance with The Nexus, becoming leader the following week by manipulating Barrett's banishment from the group. On the January 17, 2011 episode of *Raw*, Cena returned and faced Punk in a match, which ended in a no contest after Cena was attacked by the debuting Mason Ryan, who later joined The Nexus. Cena competed in the 2011 Royal Rumble match at the pay-per-view, which saw Cena eliminate most of the Nexus members, ending his feud with the stable.

During the same match at the Royal Rumble, Cena made it to the final five before being eliminated by then WWE Champion The Miz, who was not part of the match. Cena won the Elimination Chamber match at the titular pay-per-view to face Miz at WrestleMania XXVII for the WWE Championship.

On the February 21 episode of *Raw*, Cena replied in rap form to comments made by The Rock the previous week, as The Rock returned as the announced guest host of WrestleMania. That 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. However, their rematch clause was immediately invoked and they won the title back after The Miz attacked Cena. After weeks of insults, Cena and Rock finally met, where, after a verbal confrontation, and brief attack by The Miz and Alex Riley, Cena attacked The Rock with the *Attitude Adjustment*. At WrestleMania XXVII, Cena and Miz fought to a double countout, but The Rock restarted the match and performed a *Rock Bottom* on Cena, allowing The Miz to retain the title. The next night on *Raw*, Cena, in response to The Rock "screwing" him out of the title, agreed to face him in the main event of WrestleMania XXVIII, making it the first match to be set up for WrestleMania one year in advance. At Extreme Rules, Cena defeated The Miz and John Morrison to become WWE Champion. Cena went on to successfully defend the title against The Miz at Over the Limit in an "I Quit" match and R-Truth at Capitol Punishment. Cena then began a feud with CM Punk, who was leaving the company at Money in the Bank, where he defeated Cena to win the WWE Championship, and left the company with the title. After Rey Mysterio won the WWE Championship in a tournament, Cena challenged and defeated him later that night to become WWE Champion for a record-breaking ninth time, only to be interrupted by CM Punk, who also claimed to be champion. Punk again defeated Cena at SummerSlam in a championship unification match. After Alberto Del Rio became WWE Champion by cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase, Cena became number one contender and beat Del Rio at Night of Champions to win the WWE Championship for the tenth time. He lost it back to Del Rio at Hell in a Cell, in a triple threat Hell in a Cell match also involving CM Punk. Cena lost his rematch to Alberto Del Rio at Vengeance in a Last Man Standing match, due to interference by The Miz and R-Truth. 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 and Cena chose The Rock as his partner. Despite exchanging insults in the following weeks, they defeated Miz and Truth, though Rock closed the show by giving Cena a *Rock Bottom*.

Cena then began a feud with Kane, who cited his disgust for Cena's "Rise Above Hate" slogan and claimed that Cena would need to embrace the hate in order to defeat The Rock at WrestleMania. Cena fought Kane to a draw at the Royal Rumble, and then defeated him in an Ambulance match at Elimination Chamber. At WrestleMania XXVIII, Cena faced The Rock in the main event match which had been building for a year and was billed as "once in a lifetime". The match ended when Cena attempted the *People's Elbow* on The Rock, and Rock countered with a *Rock Bottom* for the pinfall. The following night on *Raw*, Cena accepted his loss and invited The Rock to the ring so that he could congratulate him. However, Cena's call was answered instead by the returning Brock Lesnar, who then attacked Cena with an *F-5*. This resulted in Cena feuding with the *Raw* general manager John Laurinaitis, who revealed that he signed Lesnar to bring "legitimacy" to WWE and for Lesnar to become its "new face". At Extreme Rules, Cena defeated Lesnar in an Extreme Rules match. His feud with Laurinaitis escalated after Big Show cost Cena a match against him at Over the Limit, but Laurinaitis was fired at No Way Out after Cena defeated Big Show in a match with both of their jobs on the line. Cena won the Money in the Bank ladder match at the eponymous pay-per-view, earning a contract for a shot at the WWE Championship anytime within a year.  At *Raw 1000*, Cena cashed in his contract on CM Punk, and won the match by disqualification after Big Show interfered, becoming the first person to cash in a Money in the Bank contract and not win a title. Cena's feud with Punk continued into SummerSlam, where Punk defeated Cena and Big Show to retain the title, and at Night of Champions, where they fought to a draw. After being sidelined with a legitimate arm injury, Cena returned at Survivor Series to be pinned by Punk in a match which also featured Ryback. Cena then feuded with Dolph Ziggler over an alleged relationship with AJ Lee and at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, lost to him in a ladder match for his Money in the Bank contract, after AJ turned on Cena. The following night on *Raw*, Cena teamed with Vickie Guerrero to face Ziggler and AJ in a mixed tag team match which ended in a disqualification after Cena was attacked by the debuting Big E Langston. Cena then defeated Ziggler on the January 7, 2013 episode of *Raw* in a singles match, and again in a steel cage match the following week, despite interference from AJ and Langston in both matches to end the feud.

On January 27, 2013, Cena won his second Royal Rumble match, and later announced that he'd pursue the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 29. Cena, along with Ryback and Sheamus, began feuding with The Shield, which culminated in a six-man tag team match at Elimination Chamber, where The Shield were victorious. On the February 25 episode of *Raw*, Cena defeated CM Punk to reaffirm his status as number one contender for the Rock's WWE Championship. He then returned to his rivalry with The Rock, with Cena blaming his personal and professional troubles on his loss to The Rock the previous year, going so far as admitting his own vanity had cost him the match. At WrestleMania 29, Cena defeated Rock in their rematch to win his eleventh WWE Championship and shook hands with Rock as sign of respect. Cena then began a rivalry with Ryback, during which Cena suffered a legitimate achilles tendon injury, while also battling The Shield and facing them in losing efforts. Cena retained his championship against Ryback in a Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules as the match ended in a no contest after both men were down for a 10 count. Cena then defeated Ryback in a Three Stages of Hell match at Payback. He defeated Mark Henry via submission at Money in the Bank. At SummerSlam, Cena lost the WWE Championship to Daniel Bryan, with Triple H as the special guest referee ending his reign at 133 days. The following night on *Raw*, Cena announced that he would undergo surgery for a triceps tear and would be out for four to six months.

Cena returned at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view and defeated Alberto Del Rio to win his third World Heavyweight Championship. Cena successfully defended his championship against Damien Sandow on the October 28 episode of *Raw*, and Alberto Del Rio in a rematch at Survivor Series. Next, Cena challenged then WWE Champion Randy Orton to unify their respective championships, with The Authority agreeing and arranging for a Tables, Ladders and Chairs title unification match at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, which Cena lost. A rematch occurred at the Royal Rumble for the now unified WWE World Heavyweight Championship, where Cena lost after being distracted by The Wyatt Family. The Wyatts continued to interfere in Cena's matches, and at Elimination Chamber, caused Cena's elimination in the Elimination Chamber match.

After Elimination Chamber, Bray Wyatt accepted Cena's challenge for a WrestleMania match; Wyatt wanted to prove that Cena's heroic act was a facade characteristic of "this era of lies" while further wanting to turn Cena into a "monster". At WrestleMania XXX, Cena overcame interference from Luke Harper and Erick Rowan to defeat Wyatt. The feud continued after WrestleMania based on the story that Wyatt was capturing Cena's fanbase, which was exemplified by Wyatt leading a children's choir to the ring on the April 28 episode of *Raw*, with the children later putting on sheep masks. At Extreme Rules, Wyatt defeated Cena in a steel cage match, after repeated interference from the rest of the Wyatt Family members and a demonic child. Cena's feud with Wyatt continued with a Last Man Standing match being set up for Payback, where Cena buried Wyatt under multiple equipment cases to win the match.

On the June 16 episode of *Raw*, Cena defeated Kane in a stretcher match to qualify for the ladder match for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Money in the Bank, where Cena won his 15th world championship. Cena then retained the title at Battleground in a fatal four-way match against Roman Reigns, Randy Orton and Kane. At SummerSlam, Cena lost the championship to Brock Lesnar in a squash match, during which Lesnar hit Cena with sixteen suplexes and two *F-5s*, ending his reign at 49 days. Cena invoked his title rematch clause against Lesnar for Night of Champions, nearly winning before Seth Rollins attacked him to cause a disqualification, although he became the first wrestler to defeat Lesnar in two WWE pay-per-view events, Cena then began feuding with Dean Ambrose for the right to face Rollins at Hell in a Cell, but Ambrose won the right by defeating Cena in a No Holds Barred Contract on a Pole match. Cena would instead face Randy Orton in a Hell in a Cell match to determine the #1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, which Cena won.

On October 27 episode of *Raw*, Cena rejected The Authority's offer to join forces, which resulted in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination tag match between Team Cena and Team Authority at Survivor Series. Cena's team consisted of Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Erick Rowan and Ryback; at Survivor Series, Show turned on Cena, causing Cena's elimination, but Ziggler eventually won the match for Team Cena with the interfering Sting's help. Thus as per the match stipulation, The Authority were stripped from power and only Cena could bring them back. At TLC: Tables, Ladders, Chairs & Stairs, Cena defeated Rollins in a tables match to retain his WWE World Heavyweight Championship No. 1 contender status. It was then announced that Cena would face Lesnar for the title at the Royal Rumble. On the December 29 episode of *Raw*, Rollins and Big Show held guest host Edge hostage, forcing Cena to reinstate The Authority. On the January 5 episode of *Raw*, The Authority added Rollins to the title match at the Royal Rumble involving Cena and Lesnar, and Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan were "fired" for joining Team Cena at Survivor Series. On the January 19 episode of *Raw*, Cena won a handicap match against Rollins, Big Show and Kane to retain his title shot at the Royal Rumble and win back the jobs of Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan. At the Royal Rumble, Cena was unsuccessful in capturing the title.

Following the Royal Rumble, Cena began feuding with then United States Champion Rusev and at Fastlane, Rusev defeated Cena to retain his title after Cena passed out to his submission, the *Accolade*, after Rusev hit Cena with a low blow following a distraction from his manager Lana. In the following weeks, Cena challenged Rusev to a rematch, which was declined, and Stephanie McMahon decreed that Cena would not compete at WrestleMania 31 unless Rusev agreed to a rematch. On the March 9 episode of *Raw*, Cena attacked Rusev, refusing to release the *STF* submission hold, causing Lana to grant Cena the match. Cena defeated Rusev at WrestleMania to win the United States Championship for the fourth time, marking Rusev's first pinfall loss in the main roster. The following night on *Raw*, Cena announced that he would issue an open challenge each week on *Raw* with his United States Championship on the line—he successfully defended his title against the likes of Dean Ambrose, Stardust, Bad News Barrett, Kane, Sami Zayn, Neville, Zack Ryder and Cesaro. Cena retained his title against Rusev in a Russian Chain match at Extreme Rules and a "I Quit" match at Payback. The following night on *Raw*, Cena was attacked by then NXT Champion Kevin Owens, setting up a Champion vs. Champion match at Elimination Chamber, where Owens defeated Cena, but Cena defeated Owens in a rematch at Money in the Bank. Cena defeated Owens at Battleground to retain the United States Championship and end the feud. Cena then resumed his feud with then WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, with Rollins refusing Cena's challenges for the title. On the July 27 episode of Raw, The Authority forced Cena to defend the United States Championship against Rollins. Cena defeated Rollins despite suffering a legitimate broken nose during the match. Cena then faced Rollins in a "Winner Takes All" match at SummerSlam, for both the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and the United States Championship, which Cena lost after guest host Jon Stewart, appearing to side with Cena, instead attacked him with a steel chair, ending Cena's reign at 147 days.

Cena defeated Rollins to win the title for the fifth time at Night of Champions, a record in the WWE ownership era of the title. Cena then retained his title against Rollins the following night on *Raw* and then in a steel cage match at WWE Live from Madison Square Garden, while also restarting his open challenges and successfully defend the title against New Day members Xavier Woods and Big E, and Dolph Ziggler. At Hell in a Cell, Cena lost the title to the returning Alberto Del Rio in an open challenge. After a hiatus, Cena returned on the December 28 episode of *Raw*, defeating Del Rio by disqualification in a rematch for the title. On the January 7, 2016 episode of *SmackDown* taped on January 5, Cena aided Kalisto at ringside to victory against Del Rio. That same day, he underwent surgery on a shoulder injury, which would keep him out of action for an undisclosed amount of time.

Cena returned at WrestleMania 32, helping The Rock fend off The Wyatt Family. Cena then made his full return on the Memorial Day edition of *Raw* on May 30, four months earlier than had been expected for his type of injury. He was confronted by AJ Styles, only to be betrayed by Styles, who joined his Club teammates Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in attacking Cena. This set up a match between Cena and Styles at Money in the Bank, which Styles won with interference from Gallows and Anderson. On the July 4 episode of *Raw*, Cena was again attacked by the Club, but was saved by Enzo Amore and Big Cass. Subsequently, a six-man tag team match was made between the two teams for Battleground. On July 19 at the 2016 WWE draft, Cena was drafted to the SmackDown brand, while also defeating Club member Luke Gallows via pinfall in a singles contest. Cena, Amore and Cass defeated The Club at Battleground after Cena pinned Styles. Cena continued his feud with Styles, which resulted in him losing their match at SummerSlam on August 21. With Styles later winning the renamed WWE World Championship, Cena challenged him and Dean Ambrose in a triple threat match for the title at No Mercy. He lost the match after being pinned by Styles, which came after Ambrose and Cena simultaneously made Styles submit, therefore restarting the match.

On January 29, 2017, Cena defeated Styles at Royal Rumble to tie Ric Flair for the most world title reigns at 16. However, Cena would lose the championship two weeks later in an Elimination Chamber match at the namesake pay-per-view to Bray Wyatt. Two nights later on *SmackDown Live*, Cena lost a triple threat match against Wyatt for the championship in a match also featuring Styles. Cena then began a feud with The Miz, with Miz accusing Cena of being a hypocrite due to his movie commitments, while Cena accused Miz of stealing other wrestlers' moves and personalities. Miz's wife Maryse then slapped Cena before Cena and his girlfriend Nikki Bella sent Miz and Maryse retreating. SmackDown GM Daniel Bryan then set up a mixed tag team match between the two pairs for WrestleMania 33, which Cena and Bella won. Cena proposed marriage to Bella after the match and she accepted. After WrestleMania, Cena then went on another hiatus.

In July 2017, WWE dubbed Cena a "free agent" during the Superstar Shake-up, meaning he would work for both the Raw and SmackDown brands. Following his return, Cena feuded and defeated Rusev in a flag match at Battleground, Baron Corbin at SummerSlam, and was defeated by Roman Reigns at No Mercy. During his feud with Reigns, the two cut various worked shoot promos on each other, going back and forth about what they perceive the other to be and why the crowds react the way they do. Despite sparking rumors of his retirement after the match by endorsing Reigns, taking a bow, thanking the crowd, and waving goodbye to them before leaving, Cena returned to SmackDown the next month after Commissioner Shane McMahon named him the final member of Team SmackDown for the men's 5-on-5 elimination match against Team Raw at Survivor Series; at the event, Cena was eliminated by Kurt Angle and Team SmackDown was later defeated.

From January until April 2018, Cena was involved in a storyline where he was trying to find his "path to WrestleMania". After he lost the Royal Rumble and the namesake Elimination Chamber match to determine the next number one contender for the Universal Championship at Elimination Chamber, as well as a six-pack challenge at Fastlane for the WWE Championship, Cena issued a challenge to The Undertaker for a match at WrestleMania 34. He reiterated his challenge over the next several weeks, only to receive no answer from Undertaker. At WrestleMania 34, after Cena drove off Elias in a confrontation, Undertaker made an impromptu return and accepted Cena's challenge, leading to a shocked Cena losing to Undertaker in just two minutes. Three weeks later, at the Greatest Royal Rumble, Cena defeated Triple H. After the match he thanked the crowd for sticking by him during a tough period, referencing his loss to Undertaker at WrestleMania and his recent breakup with Nikki Bella. He then went on hiatus.]Cena made his return in October, competing in a tag team match with Bobby Lashley against Elias and Kevin Owens at Super Show-Down in Melbourne, Australia, which he and Lashley won. He was also scheduled for a match at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, but Cena refused to work the event.

Cena returned to WWE television on the December 29 taping of *SmackDown* which aired on January 1, 2019. Upon his return, he put out an open challenge to any 'Man' in the locker room with Becky Lynch answering the call. This led to Andrade Cien Almas and Zelina Vega interrupting the pair with a mixed tag team bout set up which Cena and Lynch would go on to win. After the match, Cena endorsed Lynch. On the January 14 episode of *Raw*, Cena competed against Finn Bálor and Drew McIntyre in a triple threat match to determine the number one contender for the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble, but failed to win as the match was won by Bálor. Cena was scheduled to compete in the Royal Rumble match at the event, but was taken out due to a kayfabe ankle injury apparently suffered during the aforementioned triple threat match. Cena then appeared at WrestleMania 35, but in his Doctor of Thuganomics persona and interrupted Elias' concert. During the segment, he insulted Elias with a rap, joked about turning heel, and performed his finisher on Elias, but called it by its original name, the *F-U*. Cena returned on the July 22, 2019, special edition of *Raw* titled *Raw Reunion*, where he had a rap battle with The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso).

Following a seven-month hiatus, Cena made his return to WWE during the February 28, 2020 episode of *SmackDown* to address his role at WrestleMania 36. Seemingly announcing a retirement, he said he would not be appearing at the event, as WrestleMania spots should be earned. As Cena gave a farewell salute to the audience from the stage, the lights went out. When they illuminated, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt appeared behind Cena. The Fiend then pointed to the WrestleMania sign, signaling a challenge to Cena, who simply nodded in acceptance. A match between the two was then scheduled for the event, being a rematch of sorts from WrestleMania XXX in 2014. At the event, rather than a traditional wrestling match, the two squared off in a surreal trip through history as moments from Cena's and Wyatt's history were played out including Cena's debut against Kurt Angle, a moment featuring the Doctor of Thuganomics, and the pair's match at WrestleMania XXX. Wyatt ultimately defeated Cena at WrestleMania. Following Wyatt's victory, Cena's motionless body vanished from the middle of the ring.

Cena took another long hiatus and returned again at Money in the Bank on July 18, 2021 to confront Roman Reigns after he retained his Universal Championship. On the following night's *Raw*, Cena claimed Reigns, who had since become a heel, brought him back to WWE. He said he would put Reigns in his place and challenged him for the Universal Championship at SummerSlam, and said he would see him on *SmackDown*. On *SmackDown*, Reigns turned down Cena's challenge. Cena then competed in a dark match after *SmackDown* went off the air, teaming with Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio to defeat The Bloodline (Roman Reigns and The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso)), in which Reigns walked out of the match. Reigns had instead accepted a challenge from Finn Bálor for the title, however, during the contract signing the following week, an altercation occurred that ultimately led to Cena signing the contract, thus confirming that Cena would challenge Reigns for the Universal Championship at SummerSlam. At SummerSlam, Reigns defeated Cena after a back-and-forth contest; after the event went off-air, a returning Brock Lesnar delivered multiple german suplexes and an *F5* to Cena.

On the June 6, 2022 episode of *Raw*, it was announced that Cena would return on the June 27 episode of *Raw*, which marked the twentieth anniversary of his main roster in-ring debut. On that episode of *Raw*, Cena returned and cut a promo recalling all his memories and thanking the fans for their support. On the December 16 episode of *SmackDown*, Cena appeared to announce himself as Kevin Owens surprise tag team partner against The Bloodline’s Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn for the December 30 edition of *SmackDown*. At the event, Cena and Owens would defeat Reigns and Zayn.

In February and March 2023, Austin Theory would call out Cena multiple times and challenge him to a match at WrestleMania 39 for Theory's United States Championship. Cena would eventually accept, scheduling a match between the pair at WrestleMania. At the event, Cena would lose to Theory. On July 1, Cena made a surprise appearance at Money in the Bank, where he was confronted by Grayson Waller after Cena stated that WrestleMania should come to the United Kingdom. Waller would then attack Cena, before Cena would go on to deliver the *Attitude Adjustment* on Waller. On August 18, Cena appeared on *SmackDown*, congratulating Edge on his twenty-fifth anniversary with WWE. Cena served as the host of the Payback pay-per-view on September 2. During the event, Cena was the special guest referee for the LA Knight and The Miz match, where LA Knight emerged victorious. At Superstar Spectacle in India, Cena and Seth "Freakin" Rollins teamed up to defeat Imperium (Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser). Following several weeks of feuding with The Bloodline (Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa), on the September 22 edition of *SmackDown* it was announced Cena would face the duo at Fastlane in a handicap match. The following week, it was revealed that LA Knight would join Cena in the match, turning it into a tag team match. At the event, Cena and Knight would be successful against Sikoa and Uso. At Crown Jewel on November 4, Cena was defeated by Solo Sikoa.