Note: This page is for trivia related to Cena's wrestling performances. Trivia about his career overall go on his creator page.
Ascended Fanon: Ryback actually referred to Cena as "Super Cena" during a confrontation with Mick Foley on the April 22, 2013 Raw.
Contractual Purity: Cena has stated this as one of the main reasons why its difficult for him to turn heel. Cena has enjoyed the charity work that he has done as the top face of the WWE, becoming Make-A-Wish's most requested personality. He insisted that he will have to give up all those works (and likewise the company if they didn't have a replacement ready) to become a villain. His famous chain/padlock belt over jean shorts was the result of him being uncomfortable with fans contemplating his penis (he got over that) when he wore wrestling shorts.
Creator Backlash: His tenure as the villainous "Big Tim" on the 2001 UPN reality show Manhunt, which was cancelled after just 6 episodes amidst claims of rigging and is now considered Lost Media.
Dye Hard: Went blond for a while as the Prototype.
Fan Community Nicknames: The Chain Gang (as the Doctor of Thuganomics)/The Cenation (in his current gimmick).
Hostility on the Set: Most backstage drama relating to Cena has been quiet and mostly related to lower card guys like Alex Riley. The sole exception to this is his 2011-2012 feud with The Rock, where the two apparently had legitimate heat against each other. They managed to put it aside for the sake of the fans, and by 2013 they had buried the hatchet. Cena in particular expressed regret at many of the barbs he threw at the Rock departing WWE for Hollywood especially in the wake of him doing the same thing several years down the line.
Money, Dear Boy: The reason for Cena's current face gimmick has lasted as long as it has. His merchandise alone has drawn in tons of money for WWE, especially the Anti-Cena merch, which has made them afraid of changing his character at all.
Reality Subtext: When it became public knowledge that he was dating Nikki Bella, the romance angle with AJ was quickly rewritten so that he wasn't into her crazy persona, leading to her turning against him. Before that, their breakup was due to Poor Communication Kills, John Cena accidentally insulted AJ's hand made gifts for him when he though they were plants by Vickie Guerrero.
Was engaged to Nikki Bella, proposing to her after their match against The Miz and Maryse at WrestleMania 33. Unfortunately, they ended things only a month or so before the wedding, having finally come to accept that their differing priorities in life meant they couldn't make the relationship work anymore, despite still being very much in love.
There were rumors going around that Cena had an affair with Mickie James. Kenny Dykstra, who was previously engaged to James, claimed that it was true, stating it was why their engagement ended, and that the real reason Mickie was sent to SmackDown! in late 2009 was because she had a Freak Out after Cena left her for his fiancee, causing management to force a separation at work because they wouldn't be on speaking terms. He also claims that his outing of the relationship is what led to his push being stopped and being drafted to SmackDown! as a jobber, before disappearing from TV altogether and eventually released in November 2008. Whether or not Dykstra is reliable is up for debate, as the confirmation came out years later during Cena's divorce proceedings, indicating either an underlying undertone of bitterness or an attempt to put the spotlight on himself. It became unreliable when it was debunked by both Cena and James herself, who claims she and Cena are still good friends, and especially so after James returned to the company while Cena was still active on it (albeit now on a recurring basis due to his increasing acting roles).
Dykstra also claimed that Cena briefly dated Victoria, who was married at the time. She confirmed the brief relationship.
In 2004, WWE did an angle where Cena was stabbed at a night club and he would face his assailant. At the time WWE management thought about making the assailant... New Jack. Yes, that New Jack. After management figured that New Jack would probably be too reckless, they opted with Carlito's bodyguard instead, Jesus.
Going down with a serious injury literally days before he was to drop the WWE Championship at No Mercy 2007 to Randy Orton in what would most likely have been another intensifier to their already red-hot feud.
In similar fashion, his injury in late 2012 prevented us from seeing CM PUNK vs. JOHN CENA V (and the first four had all delivered for the most part) for the WWE Title, inside Hell In A Cell.
The comprehensive beating Cena took at SummerSlam 2014 from Brock Lesnar, in one of the most one-sided WWE title matches in history? That was meant for Daniel Bryan, but Bryan vacating the title due to neck surgery led to WWE putting Cena in the spot instead.
As part of the infamous injury plague of 2015-16, Cena went down with a shoulder surgery which made him unable to have a match at WrestleMania 32, the first time in 12 years that he didn't have one at the event. A rumour that's gone around since then is that he was supposed to be wrestling THE GOD DAMN UNDERTAKER. While both men did have involvement at 32 with Cena assisting the Rock fight off the Wyatt Family and Taker facing off against Shane McMahon, the match ultimately did end up happening at 34, but it was a complete Curb-Stomp Battle in favor of Taker that was in the interest of restoring Taker's mystique more than anything else, likely because not even Cena could pull out a good enough match out of him after 33 made it clear how badly his body had broken down during his match with Roman Reigns.
In 2008, Cena was allied with Cryme Time (Shad Gaspard and JTG) in the wake of the PG rating shift. The idea seemed mutually beneficial at the time: Cryme Time would gain credibility by standing alongside the face of the WWE while Cena would have the opportunity to regain some of the edge he had back during his time as the Doctor of Thuganomics. However, this new alliance - Cryme Time Cenation - was pulled after Cena was injured.
WWE seriously considered booking Cena to win the 2004 Royal Rumble match before creative decided to go with Benoit. If this had happened, Cena may have received the monster push he eventually got a year before he actually did.
