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Profile: John Cena
After beginning his training in 2000 with Ultimate Pro Wrestling, John Cena - known as The Prototype - was signed to a WWE developmental contract and assigned to the Ohio Valley Wrestling feeder league.
On June 27, 2002, Cena debuted on SmackDown to answer an open challenge by Kurt Angle. Claiming that he had "ruthless aggression" (a phrase recently promoted by Vince McMahon as a requisite for success), Cena took the fight to Angle, kicking out of the Angle Slam and refusing to tap out to the ankle lock, but was ultimately pinned by the Olympic gold medalist. Nonetheless, John was presented as having impressed many in the locker room, receiving on-screen approval from The Undertaker, and continued for a short while in his underdog babyface role, taking in a brief feud with Chris Jericho.
After losing in a tournament match for the WWE Tag Team Titles, Cena turned on his partner Billy Kidman, blaming him for their defeat. Then, on the Halloween edition of SmackDown, Cena's mimmicking of Vanilla Ice led to a permanent new gimmick of a throwback white rapper, and he began cutting freestyles on his opponents before matches. During this early period of the gimmick, heel Cena recruited a bodyguard in the form of B-Squared (alias Bull Buchanan), later replaced by Red Dogg (later renamed Rodney Mack). In his first feud for the WWE Title, Cena introduced his finisher, the FU, a reference to the F5 of his opponent, Brock Lesnar.
By the time Survivor Series 2003 rolled around, Cena had turned babyface and joined Kurt Angle's team of fan favorites to battle Brock Lesnar's squad of heels. As fans got more and more behind his wise-cracking personality and showmanlike style in the ring, Cena's star continued to rise, earning him the United States Title at WrestleMania XX by pinning The Big Show following a giant FU. Altercations with heel General Manager Kurt Angle led to Cena being stripped of the title in July, but he briefly regained the gold in a Best Of Five Series against Booker T, before losing the belt the very next night to the debuting Carlito.
A storyline injury suffered in the ensuing feud with Carlito allowed Cena time off to film his first movie, The Marine, produced by WWE Films. When he returned and reclaimed the US Title, Cena replaced the belt with a custom "spinner" design, a trend he would later continue upon winning his first WWE Title. This victory would come at WrestleMania 21, when Cena defeated John Bradshaw Layfield following a feud that saw JBL cost Cena the US Title. With his new spinning WWE Title belt, Cena became the top star on the SmackDown brand and recognized by many as the figurehead for the post-Attitude era in WWE.
On June 6, 2005, Cena was drafted to the Raw brand as the first "random" pick in the draft lottery, taking the WWE Title with him. Later in the draft, World Heavyweight Champion Batista was sent to SmackDown, effectively swapping the top champions and titles between the brands. Now on the flagship WWE show, Cena's star continued to rise, putting him on an inevitable collision course with Raw's top heel, Triple H.
However, during this period, a noteable fan backlash began to develop and escalate, with many fans - particularly the "smart"/Internet community - resenting the Superman-like push given to Cena, in which he was booked to routinely overcome the odds against multiple or more established and respected opponents such as Kurt Angle. WWE was accused by these vocal critics of shoving its new poster boy down their throats, and although announcers had tried to downplay the anti-Cena heat it was undeniable at WrestleMania 22, when the babyface champion was cheered and booed in equal measures against Triple H, in arguably Cena's biggest match to date.
Cena's triumph over The Game did nothing to quell the animosity, and he entered One Night Stand that June as the clear enemy of the loyal ECW crowd, as he defended the WWE Title against the winner of that year's Money In The Bank, Rob Van Dam. Cena lost the match and the title due to outside interference from Edge, who had cashed in his own Money In The Bank contract that January at New Year's Revolution to briefly relieve Cena of the gold after John had survived all comers in the Elimination Chamber. After regaining the title at the Royal Rumble and turning his attention to Triple H, Cena was now very much involved in a renewed feud with Edge that would see them trade the championship once more.
Attributed by some to the effective heel personas of Edge, Cena's approval rating amongst fans seemed to rise again through the remainder of 2006, though boos remained audible in some cities more than others. Forced to choose between John (who ended Umaga's undefeated streak at New Year's Revolution 2007) and fellow babyface Shawn Michaels during their feud around WrestleMania 23 however, the number of Cena supporters again appeared to dwindle, with unsuccessful challenger Michaels enjoying a large share of the crowd's loyalty.
Committed to pushing Cena as the number one face in the company, WWE continues its efforts to balance the art of booking him as a strong champion with the backlash of his keen detractors.
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