Cena was born April 23, 1977, in West Newbury, Massachusetts,the son of Carol and John Cena, Sr. He is the second eldest of five brothers – Dan, Matt, Steve, and Sean. After graduating from Cushing Academy, Cena attended Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts.In college he was a Division III All-American center on the college football team, wearing the number 54, which is still used on some of his WWE merchandise. He graduated from Springfield in 1998 with a degree in exercise physiology, after which he pursued a career bodybuilding,and also worked as a chauffeur for a limousine company.
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| John Cena |
Training
Cena started training to become a professional wrestler in 2000 at the California-based "Ultimate University" operated by Ultimate Pro Wrestling. Once he was placed into an in-ring role, Cena began using a semi-robotic character known as The Prototype. Some of this period of his career was documented in the Discovery Channel program Inside Pro Wrestling School. While in UPW, Cena held the UPW Heavyweight Championship for just shy of a month in April 2000. In 2001, he signed a developmental contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and was assigned to its developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). During his time there, Cena wrestled as both The Prototype and Mr. P, and held the OVW Heavyweight Championship for three months and the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (with Rico Constantino) for two
months.
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| John Cena |
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| John Cena |
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| John Cena |
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| John Cena |
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| John Cena |