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During the Money in the Bank event in Toronto, Cena announced that he would be retiring from WWE.
The Massachusetts-born wrestler debuted on June 27, 2002, after training with Ohio Valley Wrestling. In 2002, on an episode of SmackDown, WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle gave an open challenge to the entire roster and a young Cena accepted and came out to fight.
Cena quickly started climbing the ranks of the show and won his first world title in 2005, beating JBL at WrestleMania. His career has a somewhat different trajectory than that of most of his peers. Professional wrestling has always had two different personalities: FACE or HEEL. The former is the positive one, and the latter is portrayed in a negative light.
Almost all wrestlers go through both identities during the span of their careers. It makes it easy for the company to surprise their audience, as they can always turn around a character if they are going stale.
Cena spent his entire career in WWE as a FACE and was constantly criticized for that decision. Many believed that this would not work in the long run.
Cena has won 16 world titles and various other titles throughout his career. He is the joint-most-title winner with Ric Flair. Since he started working part-time in 2017, he has been a crucial part of the organization.
The Chief Content Officer of WWE and a former world champion, Triple H, tweeted a video with Cena with the caption ‘Greatest of all time’. Many other WWE superstars showed their appreciation and love, including Baron Corbin, Grayson Waller, and Punk.
A lot of questions were raised during Cena’s part-time stint. People did not expect him to do well in Hollywood. Most WWE stars who go into the movie business end up playing the same typecast roles. These careers work as a cameo, but not if those characters are at the centre of the story.
Cena defied all odds and has been breaking boundaries continuously. Movies like Trainwreck, Blockers, and the Peacemaker series are some examples of his work in the industry.
As one aspect of his life is over, he has more time on his hands for his Hollywood career. We might be seeing even more of him on the big screen.