129-649: The OMEGA Heavyweight Championship is the top singles title in the Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (OMEGA) independent professional wrestling promotion . The title's original run lasted from 1997 to 2000, before being recommissioned at OMEGA's Night of a Champion on February 28, 2015, crowning Jeff Hardy as the first champion since 2000. As of November 23, 2024. Championship (professional wrestling) Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s A championship or title in professional wrestling
258-402: 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 used the nickname "The Doctor of Thuganomics" and expanded his gimmick to include rapping before his matches, wearing hats and sports jerseys as part of his ring gear. While on
387-571: A Last Man Standing match at Backlash on April 26 after interference from Big Show, who chokeslammed Cena through a spotlight. Cena defeated Big Show at Judgment Day on May 17 and Extreme Rules on June 7 in a submission match by applying the STF . 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, The Miz claimed an unofficial win via forfeit and continued to do this over
516-441: A Rock Bottom in the ending. 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 to defeat The Rock at WrestleMania. Cena fought Kane to a double countout at Royal Rumble on January 29, 2012, and then defeated him in an Ambulance match on February 19 at Elimination Chamber . At WrestleMania XXVIII on April 1, Cena faced The Rock in
645-466: A best of five series that started on August 15 at SummerSlam and culminated on October 3 at No Mercy , only to drop it to the débuting Carlito Caribbean Cool the following week on SmackDown! . 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
774-464: A championship unification match, after special guest referee Triple H missed Cena's foot on the rope. After Alberto Del Rio became WWE Champion by cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase to defeat Punk, Cena became the #1 contender and beat Del Rio at Night of Champions on September 18 for his tenth WWE Championship. He lost it back to Del Rio at Hell in a Cell on October 2 in a triple threat Hell in
903-470: A pinning combination, but put on a good showing. After the match, he was congratulated by Billy Kidman , Faarooq , Rikishi , and The Undertaker , becoming a fan favorite . He began feuding with Chris Jericho , whom Cena defeated on July 21 at Vengeance . In October, Cena and Billy Kidman failed to win a tag team tournament to crown the first WWE Tag Team Champions of the SmackDown! brand in
1032-503: A steel cage match after repeated interference from the rest of the Wyatt Family members and a demonic child. At Payback on June 1, Cena defeated Wyatt in a well received Last Man Standing match to end their feud; 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
1161-591: 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 on January 8, 2006, Cena retained the WWE Championship in the Elimination Chamber match after last eliminating Carlito, but immediately afterwards, Mr. McMahon announced Edge was cashing in his Money in the Bank contract—a "guaranteed title match against
1290-403: A "monster". At WrestleMania on April 6, Cena defeated Wyatt despite interference from Luke Harper and Erick Rowan . The feud continued after WrestleMania based on the story that Wyatt was capturing Cena's fanbase, exemplified by Wyatt leading a children's choir to the ring on the April 28 episode of Raw , where they later donned sheep masks. At Extreme Rules on May 4, Wyatt defeated Cena in
1419-445: A Cell match also involving Punk. Cena lost his rematch to Del Rio at Vengeance on October 23 in a Last Man Standing match due to interference by The Miz and R-Truth. After weeks of The Miz and R-Truth attacking Cena and employees, Cena was allowed to choose his partner to challenge The Miz and R-Truth at Survivor Series on November 20; Cena chose The Rock as his partner, and they defeated The Miz and R-Truth, though The Rock gave Cena
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#17328943077151548-420: A Falls Count Anywhere match. Cena retained the WWE Championship in a five-pack challenge on June 24 at Vengeance: Night of Champions , and against Bobby Lashley on July 22 at The Great American Bash . Later that summer, Randy Orton was named the #1 contender for Cena's championship. Leading up to SummerSlam on August 26, Orton delivered a number of sneak-attacks, performing three RKOs to Cena, who in
1677-587: A You're Fired match on the August 22 episode of Raw . Cena held on to the WWE Championship through his feud with Angle, losing to him by disqualification on September 18 at Unforgiven , pinning Shawn Michaels in a triple threat match involving Angle at Taboo Tuesday on November 1, and pinning Angle on November 27 at Survivor Series . The feud with Angle saw Cena add a secondary, submission based, finishing maneuver —the STFU (a stepover toehold sleeper , though named for
1806-420: A breakout success after adopting the character of a villainous trash-talking rapper. After winning his first WWE Championship in 2005, he underwent a face turn into a clean-cut heroic character, which he described as a " goody-two shoes Superman ". He led the company as its franchise player and public face from the mid-2000s to the late 2010s. Cena has held the WWE Championship a record 13 times and
1935-409: A bus journey with other WWE superstars, Cena was involved in a freestyle rap session with Rikishi and Rey Mysterio , impressing Stephanie McMahon , leading to the gimmick's adoption. 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". Moreover, he was joined by an enforcer , Bull Buchanan , who
2064-413: A degree in exercise physiology and body movement, after which he pursued a bodybuilding career and worked as a limousine driver. He also worked in the store area of Gold's Gym . Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Cena idolized Hulk Hogan growing up, moving to California in 1998 to begin training for a professional wrestling career
2193-613: A developmental contract with the WWF and was assigned to its developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). During his time there, he continued to wrestle as The Prototype and held the OVW Heavyweight Championship for three months and the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (with Rico Constantino ) for two months. Throughout the early months of 2002, Cena found himself competing on house shows for
2322-406: A disqualification. Despite this, 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 on October 26, but Ambrose won the right by defeating Cena in a No Holds Barred Contract on a Pole match . Cena faced Randy Orton instead in a Hell in a Cell match to determine the #1 contender for
2451-533: A feud with Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff , after refusing to participate in the "war" against the Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) roster at the 2005 ECW One Night Stand . At Vengeance on June 26, Cena retained the title against 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
2580-575: A few isolated championship matches. On rare occasions, a male wrestler will compete in championship matches for championships generally contested exclusively in the women's division. Such examples include Harvey Wippleman becoming the only male to capture the WWF Women's Championship in 2000, and Eric Young winning one half of the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship in 2012. Gimmick match classifications sometimes factor into
2709-600: A gender specification, though Chyna defeating Jeff Jarrett to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship in 1999 and Tessa Blanchard defeating Sami Callihan to win the Impact World Championship in 2020 are notable exceptions. In promotions featuring only a single gender (such as Women of Wrestling or Shimmer Women Athletes ), gender classifications are often unnecessary as well. Titles specifically designated for women may fall into any of
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#17328943077152838-754: A hardcore championship is the FTW Championship in All Elite Wrestling (AEW), which is primarily contested in FTW Rules matches . A past such title is WWE Hardcore Championship , which was active from 1998 to 2002. In recent years, style-based championships have centered around what is known as "scientific" or technical wrestling. Examples of this include the NXT Heritage Cup (which is specifically contested under "British Round Rules") in WWE 's NXT brand, and
2967-449: A knee infection. In All Elite Wrestling , when a champion gets injured, a match is held to determine an interim champion until the lineal champion is cleared to compete, after which a match is held between the two to crown an undisputed champion. For example, Jon Moxley became interim AEW World Champion in June 2022 after then-lineal champion, CM Punk, was sidelined with a foot injury. When Punk returned in August, Moxley defeated him in
3096-467: A match for the WWE Championship between Barrett and Orton. Per stipulation, if Barrett didn't win the championship, Cena would be "fired" from the WWE ; Orton defeated Barrett to retain the title, and Cena was fired ( kayfabe ). The following night on Raw , Cena gave a farewell speech before costing Barrett the WWE Championship by interfering in his rematch with Orton. A week later, Cena invaded Raw , first as
3225-410: A match to become the undisputed champion. These interim reigns are not recognized as official reigns. However, if the lineal champion's injury renders them indefinitely sidelined, they can forfeit the championship and the interim champion becomes the lineal champion. An example of this happened in November 2022, when it was announced that then-lineal AEW Women's World Champion , Thunder Rosa relinquished
3354-416: A measure of their performance ability and drawing power. The most accomplished or decorated wrestlers tend to be revered as legends. American wrestler Ric Flair has had multiple world heavyweight championship reigns spanning over three decades. Japanese wrestler Último Dragón once held and defended a record 10 titles simultaneously . Professional wrestling's championship belts are modeled similarly to
3483-450: A mixed tag team match which ended in a disqualification after Cena was attacked by the debuting Big E Langston . Cena defeated Ziggler on the January 7 episode of Raw , and again in a steel cage match the following week, despite interference from AJ and Langston in both matches, ending the feud. On January 27, 2013, Cena won his second Royal Rumble match, announcing that he would pursue
3612-536: A month while he was filming The Marine . After returning on November 14 at Survivor Series , Cena won the United States Championship back from Carlito on the November 18 episode of SmackDown! . He retained the title against Jesús at Armageddon on December 12 in a street fight . On January 30, 2005, Cena took part in the Royal Rumble match , making it to the final two. He and Batista went over
3741-464: 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 on March 29 to win his fourth United States Championship, marking Rusev's first pinfall loss in
3870-416: A rivalry with Ryback, during which he suffered a legitimate achilles tendon injury. Cena retained his championship against Ryback in a Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules on May 19; 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 on June 16 at Payback . He defeated Mark Henry via submission on July 14 at Money in
3999-714: A severe injury and despite the championship being quite important. In 1998, Shane Douglas kept the ECW World Heavyweight Championship while sidelined. In 2005, Trish Stratus kept the WWE Women's Championship while sidelined with a herniated disk for four months. In 2012, CM Punk kept the WWE Championship while undergoing and recovering from knee surgery. In 2015, Ryback kept the WWE Intercontinental Championship while recovering from
OMEGA Heavyweight Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
4128-480: A short, TV-friendly time limit, usually 10 or 15 minutes. These titles were originally introduced during a time when weekly TV shows were seen as a vehicle to promote the money-making live shows, where major title defenses took place. Television titles provided a championship that would be defended on the weekly television shows. Examples of a television championship include the AEW TNT Championship (named after
4257-525: A spectator, but then attacked members of The Nexus, explaining he would still take down The Nexus one by one despite not being employed. 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 January 17, 2011, episode of Raw , Cena returned and faced CM Punk (who had assumed leadership of The Nexus and subsequently renamed
4386-401: A triple threat match, during which he was pinned by Orton. On April 27 at Backlash , Cena failed to regain the title in a fatal four-way elimination match , in which he was eliminated by Orton. During the match, Cena eliminated JBL, renewing their feud from 2005. Cena defeated JBL on May 18 at Judgment Day and at One Night Stand on June 1 in a First Blood match . Cena failed to regain
4515-455: A triple threat steel cage match to become WWE Champion. Cena then successfully defended the title against The Miz on May 22 at Over the Limit in an "I Quit" match, and R-Truth on June 19 at Capitol Punishment . Cena began a feud with CM Punk, who was leaving the company due to his contract expiring after Money in the Bank . Punk defeated Cena to win the WWE Championship on July 17 at Money in
4644-575: A weightlifting bench at the age of 12. Cena was educated at Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Massachusetts , before transferring to the private prep boarding school Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Massachusetts . He then attended Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts , where he was an NCAA Division III All-American center and football team captain. He graduated in 1999 with
4773-483: A winning effort against Lance Cade , Trevor Murdoch , and Sean O'Haire . Cena's call-up to the main roster meant that he was part of OVW's Class of 2002 alongside Brock Lesnar , Randy Orton , and Dave Bautista , which would eventually become known as the "OVW 4". Under his real name, Cena made his WWE television debut on the June 27 episode of SmackDown! by answering an open challenge by Kurt Angle . After declaring he possessed "ruthless aggression", he lost by
4902-496: A wrestler and defended in sanctioned matches, but are not recognized as legitimate titles by the promotion. Examples of unsanctioned championships include: John Cena John Felix Anthony Cena ( / ˈ s iː n ə / SEE -nə ; born April 23, 1977) is an American actor and professional wrestler . As a wrestler, he has been signed to WWE since 2001 , but has performed part-time since 2018. A record 16-time world champion as recognized by WWE alongside Ric Flair , he
5031-544: Is WWE's NXT Heritage Cup , which is represented with a trophy. The fate of a title depends on the champion's condition and the importance of the title to the promotion (e.g. Gregory Helms held the WWE Cruiserweight Championship , despite being sidelined with an injury, because the Cruiserweight Championship was not a major championship). The champion may be forced to vacate his or her title if
5160-564: Is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations . Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches , in which competitors are involved in predetermined rivalries. These narratives create feuds between the various competitors, which cast them as villains and heroes (heels and faces respectively). The bookers in a company will place the title on the most accomplished performer, or whom they believe will generate fan interest in terms of event attendance and television viewership. Professional wrestling portrays
5289-481: Is a running theme in WWE booking. [Kevin] Owens is... worse off than he would have been if he had never had the second and third matches with Cena. — Pro Wrestling Dot Net analyst Will Pruett in July 2015 After Elimination Chamber, Bray Wyatt accepted Cena's challenge for a WrestleMania XXX match. Wyatt wanted to prove that Cena's heroic act was a façade characteristic of "this era of lies" and to turn Cena into
OMEGA Heavyweight Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
5418-427: Is becoming increasingly rare as champions are needed to be present in regular tours even when titles are not defended. Professional wrestling championships are often split up into various different classifications, each of which designate varying levels of importance to the belts. The world heavyweight championship (also just world championship) is the name given to the championship that is typically presented as being
5547-619: Is known for his involvement in charitable causes, most notably granting the most wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation at over 650. John Felix Anthony Cena was born in West Newbury, Massachusetts , on April 23, 1977, to Carol (née Lupien) and former Chaotic Wrestling ring announcer John Joseph Cena. His mother is of English and French-Canadian descent, while his father has Italian ancestry. He has one older brother named Dan and three younger brothers named Matt, Steve, and Sean. He
5676-465: Is often implicitly understood. Other tag team championships include 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 formats, which are often explicitly stated within the championship name to distinguish them from the 2-on-2 championships. Some teams may invoke what is called the Freebird Rule , in which a stable of three or more wrestlers are all officially recognized as champion, allowing any pairing of the stable's members to defend
5805-542: Is scripted, there is no promotion or group of people that recognize one official world title of the industry (the closest was the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship during the territory days during the mid to late 20th century). Instead, each promotion can promote their top title as a world title, with some of them promoting title matches around the world to claim the designation. Some promotions may even recognize multiple world championships, such as
5934-481: Is the case with WWE, as due to the large size of its roster, the promotion splits its roster into what they call brands where talent exclusively perform and their two main brands ( Raw and SmackDown) each have their own world championship. The first widely recognized world heavyweight championship was the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship , created in 1905, and the inaugural champion
6063-484: Is very common for these variations to be the second most prestigious championship in a promotion, but exceptions have existed, like the now defunct WWE European Championship , which served as the company's tertiary singles championship, and the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship , which many NWA territories created versions of and promoted as their most prestigious championship whenever
6192-535: Is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. Cena moved to California in 1998 to pursue a bodybuilding career and switched to professional wrestling in 1999, making his debut for Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW). In 2001, he signed with WWE (then WWF) and was assigned to its developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he won the OVW Heavyweight Championship and OVW Southern Tag Team Championship . After moving up to WWE's main roster on SmackDown in 2002, he became
6321-562: The Attitude Adjustment . At WrestleMania on April 3, Cena and The 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 , the first WrestleMania match to be set up one year in advance. At Extreme Rules on May 1, Cena defeated The Miz and John Morrison in
6450-544: The ROH Pure Championship in Ring of Honor (which is contested under "Pure Wrestling Rules"). A variation that was prominent in the 1980s and 1990s and made a return in the 2020s is a "television championship" or "iron man championship", which involves more frequent title defenses as well as the stipulations that the belt can only change hands on television (as opposed to non-televised house shows ) with title matches having
6579-570: The Royal Rumble for the now unified WWE World Heavyweight Championship on January 26, where Cena lost after being distracted by The Wyatt Family . At Elimination Chamber on February 23, their interference caused Cena's elimination in the Elimination Chamber match. I know how John Cena feuds tend to work. He loses one match, then wins the next two or three. Look at Rusev and Bray Wyatt as examples. These feuds don't really help talent. They're established... as definitively below Cena. This
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#17328943077156708-539: The TNA Digital Media Championship , which was created in 2021 to reflect TNA 's online platforms or WWE's Speed Championship which is named after the X (Twitter) exclusive streaming show WWE Speed . In 2021, AEW introduced the first TV title specifically for female wrestlers, the AEW TBS Championship , named for the network that is the home of Dynamite as of January 5, 2022, serving as
6837-732: The World Heavyweight Championship three times. He is also a five-time WWE United States Champion , a two-time WWE Tag Team Champion , a two-time World Tag Team Champion , a two-time Royal Rumble winner, and a one-time Money in the Bank winner. He has headlined multiple major WWE pay-per-views, including its flagship event WrestleMania five times ( 22 , 23 , 27 , 28 and 29 ). His career has been met with mixed critical and audience reception, with praise for his character work and promotional skills but criticism for his perceived over-representation and on-screen dominance relative to other wrestlers. Cena's first starring film role
6966-483: The World Tag Team Championship , making Cena a double champion. At WrestleMania 23 on April 1, Cena retained the WWE Championship against Michaels. The next night on Raw , Michaels turned on Cena, costing them the tag titles in the second of two 10-team battle royals, by throwing Cena over the top rope and eliminating the team. The Hardys ( Matt and Jeff ) won the match and the titles. Cena retained
7095-509: The home network of AEW's Rampage and Collision broadcasts plus other AEW programming) and the ROH World Television Championship . A modern take on the traditional TV title are internet championships. As professional wrestling began having events on streaming and online platforms, some promotions modified their television championships to be promoted as internet championships to reflect this. Examples of this include
7224-523: The "Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F." (the Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling Commission), the main regulatory body in Mexico: Gender occasionally plays a role in the classifications of championship belts. Due to professional wrestling being a male dominated sport, only women's titles are given official gender classifications. Generally, only men are allowed to win the championships without
7353-542: The "legitimacy" of their own titles, although cross-promotion does happen. When one promotion absorbs or purchases another, the titles from the defunct promotion may continue to be defended in the new promotion or be decommissioned, usually through championship unification . Behind the scenes , the bookers in a company will place the title on the most accomplished performer, or those the bookers believe will generate fan interest in terms of event attendance and television viewership. Lower ranked titles may also be used on
7482-435: The Bank . At SummerSlam on August 18, 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 he would undergo surgery for a triceps tear and would be out for four to six months. Cena returned at Hell in a Cell on October 27, defeating Alberto Del Rio to win his third World Heavyweight Championship. He retained
7611-574: The Bank and left the company with the title. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter awarded the match five stars , Cena's first and only five star match. On the July 25 episode of Raw , after Rey Mysterio won the WWE Championship in a tournament, Cena challenged and defeated Mysterio later that night to become WWE Champion for a record-breaking 11th time, only to be interrupted by Punk, who also claimed to be champion . Punk again defeated Cena at SummerSlam on August 14 in
7740-460: 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 Royal Rumble involving Cena and Lesnar. 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
7869-509: The January 1 episode of Raw , Cena was pinned by Federline with an assist from Umaga. At New Year's Revolution on January 7, 2007, Cena defeated Umaga to end his undefeated streak and retain the WWE Championship. At Royal Rumble on January 28, Cena retained the title against Umaga in a Last Man Standing match . One night after the Royal Rumble, an impromptu team of Cena and Shawn Michaels defeated Rated-RKO (Edge and Randy Orton ) for
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#17328943077157998-670: The NWA World Heavyweight Champion was not around. Another common classification of championships are by weight classes . Given the scripted nature of professional wrestling matches, weight classes are not always strictly adhered to. Typically, promotions prefer to have a heavyweight title as their top prize, with other designations, such as cruiserweight , middleweight , or light-heavyweight titles. Promotions often have one sub-heavyweight classification, while others sometimes may have more. Mountevans' committee (a governing body that instilled rules for professional wrestling in
8127-504: The Royal Rumble and win back the jobs of Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan. At the Royal Rumble on January 25, Cena was unsuccessful in capturing the title. Cena then began feuding with United States Champion Rusev , and at Fastlane on February 22, Cena failed to win the title from Rusev after passing out from his submission, the Accolade . Rusev had hit Cena with a low blow following a distraction by his manager Lana . Cena challenged Rusev to
8256-429: The Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble on January 25, 2004, but was eliminated by Big Show . At No Way Out on February 15, 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. At WrestleMania on March 14, Cena defeated Big Show to win the United States Championship, his first singles championship in WWE. He retained
8385-482: The UK) created seven formal weight divisions: Classifying championships into weight classes is also common practice in the lucha libre promotions of Mexico . Lucha libre has a detailed weight class system patterned after boxing. Each weight class has an official upper limit, but examples of wrestlers who are technically too heavy to hold their title can be found. The following weight classes exist in lucha libre, as defined by
8514-465: The UPW until March 2001. On October 10, 2000, Cena made his unofficial debut for WWE (then WWF) on a SmackDown! taping in a dark match against Mikey Henderson, which he lost while performing as The Prototype. He received another tryout at a SmackDown! taping on January 9, 2001, defeating Aaron Aguilera before wrestling again in a dark match at a SmackDown! taping on March 13. In 2001, Cena signed
8643-536: 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. Cena won the title back on January 29 at Royal Rumble . After that, Cena began feuding with Triple H . The crowd, which had mostly cheered Cena over the previous few months, started booing him again and cheering the villain Triple H. Cena beat Triple H at WrestleMania 22 on April 2 to retain
8772-449: The WWE Championship against Michaels, Orton, and Edge in a fatal four-way match on April 29 at Backlash . The Great Khali then declared his intentions to challenge for Cena's championship, attacking and "laying out" all three of the top contenders before assaulting Cena and stealing the title belt. On May 20 at Judgment Day , Cena became the first person to defeat Khali by submission and then by pinfall on June 3 at One Night Stand in
8901-426: The WWE Championship at SummerSlam on August 23, where Orton used underhanded tactics to retain. At Breaking Point on September 13, Cena defeated Orton in an "I Quit" match to win his fourth WWE Championship. He lost the title back to Orton in a Hell in a Cell match on October 4 at Hell in a Cell , but regained it at Bragging Rights on October 25 in a sixty-minute Anything Goes Iron Man match . Cena retained
9030-569: The WWE Championship at WrestleMania 29 . Cena, along with Ryback and Sheamus, began feuding with The Shield, culminating in a six-man tag team match on February 17 at Elimination Chamber , which The Shield won. On the February 25 episode of Raw , Cena defeated CM Punk to reaffirm his status as the #1 contender for the Rock's WWE Championship. At WrestleMania on April 7, Cena defeated Rock in their rematch to win his eleventh WWE Championship. Cena then began
9159-476: The WWE Championship from Triple H on June 29 at Night of Champions . JBL defeated Cena in a New York City Parking Lot Brawl at The Great American Bash on July 20 to end their feud. On the August 4 episode of Raw , Cena won his second World Tag Team Championship with Batista, defeating Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase but failed to retain the championship the following week against the former champions. At SummerSlam on August 17, Batista defeated Cena. Cena
9288-485: The WWE Championship, his first world championship . Now with a spinner WWE Championship belt, JBL took the original title belt and claimed he was still the WWE Champion, until Cena defeated him in an "I Quit" match at Judgment Day on May 22 to retain the title. Cena was drafted to the Raw brand on the June 6 episode of Raw , becoming the first wrestler selected in the annual draft lottery . Cena immediately entered into
9417-573: The WWE Tag Team Championship on October 24 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 titles to fellow Nexus members Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel , when Barrett ordered Otunga to lie down and lose the titles. At Survivor Series on November 21, Cena officiated
9546-578: The WWE World Heavyweight Championship, which Cena won. On the October 27 episode of Raw , Cena rejected The Authority's offer to join forces, resulting in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination tag match between Team Cena and Team Authority at Survivor Series . His team consisted of Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Erick Rowan and Ryback. At Survivor Series on November 23, Big Show turned on Cena, causing his elimination, but Ziggler eventually won
9675-411: The WWE and for Lesnar to become its "new face". At Extreme Rules on April 29, Cena defeated Lesnar in an Extreme Rules match . He lost to Laurinaitis at Over the Limit on May 20 after interference from Big Show, but at No Way Out on June 17, Laurinaitis was fired after Cena defeated Big Show in a steel cage match with both their jobs on the line. The following night on Raw SuperShow , Laurinatis
9804-471: The WWF, where he wrestled against the likes of Shelton Benjamin and Tommy Dreamer . After his main roster call-up in June 2002, he continued to appear on OVW programming until September 25, when he lost to Kenny Brolin in a Loser Leaves OVW match . He would later appear in a one-off appearance for the developmental farm in November under the ring name Mr. P in a six-man tag team match , where he teamed with Hall of Famer Big Boss Man and Charlie Haas in
9933-411: The actual match at SummerSlam, retained the championship. A rematch took place at Unforgiven on September 16, which Orton won 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 episode of Raw , Cena suffered a legitimate torn pectoral muscle while executing a hip toss . Though finishing
10062-458: The championship belts in boxing , and other combat sports such as mixed martial arts . They are made of elaborately designed plates of gold or other precious metals , usually bearing the name of the title and the wrestling promotion, and is on a leather strap. The color and designs vary with each title and promotion. A wrestler may win a sanctioned championship and redesign the belt itself. Some (such as John Cena 's Spinner Belt) later became
10191-411: The championship. This rule is most commonly applied to the standard 2-on-2 tag team championship, though it has also been applied to the other variants. Tag team championships are also often combined with regional modifiers, gimmick modifiers, gender modifiers, and weight class modifiers to further distinguish them. In such cases, the primary title is usually called the world tag team championship , with
10320-487: The counterpart to the male TNT Championship. Sister promotion ROH introduced a similar title for their women's division, ROH Women's World Television Championship . Tag team championships are yet another different form of wrestling title. Some consider it to be a style championship, but tag team championships are unique in their ability to include multiple wrestlers on teams competing for multiple belts. The most common form of tag team championships are in 2-on-2 format, which
10449-520: The creation of title belts. In these classifications, special skills in a certain type of match or a certain style of wrestling is the signature of the division, and the champion is considered to be the most skilled wrestler at that specific style. Gimmick championships often take very differing forms. A common variation is the "hardcore championship", a title often defended in weapons-filled and bloody competitions with fewer rules (count outs and disqualifications are not usually allowed). An active example of
10578-550: The fans started chanting "You still suck". Cena lost the WWE Championship to Van Dam after interference from Edge. On the July 3 episode of Raw , Edge won the championship from Van Dam in a triple threat match that also involved Cena, re-igniting their feud. After Edge went about retaining the title by dubious means—getting himself disqualified (for which championships do not change hands)—and using brass knuckles on August 20 at SummerSlam he introduced his own version of Cena's "custom" title belt, this one with his logo placed on
10707-409: 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 on August 19, where Punk retained the title against Cena and Big Show in a triple threat match, and at Night of Champions on September 16, where they fought to a draw. After being sidelined with a legitimate arm injury, Cena returned at Survivor Series on November 18, but
10836-419: The first round. The next week on SmackDown! , Cena turned on and attacked Kidman, blaming him for their loss and turning heel for the first and only time in his WWE career. On the October 17 episode of SmackDown! , Cena defeated Kidman, but lost in a rematch the next week. At Rebellion on October 26, Cena and Dawn Marie lost to Kidman and Torrie Wilson in a mixed tag team match . Shortly after, on
10965-435: The following weeks, until Cena defeated The Miz at The Bash on June 28. At Night of Champions on July 26, 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 Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. The next night on Raw , Cena won a beat the clock challenge to earn another shot at
11094-599: The following year at Ultimate Pro Wrestling 's (UPW) Ultimate University, operated by Rick Bassman . He started wrestling in local flea markets, and 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 . He held the UPW Heavyweight Championship for 27 days in April 2000, and wrestled for
11223-496: The injury becomes too severe and the championship is too important. In May 2015, Daniel Bryan vacated the WWE Intercontinental Championship due to a major concussion and a year before, he had to vacate the world title due to neck surgery. In November 2015, Seth Rollins vacated the WWE World Heavyweight Championship due to a knee injury that required surgery. However, a champion may keep their title despite
11352-572: The main event; the match ended when Cena attempted the People's Elbow on The Rock, and he countered with a Rock Bottom for the pinfall. The following night on Raw SuperShow , Cena accepted his loss and invited The Rock to the ring so that he could congratulate him. However, his call was answered instead by the returning Brock Lesnar, who attacked Cena with an F-5 . This led to Cena feuding with Raw and SmackDown General Manager John Laurinaitis , who revealed that he signed Lesnar to bring "legitimacy" to
11481-482: The main roster. Cena issued an open challenge each week on the program with his United States Championship on the line, successfully defending the 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 on April 26 at Extreme Rules and an "I Quit" match on May 17 at Payback , ending their feud. The following night on Raw , Cena
11610-441: 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. At the time, it was estimated this would require six 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 the longest WWE Championship reign in over 19 years. Cena's surgery
11739-420: The match for Team Cena with the interfering Sting 's help. Per the match stipulation, The Authority were stripped from power and only Cena could bring them back. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 14, Cena defeated Rollins in a tables match to retain his WWE World Heavyweight Championship #1 contender status. It was then announced that Cena would face Lesnar for the title at the Royal Rumble . On
11868-461: The match. Cena won the titular match at Elimination Chamber on February 20 to face The 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 he returned as the announced guest host of WrestleMania. That night, Cena was placed into a WWE Tag Team Championship match, teaming with The Miz to defeat Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater to become
11997-556: The most prestigious of those contested within a promotion. The wrestler holding a championship with this name is most commonly referred to as the "world heavyweight champion" or "world champion" (though some promotions may use synonymous/alternate terms, such as the AAA Mega Championship of Lucha Libre AAA World Wide or the Undisputed WWE Championship , the premier title of WWE ). Since professional wrestling
12126-416: The new WWE Tag Team Champions. However, their rematch clause was immediately invoked, and Gabriel and Slater won the titles back after The Miz attacked Cena, making their reign the shortest in the title's history. After weeks of insults, Cena and The Rock finally met on the March 28 episode of Raw , where, after a verbal confrontation, and a brief attack by The Miz and Alex Riley , Cena attacked The Rock with
12255-432: The official belt design. Others (such as Stone Cold Steve Austin 's Smoking Skull Belt, Edge 's Rated-R Spinner, Daniel Bryan 's eco-friendly belt, and The Fiend Bray Wyatt 's Universal title with his face on it) were not used after their respective title reign. While rare, there are cases of championships being represented with items other than belts, such as championship trophies, medals, crowns, etc. An example of this
12384-548: The other categories listed here (e.g. women's world titles or women's tag team titles). Andy Kaufman once used gender classifications to his advantage, turning inter-gender competitions into a unique wrestling side-show. Kaufman declared himself the "Inter-Gender Champion of the World", and offered $ 1,000 to any woman who could pin him. None were successful during the run of the gimmick; though in other promotions such as WCW and WWE , women have successfully pinned men, most notably in
12513-413: The other championships seen as secondary titles. Examples of 2-on-2 tag team championships: Examples of 3-on-3 tag team championships: Examples of 4-on-4 tag team championships: Examples of 5-on-5 tag team championships: The concept of championships, and their central role in wrestling, allows for the potential for angles . One such angle is an unsanctioned championship title. These are claimed by
12642-465: The performers who show potential, thus allowing them greater exposure to the audience. However, other circumstances may also determine the use of a championship. A combination of a championship's lineage, the caliber of performers as champion, and the frequency and manner of title changes, dictates the audience's perception of the title's quality, significance, and reputation. A wrestler's championship accomplishments can be central to their career, becoming
12771-749: The promotion is based, an example being WWE's United States Championship . Sometimes it may specify a specific state or territory, such as the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship . It is also common to be a smaller division of the world, an example being the WWE Intercontinental Championship , the AEW International Championship (previously known as the All-Atlantic Championship), or the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship . It
12900-461: The returning Daniel Bryan , a former member of The Nexus, who replaced Khali. Cena faced Barrett at Hell in a Cell on October 3 with the stipulations that if he were to lose, he would join The Nexus, and if he were to win, The Nexus would disband. After Barrett defeated Cena, he reluctantly joined The Nexus. Cena and fellow Nexus member David Otunga defeated Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre to win
13029-408: 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, World Heavyweight Champion King Booker, and ECW World Champion Big Show were booked in a triple threat match at Cyber Sunday , with the viewers voting on which of
13158-638: The spinner. Cena eventually regained the championship in a match and an arena of Edge's choice: a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match on September 17 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 joined the SmackDown! brand. Cena returned with his version of
13287-409: The stable as The New Nexus) in a match which ended in a no contest after Cena was attacked by the debuting Mason Ryan , who later joined The New Nexus. Cena competed in the Royal Rumble match on January 30, which saw Cena eliminate most of the members of The New Nexus, ending his feud with the stable . He made it to the final five before being eliminated by WWE Champion The Miz, who was not part of
13416-555: The structure of title match combat sports . Participants compete for a championship, and must defend it after winning it. These titles are represented physically by a championship belt that is worn or carried by the champion(s). In the case of team wrestling, there is a belt for each member of the team. Almost all professional wrestling promotions have one major title, and some have more. Championships are designated by divisions of weight, height, gender, wrestling style, and other qualifications. Typically, each promotion only recognizes
13545-560: The three championships would be placed on the line. At the same time, Cena was involved in a storyline with non-wrestler Kevin Federline , who appeared on Raw with Johnny Nitro and Melina . After getting into a worked physical altercation with Federline on Raw , Federline appeared on November 5 at Cyber Sunday to hit Cena with the World Heavyweight Championship during the match, helping King Booker retain his title. On
13674-431: The title against Damien Sandow on the October 28 episode of Raw , and Alberto Del Rio in a rematch on November 24 at Survivor Series . Cena next 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 TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 15, which Cena lost. A rematch occurred at
13803-402: The title against Rene Dupree on May 16 at Judgment Day , and in a fatal four-way match involving Dupree, Rob Van Dam and Booker T at The Great American Bash on June 27, until he was stripped of the title on the July 8 episode of SmackDown! by Kurt Angle (the SmackDown! General Manager) after accidentally attacking him in his wheelchair. Cena won the title back by defeating Booker T in
13932-426: The title against Jericho at Armageddon on December 14. After defeating JBL at the Royal Rumble on January 25, 2009, Cena lost the championship at No Way Out on February 15 to Edge, who attacked Kofi Kingston and took his place in the Elimination Chamber match. Cena won his rematch for the title at WrestleMania 25 on April 5 in a triple threat match involving Big Show. He lost the championship back to Edge in
14061-433: The title against Sheamus on the December 28 episode of Raw , where he won by disqualification, but did not win the championship. At Royal Rumble on January 31, 2010, Cena competed in the titular match, making it to the final two where he was eliminated by the returning Edge. Cena regained the title at Elimination Chamber on February 21 in the eponymous match, but his reign was cut short after Mr. McMahon made him defend
14190-484: The title against both Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a triple threat match at Survivor Series on November 22 but lost it to Sheamus on December 13 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in a tables match . The next night on Raw , 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
14319-506: The title due to a back injury she suffered in August. As a result, then-interim champion, Jamie Hayter , became the official champion. Before the 1980s when title matches were rare, some champions could keep their titles even when injured; Bruno Sammartino kept his WWWF World Heavyweight Championship from April to June 1976 despite being injured by a botched body slam from Stan Hansen . In Mexico , this situation still occurs, but in Japan , it
14448-402: The title from Lesnar. On May 18 at Judgment Day , Cena and The F.B.I. ( Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli ) defeated Benoit, Rhyno and Spanky . At Vengeance on July 27, Cena lost to The Undertaker. After losing to Kurt Angle at No Mercy on October 19, Cena became a fan-favorite when he joined Angle as a member of his team on November 16 at Survivor Series . Cena participated in
14577-422: The title immediately against Batista, who emerged victorious. Cena defeated Batista at WrestleMania XXVI on March 28 for the title, and successfully defended it in a rematch at Extreme Rules on April 25 in a Last Man Standing match. Cena defeated Batista for a third time in an "I Quit" match at Over the Limit on May 23, ending their feud. On the June 7 episode of Raw , during a match against CM Punk, Cena
14706-462: The title. The negative reaction towards him intensified when he faced Rob Van Dam at ECW One Night Stand on June 11 which took place in front of a boisterous crowd of mostly original ECW fans at the Hammerstein Ballroom . Cena was met with raucous jeering and chants of "Fuck you, Cena", "You can't wrestle", and "Same old shit". When he began performing different moves as the match progressed,
14835-459: The title. On the July 27 episode of Raw , The Authority forced Cena to defend the title against Rollins, which he did successfully despite suffering a legitimate broken nose during the match. Cena then faced Rollins in a "Winner Takes All" match at SummerSlam on August 23, 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, attacked him with
14964-516: The top rope at the same time, at first ending the match but the match was restarted and won by Batista. At No Way Out on February 20, Cena 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 . At WrestleMania 21 on April 3, Cena defeated JBL to win
15093-465: The traditional WrestleMania XXIV title shot, last eliminating Triple H. Instead of waiting until WrestleMania, the shot was cashed in against WWE Champion Randy Orton at No Way Out on February 17, winning by disqualification, therefore not being awarded the title. The following night on Raw , Cena was placed back into WrestleMania's WWE Championship match on March 30, defeating Orton in a non-title match with Triple H as special guest referee, making it
15222-594: The vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Money in the Bank on June 29, where he won his 15th world championship. He retained the title at Battleground on July 20 in a fatal four-way match against Roman Reigns , Randy Orton and Kane. At SummerSlam on August 17, 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 on September 21, nearly winning before Seth Rollins attacked him to cause
15351-613: Was George Hackenschmidt . The lineage of many prominent contemporary world championships can be traced back to the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship, with the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship considered its direct successor , with many world championships having been spun of from the NWA's title. A very common championship variation. The championship usually specifies the location on where
15480-542: 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 lose the WWE Championship at Fatal 4-Way on June 20 to Sheamus and a steel cage match against Sheamus on July 18 at Money in the Bank . In response to The Nexus, Cena formed an alliance with Edge, Chris Jericho, John Morrison, R-Truth , The Great Khali and Bret Hart , defeating The Nexus at SummerSlam on August 15 with help from
15609-645: Was attacked by then- NXT Champion Kevin Owens , setting up a Champion vs. Champion match at Elimination Chamber on May 31, which Owens won. Cena defeated Owens in a rematch at Money in the Bank on June 14. On July 4 at The Beast in the East , Cena and Dolph Ziggler defeated Kane and King Barrett. After defeating Owens again at Battleground on July 19 to retain the United States Championship and end their feud, Cena resumed his feud with then WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, with Rollins refusing Cena's challenges for
15738-543: Was given one final opportunity to challenge Cena. However that night Cena defeated Laurinaitis and David Otunga in a handicap match to end his feud with Laurinaitis. Cena won the WWE Championship Money in the Bank ladder match on July 15 at Money in the Bank , earning a contract for a shot at the WWE Championship anytime within a year. On July 23, on Raw 1000 , Cena cashed in his contract on CM Punk, and won by disqualification after Big Show interfered, becoming
15867-669: Was in The Marine (2006) and he subsequently gained praise for his performances in Trainwreck (2015), Ferdinand (2017), Blockers (2018), and Bumblebee (2018). He starred as Jakob Toretto in F9 (2021) and Fast X (2023) and portrayed Peacemaker in The Suicide Squad (2021) and the eponymous television series (2022–present). He released his only studio album, You Can't See Me , in 2005. Outside of his work in entertainment, he
15996-548: Was named one of four contenders for CM Punk 's World Heavyweight Championship in the Championship Scramble match at Unforgiven on September 7, but was replaced by Rey Mysterio after suffering a herniated disc in his neck in his SummerSlam match, which required surgery. Cena underwent successful surgery to repair the injury. Cena made his in-ring return at Survivor Series on November 23, defeating Chris Jericho for his first World Heavyweight Championship. He retained
16125-486: 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. On January 27, 2008, at Royal Rumble , Cena made a surprise return as the final participant of the eponymous match, winning it and
16254-438: Was pinned by Punk in a triple threat match also involving Ryback . Cena then feuded with Dolph Ziggler over an alleged relationship with AJ Lee and at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 16, he lost to Ziggler in a ladder match for Ziggler's World Heavyweight Championship 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
16383-418: Was portrayed as the "face" (hero) and Jericho as the "heel" (villain), a vocal section of the live crowds, nonetheless, were cheering Jericho and booing Cena during their matches, most notably on August 21 at SummerSlam , when Cena defeated Jericho to retain the title. Crowds booed Cena again during his next feud with Kurt Angle, who took over as Bischoff's hand-picked #1 contender after Cena defeated Jericho in
16512-427: Was raised Roman Catholic . His maternal grandfather was baseball player Tony Lupien , while his maternal great-grandfather was businessman Ulysses J. Lupien . He is also a cousin of computer scientist Natalie Enright Jerger . A childhood fan of wrestling, he would create championship belts out of cardboard for himself and his brothers. He was teased and beaten up while in school, prompting him to ask his parents for
16641-413: Was rechristened to B-2 (also written B² and pronounced "B-Squared"). Buchanan was replaced with Red Dogg until he was sent to the Raw brand in February. Cena then sought the WWE Championship , held by Brock Lesnar . He entered a number one contender's tournament for the title, gaining upset wins over Eddie Guerrero , The Undertaker and Chris Benoit . At Backlash on April 27, Cena failed to win
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