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John Cena had been promoted as a future top star ever since he started working in WWE back in 2002. He made his wrestling debut in 1999, and soon after making his wrestling debut, he got the opportunity to work in WWE, and he started working in OVW, which was the developmental territory of WWE back then. He was known as the Prototype during his early career.
He made his main roster debut in 2002, and during his early career, he was promoted as a mid card. He won his first World Championship at WrestleMania 21 by defeating JBL, and it was just the beginning of his ultimate success. He kept on having amazing revalues with some of the biggest names of WWE of the time, and he also featured on multiple Wrestlemania main events.
Rob Van Dam remembers his John Cena for the first time
After having an illustrious career, John Cena finally retired at the end of 2025. He went through a retirement tour throughout 2025, and it has been one of the best years of his career as he achieved everything that was left in his career. Rob Van Dam recently remembered seeing him for the first time back in UPW. Speaking on the “Inside The Ring” podcast, he revealed his first impressions of seeing him for the first time;
John Cena won his first ever Championship in WWE in 2004 at WrestleMania XX
“John was The Prototype in UPW back then for Rick Bassman’s wrestling promotion. A lot of the guys started back then. And I’m thinking of who I saw at that show when I first saw him, but he stood out. Like he did something — I remember telling whoever I was there with like, ‘This guy gets it. Like, he’s going to be a star.’
He won the WWE IC title to become a Grand Slam Champion in 2025
“And he did like, he held the guy with one arm like he was going to do a side slam and then he just held him with one arm and like did a bicep with the other arm and pose, and then boom! Slammed him. That’s something that sticks out in my mind because it was different. I had seen anyone do that. And I liked the way that he was finding a way to to flex and to pose in a way that wasn’t taken from someone else that I knew.”
John Cena won his 17th World Championship in his retirement tour Breaking the previous record of Ric Flair. He presently stands with the highest number of World title reigns in WWE, and he also became a Grand Slam champion for the first time in his WWE career. He worked in his retirement match on December 13 against Gunther in a losing effort.
