WWE is advertised John Cena for several upcoming live events including the house show on March 17th in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the BOK Center where he will be challenging for the Intercontinental Title in a Triple Threat Match against Roman Reigns and champion The Miz.
Here is Cena’s updated schedule with the sports entertainment company:
* January 29th in Philadelphia (RAW)
* February 5th in Des Moines, IA (RAW)
* February 11th in Fresno, CA (RAW live event)
* February 12th in San Jose, CA (RAW)
* February 18th in Prescott, AZ (RAW live event)
* February 19th in Phoenix, AZ (RAW)
* February 26th in Anaheim, CA (RAW)
* March 3rd in Chicago, IL (RAW live event)
* March 5th in Milwaukee, WI (RAW)
* March 11th in Columbus, OH (Fastlane Pay-Per-View)
* March 12th in Detroit, MI (RAW)
* March 17th in Tulsa, OK (RAW live event)
* March 18th in Oklahoma City, OK (RAW live event)
WWE Superstar John Cena is in negotiations to star in the big-screen adaptation of Duke Nukem, the 1990’s video game franchise about a politically-incorrect cigar-chomping alien killer on a mission to save Earth. The Hollywood Reporter was first to report the story.
The Duke Nukem movie is being produced by Paramount’s Platinum Dunes, the studio run by Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller.
Cena has worked with Paramount a few times already, having appeared in the Daddy’s Home franchise and the upcoming Bumblebee ‘Transformers’ spinoff produced by Bay.
Twitter users seem split on whether or not we need a Duke Nukem movie, but agree that John Cena is a great choice to portray the burly action hero.
John Cena has been scaling back his involvement with WWE over the past year as he takes on more movie and television hosting jobs.
With WrestleMania 34 less than three months way, wrestling fans are once again speculating if The Undertaker will lace up the boots one more time and compete at WWE’s biggest show of the year.
While there has been no official word about WWE’s in-ring future, the Wrestling Observer has been reporting that plans for the top matches at WrestleMania include a long-awaited showdown between The Undertaker and John Cena.
Undertaker returned at this week’s RAW 25th Anniversary Special, his first WWE appearance since last year’s Mania loss to Roman Reigns. Undertaker’s RAW 25 segment came and went with no mention of John Cena or what’s in store for him come April 8th.
On the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer addressed the situation, noting that Cena vs. Undertaker at WrestleMania is still the plan and the feud will begin in “the next few weeks.”
Following Sunday’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view, John Cena is expected to work Elias before transitioning into his WrestleMania program. The belief is that Elias is standing in for Samoa Joe, who was scheduled to work with John Cena around this time but is out of action for several months with a foot injury.
Leading up to WrestleMania 33, The Miz was involved with sketches that saw him take on the role of John Cena on WWE; all that was missing from the impersonation was Cena’s physique. The Miz was joined by his wife, Maryse who portrayed Nikki Bella.
While the mockery saw immediate success, a recent interview with Sports Illustrated’s “Extra Mustard” highlighted The Miz’s cautious approach to the idea.
At the first the A-List superstar didn’t want to do it, he thought that it wouldn’t be very good and that it wouldn’t be memorable. Having already seen Kurt Angle do a perfect imitation of John Cena, it’s not surprising that The Miz thought this way.
The Miz later started to change his mind as he experimented with different styles of Cena’s voice and catch phrases while on the road. The indicator that the idea was worth running with came from Maryse, who is apparently hard to make laugh.
“If Maryse laughs at something, then it’s funny because she doesn’t laugh at anything. So I was like, ‘Hmm, this is something. And then I started thinking of ideas on what it would be and I was like, ‘alright we got something here.”
The Miz highlighted Maryse’s impression of Nikki as the key to opening up a simple gimmick into a running theme. The other important factor that The Miz pinpointed was the production value and dedication; the way the editors worked to match the segments with Total Bellas, making everything as realistic as possible.
According to the former Intercontinental Champion, the reaction to John Cena & Nikki Bella VS The Miz & Maryse at WrestleMania 33 was extremely negative. He explained that fans were expecting John Cena VS The Undertaker, with The Miz taking on AJ Styles. However, the A-List superstar appeared to claim that his build up to WrestleMania 33 turned the pessimistic fan base on it’s head as the match became one that “everyone’s looking forward to seeing.”
The Miz also showed a softer side to his usual heel/self-centered persona as he credited Cena’s proposal to Nikki Bella, which completed the story arc “perfectly”.
Opinion/Discussion:
What is the best/funniest impression that has featured on WWE? I’m just going to mention one name to spark it off… The Big Show.
– John Cena and Nikki Bella held their engagement party on Saturday night, according to WWE.com. Cena gave fans some insight on his experience with this tweet.
Such a wonderful, meaningful, emotional day yesterday with the woman of my dreams and both of our families. I love you Nicole, you’ve made me realize the importance of togetherness.
After Raw, Rosenberg and Corey Graves will reveal the WWE Universe’s picks for the 25 moments in Raw history.
– Gene Snitsky celebrates his birthday on Sunday as the former WWE Superstar turns 48 years old. WWE acknowledged his birthday with this post on Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd8gbncAxLR/
Snitsky wrestled on Saturday night as he took on former WWE Superstar Mordecai.
During a recent Q&A session John Cena was asked by a fan if he’d like to join The Bullet Club over in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). Cena responded by saying he doesn’t think they’d have him since it’s “a pretty elite club,” while referencing the movie “Major League.” Check out the video here:
Bullet Club member Nick Jackson of The Young Bucks took to Twitter to respond to Cena’s comments, and said The Bullet Club would love to have “The Leader Of The Cenation” in the group:
Aside from teasing to join The Bullet Club, Cena has much bigger fish to fry as rumors suggest he will be facing The Undertaker at WrestleMania 34 this year. The Wrestling Observer reports that a Cena vs. Taker match could begin to build-up as soon as this month’s 25th Anniversary special episode of Monday Night RAW. While some fans think this match should’ve happened years ago, it will still be on of the highest-profile matches on the card this year.
The big announcement that John Cena was teasing on social media is that he’ll be hosting Fthe Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards for the second year in a row. The show takes place on Saturday, March 24th.
In addition to hosting the 2018 Kid’s Choice Awards, Variety reports that John Cena has expanded his partnership with Nickelodeon. Cena is joining the voice cast of the Nickelodeon’s new animated series “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and will serve as executive producer on a new game show called “Keep it Spotless.”
Nickelodeon President Cyma Zarghami told Variety, “[Cena’s] just one of those people who kids love, so why wouldn’t we want to be in business with him?”
Cena said, “Nickelodeon and I, we share the same looking glass. We like to make kids laugh and we like kids to have fun. Nickelodeon doesn’t do programming that doesn’t have comedy in it, that doesn’t have smiles in it. I really enjoy putting smiles on faces.”
For more on Cena’s partnership with Nickelodeon, visit Variety.com.
WrestleMania 34 is less than three months away and plans are well underway to lock in the top matches planned for the show. In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer confirmed that WWE has settled on the top two matches for the show.
The main event will surprise nobody, as Roman Reigns will challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship. This match has been years in the making and was effectively set in stone going back over a year, when Meltzer reported it prior to last year’s Mania.
The other top match for WrestleMania 34 will see “free agent” John Cena finally squaring off against The Undertaker.
With Taker being backstage at SmackDown this week and the sports entertainment company promoting him for the RAW 25 Anniversary show, the feeling is that the angle for Cena vs. Undertaker will be shot in two weeks at the special edition of RAW.
WrestleMania 34 is set to be held on April 8, 2018, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. This event airs on pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network and is the most successful and longest-running professional wrestling event in history.
As for the WWE Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018, Meltzer confirmed the names that were on a list first reported by Brad Shepard of Bleacher Report. The headliner for this year’s HOF class will be former WWE & WCW World Champion Bill Goldberg, who had a successful return to WWE after over a decade out of the ring.
The 25th Anniversary special episode of Monday Night RAW later this month is supposed to begin to lay the groundwork for several WrestleMania storylines. One such storyline could be for a match between John Cena and The Undertaker. The show is set to go down on January 22nd and will be the go-home show to the Royal Rumble pay-per-view (PPV).
During the latest installment of Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez speculated how WWE could book The Undertaker vs. John Cena on RAW’s 25th Anniversary special. Alvarez said The Undertaker could tease retirement on RAW before Cena comes out to the ring and challenges “The Phenom” to one last match at WrestleMania 34. Alvarez also said that there is a “big plan” for Cena’s match at this year’s WrestleMania.
It’s said to be “bigger than the championship matches on the card.” With the possibilities running very thin, a match between The Undertaker and John Cena is the only match that could make sense as it pertains to what Alvarez is referencing to.
Discussion: What do you think the “big plan” for John Cena is at WrestleMania 34? If it is a match against The Undertaker, how would you like to see it booked?
“Free Agent” John Cena will be working a more regular schedule for WWE during WrestleMania season starting with the RAW 25th Anniversary show on January 22nd.
Cena is slated to work several RAW brand events in addition to being a part of the 30-Man Royal Rumble match, a “Special Guest Appearance” at the SmackDown Live-exclusive WWE Fastlane (the final PPV before WrestleMania), and the 25th Anniversary Show of Monday Night RAW on January 22nd.
You can check out Cena’s updated WWE schedule here below:
January 22nd Monday Night RAW – New York City
January 28th Royal Rumble – Philadelphia
January 29th Monday Night RAW – Philadelphia
February 5th Monday Night RAW – Des Moines, Iowa
February 11th RAW live show – Fresno, California
February 12th Monday Night RAW – San Jose, California
February 18th RAW live show – Prescott, Arizona
February 19th Monday Night RAW – Phoenix, Arizona
February 26th Monday Night RAW – Anaheim, California
March 11th WWE Fastlane – Columbus, Ohio
April 8th WrestleMania 34 – New Orleans, Louisiana
– WWE Superstar John Cena recently posted a picture of “Woken” Matt Hardy on his Instagram page. “The Leader Of The Cenation” has a history of posting cryptic photos on his social media feed:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BdfukObgaNz/
Hardy responded to Cena’s post on Twitter, referencing Cena’s middle name, Felix, as well:
– The Young Bucks, Nick and Matt Jackson, won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships at Wrestle Kingdom 12 earlier this morning. Matt Jackson took to Twitter to comment on the achievement and WWE producer/agent “Scrap Daddy” Adam Pierce responded to him and said he’s proud of the brothers:
When you’re old and gray (like I already am), you’ll look back fondly on the journey. It’s been remarkable and I’m proud of you guys.
Tonight’s WWE RAW saw several Superstars confirmed for the women’s and the men’s Royal Rumble matches that will take place later this month.
Bayley, Sasha Banks, Paige, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville were confirmed for the first-ever women’s match while Finn Balor was confirmed for the men’s Rumble match.
Below is the updated card for the Royal Rumble, which takes place on January 28th from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, coming out of tonight’s RAW:
30-Man Royal Rumble Match
John Cena, Elias, Finn Balor, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, TBA
30-Woman Royal Rumble Match
Asuka, Naomi, Ruby Riott, Natalya, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Paige, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, TBA
Triple Threat for the WWE Universal Title
Kane vs. Braun Strowman vs. Brock Lesnar
WWE United States Title Tournament Finals
Bobby Roode or Zack Ryder or Mojo Rawley vs. Jinder Mahal or Xavier Woods or Aiden English
Having put on one of the great matches of the year, John Cena was too preoccupied with AJ Styles to enter the Royal Rumble in 2017.
However 2018 has offered him a fresh opportunity as a free agent. It has become common place for Superstars and General Managers to use Twitter to reveal key information to the WWE Universe, and today is no different. Cena took to Twitter to publicly announce the beginning of his journey to WrestleMania history before tonight’s episode of RAW.
A sunny morning on the first day of 2018. Possibilities are endless, opportunities are plentiful. Time to #EarnTheDay because on January 28th, I’m entering the #RoyalRumble match and earning a chance at history @WrestleMania! #Raw
While some will be hoping to see Cena clinch that 17th WWE Championship, there are plenty of rumours online that seem to be praying for him to face The Undertaker in April.
One of the supports for those rumours is Dave Meltzer, who suggests that Cena’s WrestleMania opponent will be much bigger than a shot at the WWE Championship against AJ Styles. Further details have not been given, and we are left to speculate what that could mean for April.
While Cena took on a ‘cameo-like’ role at Survivor Series, it’s clear that WWE have massive plans for him heading into WrestleMania season. The other side to this rumour is: if Meltzer is saying that John Cena is not AJ Styles’ opponent at WrestleMania, is the WWE Universe getting their dream AJ Styles VS Shinsuke Nakamura showdown?
– As most of you know, some WWE stars had to work on Christmas Day for an episode of Monday Night RAW in Chicago. PWInsider reports that WWE did something special for those Superstars who worked on RAW and SmackDown Live that week, as the company paid for their hotel rooms as a way to say thank you for being away from their families during the holidays.
– WWE is set to begin broadcasting their Mixed Match Challenge on Facebook Watch in January. Although he’s not one of the Superstars competing, John Cena took to Twitter to offer his thoughts on the challenge:
The @WWE continues to evolve and provide new ways for stars to be born. Excited to see #WWEMMC LIVE on Facebook Watch on January 16th. pic.twitter.com/O77FpWSbgm
As we’ve previously reported, the main event for WWE’s Fastlane pay-per-view (PPV) in March has been leaked out – a Fatal-Five Way match for the WWE Title between AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. The match has yet to be confirmed by WWE, however, if that match does take place it would indicate that Orton, Nakamura, Owens, or Zayn won’t be winning the Royal Rumble match as it wouldn’t make sense for them to challenge for the title at Fastlane after winning the rumble.
There has been speculation that perhaps John Cena could win the Royal Rumble and go on to challenge AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 34, with the storyline being Cena trying to break the record he shares with Ric Flair of being a 16-time World Champion. Per a report from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Cena vs. Styles will not be happening as Cena will be involved in a much bigger match at WrestleMania 34 instead.
Meltzer noted that he didn’t know who Cena would be facing, however, he was told it would be made clear over the next several weeks. The only names Meltzer could come up with were The Undertaker, Batista, Goldberg or Hulk Hogan. Hogan would be a huge surprise given the leak of his racist comments a few years ago and the issues he has with his back. It’s expected that some matches for WrestleMania 34 will begin to build-up at RAW’s 25th Anniversary special on Monday, January 22, 2018.
The event will be a special simulcast event from both the Barclays Center and the Manhattan Center in New York City; with names such as John Cena, The Undertaker, Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels, and more scheduled to appear. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more….
While making the media rounds to promote his new animated film “Ferdinand,” John Cena spoke with The Straits Times about his decision to learn Mandarin as part of WWE’s efforts to expand in China. WWE returned to China back in September with a special live event from the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center Arena.
“I started wanting to learn Mandarin to get our global company to be a true global company,” Cena said. “[I’m] fascinated with the language and have become obsessed with trying to learn it.”
Cena continued, explaining how his busy schedules with WWE and acting projects leaves him little time to learn the language.
“I don’t have a lot of free time, but when I do, for an hour or two of my day, a tutor comes over and we just talk,” said Cena. “[I have] a Ziploc bag with two huge stacks of flashcards – and each stack used to take me about an hour and a half to go through and now it takes me 30 minutes. So, on the days when I want to just cruise through Instagram, I have to tell myself that would be fun, but do it after half an hour’s worth of cards.”
WWE made it official on Monday night when the sports entertainment company announced that former WWE Champion John Cena would be returning to Monday Night Raw next week in Chicago, Illinois.
Cena, who has not been seen inside of a WWE ring since Survivor Series in November, is still a free agent. Thus, he can appear on both Raw and SmackDown TV.
Dave Meltzer gave an update on Cena’s status with the WWE during Monday’s Wrestling Observer Radio. Here is what he had to say:
“[Cena] is in, until he’s gone again,” said Meltzer. “He’s working the Garden, he’s working that whole week, so I presume he’s in the Royal Rumble. I haven’t heard his name attached to any new movies that are filming in the next couple months, so I think he’s back for a run.”
Cena will also be on the December 27th, 2017, Raw house show from the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, NY. The following night, Cena will be in Hartford, CT for a Raw house show at the XL Center. Next Friday the 29th, Cena and the Raw crew will be in Albany New York, followed by a Saturday show in Tampa Bay.
At this time, Cena is not scheduled for the Raw on January 1st, 2018 from Miami.
The movie “Ferdinand” features John Cena and Kate McKinnon in voice-over roles and has had the worst opening weekend ever in the history of its studio.
Blue Sky Animation (Ice Age franchise) produced Ferdinand. The film only grossed $13 million opening weekend, the lowest of any Blue Sky film thus far. The previous lowest-grossing opening weekend for a Blue Sky film was “Ice Age: Collision Course” which grossed over $21 million.
Ferdinand
The computer-animated feature is focussed on a bull from Spain named Ferdinand who is ridiculed by other bulls for being different. John Cena voices the bull. It cost the studio $111 million to make the movie.
WWE Superstar John Cena recently did an interview with a BBC talk show and talked about a variety of topics. Association football (soccer) expert Mark Lawrenson asked “The Leader Of The Cenation” who his favorite soccer player was. Cena named the only professional footballer he knows, Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpCWNQUusBA
“If I had to name some famous footballers, I would start and end with Cristiano Ronaldo. That’s it.”
Cena noted that when he worked a WWE live event in London he was able to visit the Spurs stadium and walked on the pitch. When asked which position he’d like to play if he was a soccer player, Cena claimed he’d like to remain on the bench because he isn’t much of a runner:
“If I were to play myself, I would be on the bench because I have watched a few games, and it is a lot of running – I don’t run very well, or very far. I think being an inspirational coach might be my best role.“
– For the past several weeks jokes have been made from Finn Balor about being “over” after rumors of Vince McMahon canceling a planned Brock Lesnar vs. Balor match at the Royal Rumble because Vince doesn’t think Balor is “over” enough. Now WWE is selling a shirt that says “Balor Club – Forever,” with some letters highlighted in red in which they spell the word “over.” Check it out:
– triple j posted a video of WWE Superstar John Cena testing out his voice acting skills by trying to do the voices of various characters such as Shrek, Marge from The Simpsons, and many more. Check it out:
– Wednesday night’s NXT special on the USA Network averaged 841,000 viewers, around one third of what RAW typically draws. USA’s “WWE Week” continues tonight with Tribute To The Troops.
– Vice Sports has published a new profile looking at Chris Jericho and his uncanny ability to constantly reinvent himself and keep his character fresh. The article looks at Jericho’s most recent WWE run, his ongoing feud with New Japan Pro Wrestling star Kenny Omega and his work outside of pro wrestling.
– WWE Superstar John Cena is doing the media rounds to promote his new animated movie Ferdinand and did a video for Wired answering “the web’s most-searched questions” about him.
Did John Cena write his own WWE theme song? What does his diet consist of? Has he played Minecraft? Cena answers all these questions and more:
John Cena recently conducted an interview in which he detailed the most embarrassing moment of his pro-wrestling career. The incident happened early in his career and may explain why he’s gone on to wear jean shorts instead of spandex.
According to John, a case of food poisoning during his early main roster career resulted in a rather embarrassing incident.
John Cena’s Embarrassing Moment Revealed
“The most embarrassing thing is when I performed with food poisoning. I happened to not be wearing my denim shorts, this was way back in the days of yore and believe it or not, I was wearing Halloween orange spandex trunks.
“At the end of the contest, the orange had turned into an unflattering Autumn brown.
“Another wrestling nightmare would be to have your music play and you’re not ready to go out, but I would much rather arrive late but dressed for the occasion than pooping yourself and vomiting during a performance.”
John Cena recently had an interview with Digital Spy while promoting his new movie, Ferdinand. During the interview, he talked about a heel turn and more. Below are some highlights from it:
Fans wanting him to turn heel:
“So many times in WWE, the audience tells me – at the top of their lungs – that they want me to change. But over the years I’ve learned that, if I change, they’ll just rag on me about something else. I’m never gonna please them and, at the same time, I would be turning my back on those that I care about. So it couldn’t have been a better situation for me to be involved with this movie.”
Feeling fortunate on being able to choose his projects independently:
“I’m fortunate enough to be able to choose stuff that resonates with me, whereas before, when trying to help launch WWE Studios, I was pretty much told to just go and do these movies,” he explained. “The Marine [Cena’s first film with WWE Studios] was a fun ride, but as more movies got made, it was more like, ‘We need you to do this, we need you do that…'”
The story of Ferdinand:
“Ferdinand’s misunderstood and I think that’s a story that can carry on from generation to generation. Everybody says, ‘What a great movie – it’s so relevant now’ – they forget that the book’s 80 years old [children’s book The Story of Ferdinand was first published in 1936] and the story’s been told, and resonated with people, for that long.”