John Cena (Raw)

WWE Champion

Triumphing over WWE Champion Randy Orton in a grueling "One-Hour, Anything Goes WWE Iron Man Match" at WWE Bragging Rights, John Cena heroically captured his seventh WWE Title.

Lately things haven't been going well for John Cena. Ever since Edge caused him to lose to the WWE Championship at ECW's One Night Stand, it seems the Rated-R Superstar has had Cena's number. Most recently, Edge distracted John Cena in his match against Umaga allowing the Samoan Bulldozer to hit the Dr. of Thuganomics with the destructive Samoan Spike. The following week, Lita got Edge disqualified in his match against Cena by slapping the referee across the face. Cena may have gotten the win, but Edge was able to keep his championship.

But Cena will have a chance to change his luck around Aug. 20 at SummerSlam. Ever since losing the gold at ECW One Night Stand, the only thing on Cena's mind has been recapturing the WWE Championship. After coming up short at Saturday Night's Main Event, Cena has a chance to get the job done. Edge was disqualified at SNME, but since it was a DQ, he retained the gold. However, at SummerSlam, if the Rated R Superstar loses by disqualification again, the WWE Championship will still change hands. Can Cena get the best of his arch nemesis to once agian become WWE Champion? Tune in to SummerSlam to find out.

From the second John Cena's music hits and he steps through the curtain, The Champ sends the fans into a chaotic frenzy, the likes of which have rarely been seen. Cena has always said that it's all about "real recognizing real," and that's why he has Chain Gang soldiers all over the world. Whether it's in India, the Philippines, Italy the United States or anywhere else, his loyal followers chant his name, supporting him in every match. Cena fights for what he believes in, and he fights with a passion. The Champ has never backed down from a challenge and he doesn't plan on doing so anytime soon.

In fact, it was a challenge that allowed Cena to make his WWE debut in June 2002. Kurt Angle had been on a recent roll on the SmackDown division and wanted some competition. He issued an open challenge to anyone in the back. At the time, Cena was a relatively unknown wrestler just waiting for the break. He heard Angle's challenge and realized that opportunity was knocking, so he decided to answer. Angle didn't look impressed when he saw Cena answer his challenge, but he had a different impression of the youngster after the match was over. The Wrestling Machine did prevail in the match, but Cena took him to the limit, earning the respect of the entire locker room.

Cena rapidly climbed the ranks, and he began to develop an edgy mean streak as well. By In April 2003, Cena defeated the likes of Eddie Guerrero, Undertaker and Chris Benoit to become the No. 1 Contender for Brock Lesnar's WWE Championship. Cena found himself in his first main event, facing Lesnar at Backlash. Cena came up short, but it was clear that he was starting to make a name for himself.

During this time, Cena, who also became known as the Dr. of Thuganomics, started to show the world his unique ability to be able to rattle off impromptu freestyle raps, running down his opponents week after week. Cena's masterful rhymes would catch the ire of his opponents, taking them off their game and giving himself a mental advantage before the match even started.

By the time WrestleMania XX rolled around, Cena was reaching the top of his game. He had the daunting task of being in the opening match of the biggest show of the year, and to make the situation even tougher, he was going head to head against the largest athlete in the world - Big Show. It was Cena's biggest (literally and figuratively) challenge to date, and Big Show's United States Championship was also on the line. Cena was certainly the underdog, but with the capacity Madison Square Garden crowd behind him, he was able to hoist Big Show up for an improbably FU and his first taste of gold in WWE. Cena became the United States Champion.

Cena took on all challengers as the U.S. Champion, and one of his toughest challengers was the five-time WCW Champion, Booker T. Cena and Booker T's rivalry became so heated, it could not be decided in just one match. Instead, General Manager Theodore Long ordered they have a Best of Five Series to settle things once and for all. The series went to a deciding fifth match, where Cena was able to overcome Booker at No Mercy 2004 to retain the United States Championship.

But just a few days later on SmackDown, Cena ran into newcomer Carlito. It was Carlito's debut match, but the newcomer somehow managed to pull off the huge upset win, becoming U.S. Champion in his first ever match. Cena would have to wait for his rematch, though, as he suffered a serious kidney injury in a bar fight later that same night. It was later learned that Carlito's associate, Jesus, was the assailant. But nonetheless, Cena was out of action for more than a month.

After Cena came back and avenged his attack, he put in an amazing effort at the 2005 Royal Rumble. It came down to two of the rising stars in WWE - SmackDown's Cena and RAW's Batista. They went right at each other's throats and actually eliminated each other simultaneously. Mr. McMahon came to the ring and sent the match into overtime. Batista was able to pull off the win, but Cena had made the statement that he was ready to take the next step.

Cena continued to impress when he defeated Kurt Angle at No Way Out to become the No. 1 Contender for JBL's WWE Championship. JBL held the gold longer than anyone in the last 10 years, but the Dr. of Thuganomics was able to overcome the bruising brawler. In less than three years, Cena had reached the top of the mountain.

From there, Cena's popularity continued to soar. His legions of fans grew so much that he decided to give them their own name - the Chain Gang. It didn't matter where Cena went, the Chain Gang Soldiers would follow and lend their support. So when The Champ showed up on RAW during the Draft Lottery in 2005, it was no wonder that the fans went crazy.

The Champ went on to turn back challenger after challenger including such Superstars as Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle. Week after week, the odds were stacked against Cena, but week after week, Cena overcame those odds. Cena was even able to outlast five other Superstars in the Elimination Chamber at New Year's Revolution. But Cena's night was not over yet.

Mr. McMahon informed bloodied and battered Cena that Edge was cashing in his Money in the Bank opportunity for the WWE Championship. An exhausted Cena did all he could, but he was no match for the fresh Edge. But The Champ proved his resiliency in the coming weeks. He came back strong at the Royal Rumble and defeated Edge to regain the gold.

But things didn't get any easier for Cena after regaining the WWE Championship. The Champ had to defend the gold against Triple H at WrestleMania 22. Winning Championships is what The Game is all about, and he was hell bent on winning his eleventh championship on the grandest stage of them all. But Cena had other plans. The Champ was able to endure the vicious Pedigree and even made the King of Kings tap out to the STFU to retain the gold.

As if beating Triple H wasn't a tough enough task, at Backlash, Cena had to not only defeat Triple H but also Edge in a Triple Threat Match. It was one of the most hellacious Triple Threat Matches in WWE history, but when the bell rang, he emerged victorious with a pinfall over Triple H. Triple H may have had the last laugh when he leveled The Champ with a sledgehammer.

But then, simply put, John Cena was screwed. The two-time WWE Champion has survived Steel Cage Matches, I Quit Matches and even the Elimination Chamber. And it looked like he was going to survive the extremely hostile ECW environment at One Night Stand. The ravenous crowd promised to riot if Cena defeated RVD, and thanks to interference by Edge, a Five Star Frog Splash by RVD and a three-count by Paul Heyman, the riot never happened. Despite the fact that Heyman is not a licensed official, since it was ECW Rules, the result stood and Cena was no longer the Champion. Given Cena's drive and determination, though, you know the former Champ will do whatever it takes to get the gold back around his waist.

One thing has remained constant throughout Cena's entire career; the Champ gives it everything he has and leaves it all in the ring every night he steps through the ropes. For him, it really is all about real recognizing real, and he will never give his Chain Gang Soldiers anything less.