John Cena's WWE Raw wrestling career timeline in photos as he says farewell with his 'favorite match'

John first started his career in 2000, as he wrestled for Ultimate Pro Wrestling and got a developmental contract with WWF. He then entered SmackDown's open challenge against Kurt Angle in 2002. That same year, he signed with the WWE brand as he launched his "Ruthless Aggression" era. He achieved his first title win at the United States Championship in 2004 at WrestleMania.

John continued to make a name for himself by beating JBL in April 2005 during WrestleMania 21, which led him to win his first WWE Championship. Afterwards, he moved to the WWE Raw roster and became one of the franchise's rising stars. 

John competed in big headline matches in Wrestlemania, TLC and Last Man Standing. He suffered a torn pectoral injury, however he made a surprise comeback in January 2008 and ended up winning his Royal Rumble match. He lost his WWE Title in July 2011 to CM Punk during the Money in the Bank competition, which became a popular wrestling match in the franchise's history. The following year he lost Wrestlemania to The Rock.

In 2013, John won the WWE Title in a rematch during Wrestlemania. In 2017 he became a 16-time world champion, as he defeated AJ Styles during Royal Rumble, which made him tie Ric Flair's record. In 2021, during his big match return, he lost to Roman Reigns during SummerSlam 2021, which served as a passing-the-torch moment. In 2023, he opened Wrestlemania, but he lost his match to Austin Theory.

The wrestler successfully transitioned into the acting world thanks to his roles in Peacemaker and the Fast & Furious franchise. He continued to make rare WWE appearances as he started to get Hall of Fame buzz. His career accolades include 17x World Champion and 5x United States Champion. He's also a proud philanthropist, who is the world record holder with 650+ Make-A-Wish grants. During his 23-tenure at WWE, he has had 544 matches which equates to "the most in WWE history," which he proudly tweeted.