Training : Training is a process in order to change a human being's attitude, knowledge, skills and behavior. The term '' training'' refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relate to specific useful competencies. It forms the core of apprenticeships and provides the backbone of content at institutes of technology (also known as technical colleges or polytechnics). In addition to the basic training required for a trade, occupation or profession, observers of the labor-market recognize the need to continue training beyond initial qualifications: to maintain, upgrade and update skills throughout working life. People within many professions and occupations may refer to this sort of training as professional development.

Some commentators use a similar term for workplace learning to improve performance: "training and development". One can generally categorize such training as ''on-the-job'' or ''off-the-job'':

On-the-job training takes place in a normal working situation, using the actual tools, equipment, documents or materials that trainees will use when fully trained. On-the-job training has a general reputation as most effective for vocational work. Off-the-job training takes place away from normal work situations — implying that the employee does not count as a directly productive worker while such training takes place. Off-the-job training has the advantage that it allows people to get away from work and concentrate more thoroughly on the training itself. This type of training has proven more effective in inculcating concepts and ideas.

Training differs from exercise in that people may dabble in exercise as an occasional activity for fun. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, and performance.

Compare:

Education

Learning

Types of training

Physical training

Physical training concentrates on mechanistic goals: training-programs in this area develop specific skills or muscles, often with a view to peaking at a particular time. Some physical training programs focus on raising overall physical fitness.

In military use, training means gaining the physical ability to perform and survive in combat, and learning the many skills needed in a time of war. These include how to use a variety of weapons, outdoor survival skills, and how to survive capture by the enemy, among others. See military education and training.

For psychological or physiological reasons, people who believe it may be beneficial to them can choose to practice relaxation training, or autogenic training, in an attempt to increase their ability to relax or deal with stress. While some studies have indicated relaxation training is useful for some medical conditions, autogenic training has limited results or has been the result of few studies.

Religion and spirituality

In religious and spiritual use, training may refer to the purification of the mind, heart, understanding and actions to obtain a variety of spiritual goals such as (for example) closeness to God or freedom from suffering. Note for example the institutionalized spiritual training of Threefold Training in Buddhism, Yoga in Hinduism or discipleship in Christianity.

Compare religious ritual.

Artificial-intelligence feedback

Researchers have developed training-methods for artificial-intelligence devices as well. Evolutionary algorithms, including genetic programming and other methods of machine learning, use a system of feedback based on "fitness functions" to allow computer programs to determine how well an entity performs a task. The methods construct a series of programs, known as a “population” of programs, and then automatically test them for "fitness", observing how well they perform the intended task. The system automatically generates new programs based on members of the population that perform the best. These new members replace programs that perform the worst. The procedure repeats until the achievement of optimum performance. In robotics, such a system can continue to run in real-time after initial training, allowing robots to adapt to new situations and to changes in themselves, for example, due to wear or damage. Researchers have also developed robots that can appear to mimic simple human behavior as a starting point for training.

See also

HRD (human resource development)

Training Simulation

Physical education

Practice (learning method)

Retraining

Supercompensation (physical fitness)

Trainer (business)

References

cs:Trénink cy:Hyfforddiant da:Træning de:Training es:Entrenamiento eo:Trejnado id:Pelatihan he:אימון lt:Treniruotė nl:Trainen ja:訓練 no:Trening nn:Trening pl:Szkolenie pt:Treinamento ru:Тренинг simple:Training uk:Тренінг

Coordinates	44°25′57″N26°6′14″N
{{infobox boxer|name	Dereck Chisora
Nationality
Realname	Dereck Chisora
Nickname	Del Boy
Height
Reach
Weight	Heavyweight
Birth date	December 29, 1983
Birth place	Zimbabwe
Style	Orthodox
Total	15
Wins	14
Ko	9
Losses	1
Draws	0
No contests	0

Dereck Chisora (Born 29 December 1983) is a Zimbabwe-born English professional heavyweight boxer, and is a former British heavyweight champion having lost to Tyson Fury on the 23rd of July 2011. He is based in Finchley, London.

Boxing career

Amateur career

Chisora had a successful amateur career, winning a Four Nations gold and won the 2005 ABA super heavyweight title.

Professional career

Chisora turned professional on 17 February 2007, scoring a second round TKO against István Kecskés.

After winning three more fights (all by decision), he came up against the toughest test of his career against fellow rising British heavyweight prospect, Sam Sexton. Chisora won the fight by stopping Sexton in the final 30 seconds of the final round. Chisora moved on from the win over Sexton by beating the American Shawn Mclean at the Grosvenor House hotel in Mayfair and then stopped the experienced Lee Swaby in 3 rounds at the York Hall. Chisora finished the year with a December victory over Neil Simpson at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in London's Docklands leaving him with an 8-0 record at the end of his second year as a professional.

Chisora was suspended for four months for biting Paul Butlin during the fifth round of their 22 May contest at the York Hall in Bethnal Green. The incident was missed by the referee but TV replays proved conclusive and as a result Chisora missed out on his fight for a British title against Danny Williams. He was also fined £2,500.

Chisora went on to defeat Zurab Noniashvili on 9 October, winning by TKO in three rounds at York Hall and then on 20 January 2010 it was announced that he would get a second chance to face Danny Williams on 13 February 2010 after Sam Sexton was forced to withdraw injured from his match with Williams. Chisora welcomed the chance, saying, "It was my own fault the fight with Williams didn't go ahead, and I've been kicking myself ever since." On 15 May 2010 Chisora won the British heavyweight title after stopping Williams in the second round. Chisora defeated Sam Sexton by knockout in the ninth round on 18 September. Chisora was scheduled to face the IBF, IBO, WBO and Ring Magazine heavyweight champion, Wladimir Klitschko on 11 December, but Klitschko pulled out of the fight three days prior with a torn abdominal muscle. The fight was later rescheduled for 30 April 2011, but this was later cancelled so Klitschko could fight David Haye on 2 July.

On 23 July, he fought Tyson Fury. Chisora dominated the opening rounds unleashing his big left hand on more than one occasion, leaving Tyson Fury worried, however he failed to make that advantage count. The next few rounds Fury got into the fight and by the half way stage was in front. After the half way stage Chisora got desperate when entering uncharted territory, neither man had gone beyond the 10th round, this is when Fury's stamina advantage came good. Chisora wildly swing numerous punches with a low hit rate, this ultimately lead him to become tired and Fury seized upon this, throwing combinations then holding on to Chisora to waste time. Despite a good fight, with Chisora landing some big left hands Fury won by unanimous decision.

Personal life

In November 2010, Chisora, who has previous convictions for assault, was found guilty of assaulting his then-girlfriend after finding text messages from another man on her phone. He was not jailed, but was given a 12-week prison sentence suspended for two years. He was also ordered to pay £1,500 in compensation and £500 costs and complete 150 hours community work.

Professional boxing record

| style="text-align:center;" colspan="14"|14 Wins (9 Knockouts), 1 Defeat, 0 Draws |- style="text-align:center; background:#e3e3e3;" | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Result | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Record | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Opponent | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Type | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Rd., Time | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Date | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Location | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Notes |- align=center |Loss||14–1||align=left| Tyson Fury |UD |||| |align=left| Wembley Arena, Wembley, London}} |align=left|Lost British Boxing Board of Control & Commonwealth Boxing Council heavyweight titles. |- align=center |Win||14–0||align=left| Sam Sexton ||||| |align=left| LG Arena, Birmingham, West Midlands}} |align=left|Retain British Boxing Board of Control title & Win Commonwealth Boxing Council heavyweight title. Rematch. |- align=center |Win||13–0||align=left| Danny Williams ||||| |align=left| Upton Park, West Ham, London}} |align=left|Win British Boxing Board of Control title. Williams down twice in the second round. |- align=center |Win||12–0||align=left| Carl Baker ||||| |align=left| Wembley Arena, Wembley, London}} |align=left|British heavyweight title eliminator. |- align=center |Win||11–0||align=left| Zurab Noniashvili ||||| |align=left| York Hall, Bethnal Green, London}} |align=left|Noniashvili down in round three. |- align=center |Win||10–0||align=left| Paul Butlin ||||| |align=left| York Hall, Bethnal Green, London}} |align=left| Chisora bit Butlin in the ear in the 5 round. Rematch. |- align=center |Win||9–0||align=left| Daniil Peretyatko ||||| |align=left| York Hall, Bethnal Green, London}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win||8–0||align=left| Neil Simpson ||||| |align=left| ExCel Arena, Dockland, London}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win||7–0||align=left| Lee Swaby ||||| |align=left| York Hall, Bethnal Green, London}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win||6-0||align=left| Shawn McLean ||||| |align=left| Grosvenor House, Mayfair, London}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win||5–0||align=left| Sam Sexton ||||| |align=left| York Hall, Bethnal Green, London}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win||4–0||align=left| Paul Butlin ||||| |align=left| York Hall, Bethnal Green, London}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win||3–0||align=left| Darren Morgan ||||| |align=left| York Hall, Bethnal Green, London}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win||2–0||align=left| Tony Booth ||||| |align=left| Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales}} |align=left| |- align=center |Win||1–0||align=left| Istvan Kecskes ||||| |align=left| The Arena, Wembley, London}} |align=left|

Titles

References

External links

Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:People from Finchley Category:Zimbabwean boxers Category:British boxers Category:Heavyweight boxers Category:Amateur Boxing Association of England champions

de:Dereck Chisora uk:Дерек Чісора

Coordinates	44°25′57″N26°6′14″N
Position	Center
Height ft	7 |height_in0
Weight lbs	255
Number	34, 15
Birth date	January 21, 1963
Birth place	Lagos, Nigeria
League
Career start	1984
Career end	2002
Draft year	1984
Draft round	1
Draft pick	1
Draft team	Houston Rockets
College	Houston (1981–1984)
Years1	1984–2001
Team1	Houston Rockets
Years2	2001–2002
Team2	Toronto Raptors
Letter	o
Bbr	olajuha01
Stat1label	Points
Stat1value	26,946 (21.8 ppg)
Stat2label	Rebounds
Stat2value	13,747 (11.1 rpg)
Stat3label	Blocks
Stat3value	3,830 (3.1 bpg)
Stat4label	Assists
Stat4value	3,058
Stat5label	Steals
Stat5value	2,162
Highlights	2× NBA Champion (1994–1995) NBA Most Valuable Player () 2× NBA Finals MVP (–) 12× NBA All-Star (1985–1990, 1992–1997) 2× NBA Defensive Player of the Year (–) 6× All-NBA First Team (–, –, ) 3× All-NBA Second Team (, , ) 3× All-NBA Third Team (, , ) 5× All-Defensive First Team (–, , -) 4× All-Defensive Second Team (, , –) NBA All-Rookie Team () NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
Hof player	hakeem-olajuwon
medal templates	}}

}} Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon (born January 21, 1963) is a retired Nigerian-American professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played the center position in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors. He led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. In 2008, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Listed at 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) (but closer to 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) by his own admission), Olajuwon is considered one of the greatest centers ever to play the game.

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Olajuwon traveled from his home country to play for the University of Houston under Coach Guy Lewis. His college career for the Cougars included three trips to the Final Four. At the time, he spelled his first name Akeem. Olajuwon was drafted by the Houston Rockets with the first overall selection of the 1984 NBA Draft, a draft that included Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton. Olajuwon joined the Houston Rockets and was nicknamed "Akeem The Dream" for his grace on and off the court. He combined with the 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) Ralph Sampson to form a duo dubbed the "Twin Towers". The two led the Rockets to the 1986 NBA Finals, where they lost in six games to the Boston Celtics.

After Sampson was traded to the Golden State Warriors in 1988, Olajuwon became the Rockets' undisputed leader. He led the league in rebounding twice (1989, 1990) and shot-blocking three times (1990, 1991, 1993). Raised as a Muslim, Olajuwon became more devoted to the faith during this period and changed the spelling of his name from Akeem to Hakeem. Despite very nearly being traded during a bitter contract dispute before the 1992–93 season, he remained with the team. In 1993–94, he became the only player in NBA history to win the NBA's Most Valuable Player (MVP), Defensive Player of the Year, and Finals MVP awards in the same season. His Rockets won back-to-back championships against the New York Knicks (avenging his college championship loss to Patrick Ewing), and Shaquille O'Neal's Orlando Magic. In 1996 Olajuwon was a member of the Olympic gold-medal-winning United States national team, and was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. He ended his career as the league's all-time leader in blocked shots.

Early life

Olajuwon was born to Salim and Abike Olajuwon, middle-class Yoruba owners of a cement business in Lagos, Nigeria. "Olajuwon" translates to "always being on top" in Yoruba. He was the third of six children. He credits his parents with instilling virtues of hard work and discipline into him and his siblings; "They taught us to be honest, work hard, respect our elders, believe in ourselves". Olajuwon has expressed displeasure at his childhood in Nigeria being characterized as backwards. "Lagos is a very cosmopolitan city...There are many ethnic groups. I grew up in an environment at schools where there were all different types of people."

During his youth, Olajuwon was a soccer goalkeeper, which helped give him the footwork and agility to balance his size and strength in basketball, and also contributed to his shot-blocking ability. Olajuwon did not play basketball until the age of 15, when he entered a local tournament. However, he quickly became taken with the game: "Basketball is something that is so unique. That immediately I pick up the game and, you know, realize that this is the sport for me. All the other sports just become secondary."

University of Houston and "Phi Slama Jama"

Olajuwon emigrated from Nigeria to play basketball at the University of Houston under Cougars coach Guy Lewis. Olajuwon was not highly recruited and was merely offered a visit to the university to work out for the coaching staff, based on a recommendation from a friend of Lewis who had seen Olajuwon play. He later recalled that when he originally arrived at the airport in 1980 for the visit, no representative of the school was there to greet him. When he called the staff, they told him to take a taxi out to the university. While there, he and his teammates (including Clyde Drexler) formed what was dubbed "Phi Slama Jama", the first slam-dunking "fraternity", so named because of its above-the-rim prowess. After redshirting his freshman year in 1980–81 because he could not yet get clearance from the NCAA to play, Olajuwon played sparingly as a redshirt freshman in 1981–82, and the Cougars were eliminated in the Final Four by the eventual NCAA champion, North Carolina Tar Heels. Olajuwon sought advice from the coaching staff about how to increase his playing time, and they advised him to work out with local Houston resident and multiple NBA MVP winner, Moses Malone. Malone, who was then a center on the NBA's Houston Rockets, played games every off season with several NBA players at the Fonde Recreation Center. Olajuwon joined the workouts and went head to head with Malone in several games throughout the summer. Olajuwon credited this experience with rapidly improving his game: "The way Moses helped me is by being out there playing and allowing me to go against that level of competition. He was the best center in the NBA at the time, so I was trying to improve my game against the best."

Olajuwon returned from that summer a different player, and in his sophomore and junior years he helped the Cougars advance to consecutive NCAA championship games, where they lost to North Carolina State on a last second tip-in in 1983 and a Patrick Ewing-led Georgetown team in 1984. Olajuwon won the 1983 NCAA Tournament Player of the Year award, even though he played for the losing team in the final game. He is, to date, the last player from a losing side to be granted this honor. Drexler departed for the NBA in 1983, leaving Olajuwon the lone star on the team.

After the 1983–84 season, Olajuwon debated whether to stay in college or declare early for the NBA draft. At that time (before the NBA Draft Lottery was introduced in 1985), the first pick was awarded by coin flip. Olajuwon recalled: "I really believed that Houston was going to win the coin flip and pick the number 1 draft choice, and I really wanted to play in Houston so I had to make that decision (to leave early)." His intuition proved correct, and a lucky toss placed Houston ahead of the Portland Trail Blazers. Olajuwon was considered the top amateur prospect in the summer of 1984 over fellow collegians and future NBA stars Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton, and was selected first overall by the Rockets in the 1984 NBA Draft.

Houston Rockets

The Rockets had immediate success during Olajuwon's rookie season, as their win-loss record improved from 29–53 in the 1983–84 to 48–34 in 1984–85. He teamed with the 1984 Rookie of the Year, 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) Ralph Sampson to form the original NBA "Twin Towers" duo. Olajuwon averaged 20.6 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.68 blocks in his rookie season. He finished as runner-up to Michael Jordan in the 1985 Rookie of the Year voting, and was the only other rookie to receive any votes.

Olajuwon averaged 23.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 3.4 blocks per game during his second pro season (1985–86). The Rockets finished 51–31, and advanced all the way to the Western Conference Finals where they faced the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. The Rockets won the series fairly easily, four games to one, shocking the sports world and landing Olajuwon on the cover of ''Sports Illustrated''. Olajuwon scored 75 points in victories in games three and four, and after the series Lakers coach Pat Riley remarked "We tried everything. We put four bodies on him. We helped from different angles. He's just a great player." The Rockets advanced to the 1986 NBA Finals where they succumbed in six games to the Boston Celtics, whose 1986 team is often considered one of the best teams in NBA history.

Mid-career

During the 1987–88 season, Sampson (who was struggling with knee injuries that would eventually end his career prematurely) was traded to the Golden State Warriors. The 1988–89 season was Olajuwon's first full season as the Rockets' undisputed leader. This change also coincided with the hiring of new coach Don Chaney. The Rockets ended the regular season with a record of 45–37, and Olajuwon finished the season as the league leader in rebounds (13.5 per game) by a full rebound per game over Charles Barkley. This performance was consistent with his averages of 24.8 points and 3.4 blocks. Olajuwon posted exceptional playoff numbers of 37.5 ppg and 16.8 rpg, plus a record for points in a four-game playoff series (150). Nevertheless, the Rockets were eliminated in the first round by the Dallas Mavericks, 3 games to 1.

The 1989–90 season was a disappointment for the Rockets. They finished the season with a .500 record at 41–41, and though they made the playoffs, were eliminated in four games by Los Angeles. Olajuwon put up one of the most productive defensive seasons by an interior player in the history of the NBA. He won the NBA rebounding crown (14.0 per game) again, this time by an even larger margin; a full two rebounds per game over David Robinson, and led the league in blocks by averaging 4.6 per game. He is the only player since the NBA started recording blocked shots in 1973–74 to average 14+ rebounds and 4.5+ blocked shots per game in the same season. In doing so he joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton as the only players in NBA history to lead the league in rebounding and shot-blocking in the same season. Olajuwon also recorded a quadruple-double during the season, becoming only the third player in NBA history to do so.

The Rockets finished the 1990–91 season with a record of 52–30 under NBA Coach of the Year Chaney. Olajuwon averaged 21.8 points per game in 1990–91, but due to an injury to his eyesocket caused by an elbow from Bill Cartwright, did not play in enough games (56) to qualify for the rebounding title. Otherwise he would have won it for a third consecutive year, averaging 13.8 a game (league leader Robinson averaged 13.0 rpg). He also averaged a league-leading 3.95 blocks per game. However, the Rockets were swept in the playoffs by the LA Lakers.

The following season was a low point for the Rockets during Olajuwon's tenure. They finished 42–40, and missed the playoffs for the first time in Olajuwon's career. He missed two weeks early in the season due to an accelerated heart beat. Despite his usual strong numbers, he could not lift his team out of mediocrity. Since making the Finals in 1986, the Rockets had made the playoffs five times, but their record in those playoff series was 1–5 and they were eliminated in the first round four times. Following the season, Olajuwon requested a trade in part because of his bad contract; his salary was considerably low for a top center, and his contract specifically forbade re-negotiation. He also expressed displeasure with the organization's efforts to surround him with quality players. He felt the Rockets had cut corners at every turn, and were more concerned with the bottom line than winning. Management had also infuriated Olajuwon during the season when they accused of him of faking a hamstring injury because of his unhappiness over his contract situation. His agent cited his differences with the organization as being "irreconcilable", and Olajuwon publicly insulted owner Charlie Thomas and the team's front office. With the 1992–93 season approaching, a reporter for the ''Houston Chronicle'' said that Olajuwon being dealt was "as close to a sure thing as there is."

Nonetheless he was not traded and the Rockets began the season with a new coach in Rudy Tomjanovich. Olajuwon improved his passing in 1992–93, which had previously been considered subpar, setting a new career high of 3.5 assists per game. This willingness to pass the ball increased his scoring, making it more difficult for opposing teams to double and triple-team him. Olajuwon set a new career high with 26.1 points per game. The Rockets set a new franchise record with 55 wins, and advanced to the second round of the playoffs, pushing the Seattle SuperSonics to a seventh game before losing in overtime, 103–100. He finished second in the MVP race to Charles Barkley with 22 votes to Barkley's 59. The team rewarded him with a four-year contract extension toward the end of the regular season. In stark contrast to the previous year, the Rockets entered the 1993–94 season as a team on the rise. They had a solid core of young players and veterans, with a leader in Olajuwon who was entering his prime.

Championship years

Olajuwon gained a reputation as a clutch performer and also as one of the top centers in history based on his performances in the 1993–94 and 1994–95 seasons. He outplayed centers such as Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Shaquille O'Neal, and Dikembe Mutombo, and other defensive stalwarts such as Dennis Rodman, Karl Malone, and Charles Barkley. Many of his battles were with his fellow Texas-based rival David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs. In the 30 head–to–head match-ups during the seven seasons from the 1989 to 1996, when both Olajuwon and Robinson were in their prime, Olajuwon averaged 26.3 points per game, shooting 47.6% from the field, while Robinson averaged 22.1 and 46.8%.

The Rockets won the 1994 NBA Finals in a seven-game series against the New York Knicks, the team of one of Olajuwon's perennial rivals since his collegiate days, Patrick Ewing. After being down 2–1, the Knicks took a 3–2 lead into Game 6. The Rockets were defending an 86–84 lead when in the last second, Knicks guard John Starks (who had already scored 27 points) went up for a finals-winning three. Olajuwon pulled off a clutch play by blocking the shot as time expired. In Game 7, Olajuwon posted a game–high 25 points and 10 rebounds, which helping defeat the Knicks, bringing the first professional sports championships to Houston since the Houston Oilers won the American Football League championship in 1961. Olajuwon dominated Ewing in their head–to–head match-up, outscoring him in every game of the series and averaging 26.9 points per game on 50% shooting, compared to Ewing's 18.9 and 36.3%. For his efforts Olajuwon was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player.

Olajuwon was at the pinnacle of his career. In 1994 he became the only player in NBA history to win MVP, Finals MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards in the same season. He was also the first foreign-born player to win the league's MVP award.

Despite a slow start by the team, and Olajuwon missing eight games toward the end of the season with anemia, the Rockets repeated as champions in 1995. They were bolstered in part by the acquisition of Clyde Drexler, Olajuwon's former University of Houston Phi Slama Jama teammate, in a mid-season trade from the Portland Trail Blazers. Olajuwon averaged 27.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 3.4 blocks per game during the regular season. Olajuwon displayed perhaps the most impressive moments of his career during the playoffs. San Antonio Spurs center David Robinson, recently crowned league MVP, was outplayed by Olajuwon in the Conference Finals: Olajuwon averaged 35.3 points on .560 shooting (Robinson's numbers were 23.8 and .449) and outscored Robinson 81-41 in the final two games. When asked later what a team could do to "solve" Olajuwon, Robinson told ''LIFE'' magazine: "Hakeem? You don't solve Hakeem." The Rockets won every road game that series. In the NBA Finals, the Rockets swept the Orlando Magic, who were led by a young Shaquille O'Neal. Olajuwon outscored O'Neal in every game, scoring more than 30 points in each and raising his regular-season rate by five while O'Neal's production dropped by one. Olajuwon was again named Finals MVP. He averaged 33.0 points on .531 shooting, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.81 blocks in the 1995 Playoffs. As in 1994, Olajuwon was the only Rockets All-Star.

Post-championship period

The Rockets' two-year championship run ended when they were eliminated in the second round of the 1996 NBA Playoffs by the eventual Western Conference Champion Seattle SuperSonics. Michael Jordan had returned from a 21-month hiatus in late 1995, and his Chicago Bulls dominated the league for the next three years (1996–98). The Bulls and Rockets never met in the NBA Playoffs. The Rockets posted a 57–win season in 1996–97 season when they added Charles Barkley to their roster. They started the season 21–2, but lost the Western Conference Finals in six games to the Utah Jazz. After averaging 26.9 and 23.2 points in 1995–96 and 1996–97 respectively, Olajuwon's point production dipped to 16.4 in 1997–98. After the Rockets lost in the first round in five games to the Jazz in 1998, Drexler retired. In 1998–99 the Rockets acquired veteran All-Star Scottie Pippen and finished 31–19 in the lockout-shortened regular season. Olajuwon's scoring production rose to 18.9 points per game, and he made his twelfth and final All-NBA Team. However, they lost in the first round again, this time to the Lakers. After the season, Pippen was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Toronto Raptors

Houston began to rebuild, bringing in young guards Cuttino Mobley and 2000 NBA co-Rookie of the Year Steve Francis. On August 2, 2001, after refusing a $13 million deal with the Rockets, Olajuwon was traded to the Toronto Raptors for draft picks (the highest of which was used by Houston to draft Bostjan Nachbar at #15 in the 2002 NBA Draft), with the player having a three-year contract that would give him $18 million. Olajuwon averaged career lows of 7.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in what would be his final season, as he decided to retire due to back injury. Olajuwon retired as the all–time league leader in total blocked shots with 3,830, although shot blocking did not become an official statistic until the 1973-74 NBA season. Shortly after his retirement, his #34 jersey was retired by the Rockets.

International career

}}

In 1980, before arriving in the US, Olajuwon played for a Nigerian junior team in the All-Africa Games. This created some problems when he tried to play for the United States men's national basketball team initially. FIBA rules prohibit players from representing more than one country in international competition, and player must go through a three-year waiting period for any nationality change. Olajuwon was ineligible for selection to the "Dream Team" as he hadn't became a US citizen.

Olajuwon became a naturalized American citizen on April 2, 1993. For the 1996 Olympics, he received a FIBA exemption and was eligible to play for Dream Team III. The team went on to win the gold medal in Atlanta. During the tournament, he shared his minutes with Shaquille O'Neal and David Robinson. He played 7 out of the 8 games and started 2. He averaged 5 points and 3.1 rebounds and had 8 assists and 6 steals in eight games.

Player profile

:::—Michael Jordan

Olajuwon was highly skilled as both an offensive and defensive player. On defense, his rare combination of quickness and strength allowed him to guard a wide range of players effectively. He was noted for both his outstanding shot-blocking ability and his unique talent (for a frontcourt player) for stealing the ball. Olajuwon is the only player in NBA history to record more than 200 blocks and 200 steals in the same season. He averaged 3.09 blocks and 1.75 steals per game for his career. He is the only center to rank among the top ten all time in steals. Olajuwon was also an outstanding rebounder, with a career average of 11.1 rebounds per game. He led the NBA in rebounding twice, during the 1989 and 1990 seasons. He was twice named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and was a five-time NBA All-Defensive First Team selection.

On offense, Olajuwon was famous for his deft shooting touch around the basket and his nimble footwork in the low post. With the ball, Hakeem displayed a vast array of fakes and spin moves, highlighted in his signature "Dream Shake" (see below). He was a prolific scorer, averaging 21.8 points per game for his career, and an above average offensive rebounder, averaging 3.3 offensive rebounds per game. Additionally, Olajuwon became a skilled dribbler with an ability to score in "face-up" situations like a perimeter player. He is one of only four players to have recorded a quadruple-double in the NBA. (It should be noted that quadruple-doubles were not possible before the 1973-74 season, when blocked shots and steals were first kept as statistics in the NBA.)

''Dream Shake''

:"The best footwork I’ve ever seen from a big man" ::—Pete Newell Olajuwon established himself as an unusually skilled offensive player for a big man, perfecting a set of fakes and spin moves that became known as his trademark ''Dream Shake''. Executed with uncanny speed and power, they are still regarded as the pinnacle of "big man" footwork. Shaquille O'Neal stated: "Hakeem has five moves, then four countermoves – that gives him 20 moves." Olajuwon himself traced the move back to the soccer-playing days of his youth. "The Dream Shake was actually one of my soccer moves which I translated to basketball. It would accomplish one of three things: one, to misdirect the opponent and make him go the opposite way; two, to freeze the opponent and leave him devastated in his tracks; three, to shake off the opponent and giving him no chance to contest the shot." The Dream Shake was extremely difficult to defend, much like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's sky hook.

One standout Dream Shake came in Game 5 of the 1995 Western Conference playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs. With David Robinson guarding him, Olajuwon crossed over from his right hand to his left, drove to the basket and faked a layup. Robinson, an excellent defender, kept up with Olajuwon and did not fall for the fake, remaining planted. Olajuwon spun counterclockwise and faked a jump shot. Robinson, who was voted Most Valuable Player that season, took the bait this time and jumped to block the shot. With Robinson in the air, Olajuwon performed an up-and-under move, scoring an easy basket.

Olajuwon has referred to basketball as a science, and described his signature move in vivid detail: "When the point guard throws me the ball, I jump to get the ball. But this jump is the set-up for the second move, the baseline move. I call it the 'touch landing.' The defender is waiting for me to come down because I jumped but I’m gone before I land. Defenders say 'Wow, he’s quick,' but they don’t know that where I’m going is predetermined. He’s basing it on quickness, but the jump is to set him up. Before I come down, I make my move. When you jump, you turn as you land. Boom! The defender can’t react because he’s waiting for you to come down to defend you. Now, the first time when you showed that quickness, he has to react to that quickness, so you can fake baseline and go the other way with your jump hook. All this is part of the Dream Shake. The Dream Shake is you dribble and then you jump; now you don’t have a pivot foot. When I dribble I move it so when I come here, I jump. By jumping, I don’t have a pivot foot now. I dribble so now I can use either foot. I can go this way or this way. So he’s frozen, he doesn’t know which way I’m going to go. That is the shake. You put him in the mix and you jump stop and now you have choice of pivot foot. He doesn’t know where you’re gonna turn and when."

Off the court

Olajuwon married his current wife Dalia Asafi on August 8, 1996 in Houston. They have two daughters, Rahmah and Aisha Olajuwon. Abisola Olajuwon, his daughter with former wife Lita Spencer, whom he met in college, represented the West Girls in the McDonald's All American Game and played for the WNBA's Chicago Sky.

In addition to English, Olajuwon is fluent in French, Arabic, and the Nigerian languages of Yoruba and Ekiti. He wrote his autobiography, ''Living the Dream'', with co-author Peter Knobler in 1996. During his 18-year NBA career, Olajuwon earned more than $107,000,000 in salary.

Olajuwon, who endorsed a sneaker made by Spalding which retailed for $35, is one of the very few well-known players in any professional sport to endorse a sneaker not from Nike, Reebok, Adidas, or other high-visibility retail brands. As Olajuwon declared: "How can a poor working mother with three boys buy Nikes or Reeboks that cost $120?...She can't. So kids steal these shoes from stores and from other kids. Sometimes they kill for them."

Muslim faith

In Olajuwon's college career and early years in the NBA, he was often undisciplined, talking back to officials, getting in minor fights with other players and amassing technical fouls. Later, Olajuwon took an active interest in spirituality, becoming a more devout Muslim. On March 9, 1991, he altered his name from Akeem to the proper Arabic spelling Hakeem, saying, "I'm not changing the spelling of my name, I'm correcting it". He later recalled, "I studied the Qur'an every day. At home, at the mosque...I would read it in airplanes, before games and after them. I was soaking up the faith and learning new meanings each time I turned a page. I didn't dabble in the faith, I gave myself over to it." "His religion dominates his life" Drexler said in 1995. Olajuwon was still recognized as one of the league's elite centers despite his strict observance of Ramadan (e.g., abstaining from food and drink during daylight hours for about a month), which occurred during virtually every season of his career. Olajuwon was noted as sometimes playing better during the month, and in 1995 he was named NBA Player of the Month in February, even though Ramadan began on February 1 of that year.

Post-NBA life

Olajuwon played for 20 consecutive seasons in the Houston area, first collegiately for the Cougars and then the Rockets. He still maintains a home in the area, and is considered a local icon and one of Houston's most beloved athletes. Olajuwon has had great success in the Houston real estate market, with his estimated profits exceeding $100 million. He buys in cash-only purchases, as it is against Islamic law to pay interest. Since the end of his career Olajuwon has spent most of his time in Jordan, where he moved with his family to pursue Islamic studies. He returns once or twice a year to visit his friends and former teammates such as Sam Cassell and Robert Horry, whose careers he followed. He keeps in regular phone contact with former Cougars and Rockets teammate Clyde Drexler.

In the 2006 NBA offseason, Olajuwon opened his first Big Man Camp, where he teaches young frontcourt players the finer points of playing in the post. While Olajuwon never expressed an interest in coaching a team, he wishes to give back to the game by helping younger players. When asked whether the league was becoming more guard-oriented and big men were being de-emphasized, Olajuwon responded, "For a big man who is just big, maybe. But not if you play with speed, with agility. It will always be a big man's game if the big man plays the right way. On defense, the big man can rebound and block shots. On offense, he draws double-teams and creates opportunities. He can add so much, make it easier for the entire team." He runs the camp for free. Olajuwon has worked with several NBA players, including power forward Emeka Okafor, of the New Orleans Hornets and center Yao Ming of the Rockets. In September 2009, he also worked with Kobe Bryant on the post moves and the Dream Shake. More recently he has been working with Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, helping him diversify his post moves and encouraging more mental focus.

Olajuwon was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2008.

Awards and achievements

2× NBA champion (1994, '95)

2× NBA Finals MVP (1994, '95)

1× NBA MVP (1994)

2× Defensive Player of Year (1993, '94)

6× All-NBA First Team (1987, '88, '89, '93, '94, '97)

3× All-NBA Second Team ('86, '90, '96)

3× All-NBA Third Team (1991, '95, '99)

5× All-Defensive First Team ('87, '88, '90, '93, '94)

4× All-Defensive Second Team ('85, '91, '96, '97)

12× All-Star

Olympic gold medalist (1996)

Named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996).

Olajuwon ended his career in the top ten all-time in blocks, scoring, rebounding, and steals. He is the only player in NBA history to retire in the top ten for all four categories (he is now 11th all-time in rebounding).

Olajuwon was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2008. Ranked #13 in ''SLAM Magazine'''s 2009 revision of the top 50 greatest players of all time (published in the August 2009 issue)

NBA statistics

	Led the league
Bold	Denotes career highs

Averages

35.5 68 75 79 bgcolor="CFECEC" bgcolor="CFECEC" 50 69 bgcolor="CFECEC" 80 72 72 78 45 bgcolor="CFECEC" 28 55 37 1,186 140 8

Season			! Team	! GP !! GS !! MIN !! FG% !! 3P% !! FT% !! OFF !! DEF !! REB !! AST !! STL !! BLK !! TOV !! PF !! PTS
align="left">		align="left"		82	|	.538		.613	5.4	6.5	11.9	1.4	1.2	2.7	2.9	4.2	20.6
align="left"	<			align="left"	68	|	36.3	.526		.645	4.9	6.6	11.5	2.0	2.0	3.4	2.9	4.0	23.5
align="left">		align="left"	75	|	36.8	.508	.200	.702	4.2	7.2	11.4	2.9	1.9	3.4	3.0	3.9	23.4
align="left"	<			align="left"	79	|	35.8	.514	.000	.695	3.8	8.3	12.1	2.1	2.1	2.7	3.1	4.1	22.8
align="left">		align="left"		82 ||	36.9	.508	.000	.696	4.1	9.4	13.5	1.8	2.6	3.4	3.4	4.0	24.8
align="left"	<			align="left"		82 ||	38.1	.501	.167	.713	3.6	10.4	14.0	2.9	2.1	4.6	3.9	3.8	24.3
align="left">		align="left"	56	|	36.8	.508	.000	.769	3.9	9.8	13.8	2.3	2.2	3.9	3.1	3.9	21.2
align="left"	<			align="left"	70	|	37.7	.502	.000	.766	3.5	8.6	12.1	2.2	1.8	4.3	2.7	3.8	21.6
align="left">		align="left"	82	82 ||	39.5	.529	.000	.779	3.5	9.6	13.0	3.5	1.8	4.2	3.2	3.7	26.1
align="left" style="background-color:#AFE6BA"	<	†		align="left"	80	|	41.0	.528	.421	.716	2.9	9.1	11.9	3.6	1.6	3.7	3.4	3.6	27.3
align="left" style="background-color:#AFE6BA">†		align="left"	72	|	39.6	.517	.188	.756	2.4	8.4	10.8	3.5	1.8	3.4	3.3	3.5	27.8
align="left"	<			align="left"	72	|	38.8	.514	.214	.724	2.4	8.4	10.9	3.6	1.6	2.9	3.4	3.4	26.9
align="left">		align="left"	78	|	36.6	.510	.313	.787	2.2	7.0	9.2	3.0	1.5	2.2	3.6	3.2	23.2
align="left"	<			align="left"	47	|	34.7	.483	.000	.755	2.5	7.3	9.8	3.0	1.8	2.0	2.7	3.2	16.4
align="left">		align="left"		50 ||	35.7	.514	.308	.717	2.1	7.4	9.6	1.8	1.6	2.5	2.8	3.2	18.9
align="left"	<			align="left"	44	|	23.8	.458	.000	.616	1.5	4.8	6.2	1.4	0.9	1.6	1.7	2.0	10.3
align="left">		align="left"	58	|	26.6	.498	.000	.621	2.1	5.3	7.4	1.2	1.2	1.5	1.4	2.4	11.9
align="left"			align="left"	61	|	22.6	.464	.000	.560	1.6	4.4	6.0	1.1	1.2	1.5	1.6	2.4	7.1
align="left" colspan=3	Career	1,238	|	35.7	.512	.202	.712	3.3	7.8	11.1	2.5	1.7	3.1	3.0	3.5	21.8
align="left" colspan=3	Playoffs	145	|	39.6	.528	.222	.719	3.2	7.9	11.2	3.2	1.7	3.3	2.9	3.9	25.9
align="left" colspan=3	All-Star	12	|	23.2	.409	1.000	.520	3.2	4.7	7.8	1.4	1.3	1.9	2.2	2.6	9.8

Totals

2,914 68 75 79 bgcolor="CFECEC" bgcolor="CFECEC" 50 69 bgcolor="CFECEC" 80 72 72 78 45 bgcolor="CFECEC" 28 55 37 1,186 140 8

Season	! Age	! Team	! GP !! GS !! MIN !! FGM !! FGA !! 3PM !! 3PA !! FTM !! FTA !! OFF !! DEF !! REB !! AST !! STL !! BLK !! TOV !! PF !! PTS
align="left"			align="left"		82	|	677	1,258	0	0	338	551	440	534	974	111	99	220	234	344	1,692
align="left"			align="left"	68	|	2,467	625	1,188	0	0	347	538	333	448	781	137	134	231	195	271	1,597
align="left"			align="left"	75	|	2,760	677	1,332	1	5	400	570	315	543	858	220	140	254	228	294	1,755
align="left"			align="left"	79	|	2,825	712	1,385	0	4	381	548	302	657	959	163	162	214	243	324	1,805
align="left"			align="left"		82 ||	3,024	790	1,556	0	10	454	652	338	767	1,105	149	213	282	275	329	2,034
align="left"			align="left"		82 ||	3,124	806	1,609	1	6	382	536	299	850	1,149	234	174	376	316	314	1,995
align="left"			align="left"	56	|	2,062	487	959	0	4	213	277	219	551	770	131	121	221	174	221	1,187
align="left"			align="left"	70	|	2,636	591	1,177	0	1	328	428	246	599	845	157	127	304	187	263	1,510
align="left"			align="left"	82	82 ||	3,242	848	1,603	0	8	444	570	283	785	1,068	291	150	342	262	305	2,140
align="left" style="background-color:#AFE6BA"	†		align="left"	80	|	3,277	894	1,694	8	19	388	542	229	726	955	287	128	297	271	289	2,184
align="left" style="background-color:#AFE6BA"	†		align="left"	72	|	2,853	798	1,545	3	16	406	537	172	603	775	255	133	242	237	250	2,005
align="left"			align="left"	72	|	2,797	768	1,494	3	14	397	548	176	608	784	257	113	207	247	242	1,936
align="left"			align="left"	78	|	2,852	727	1,426	5	16	351	446	173	543	716	236	117	173	281	249	1,810
align="left"			align="left"	47	|	1,633	306	633	0	3	160	212	116	344	460	143	84	96	126	152	772
align="left"			align="left"		50 ||	1,784	373	725	4	13	195	272	106	372	478	88	82	123	139	160	945
align="left"			align="left"	44	|	1,049	193	421	0	2	69	112	65	209	274	61	41	70	73	88	455
align="left"			align="left"	58	|	1,545	283	568	0	1	123	198	124	307	431	72	70	88	81	141	689
align="left"			align="left"	61	|	1,378	194	418	0	2	47	84	98	268	366	66	74	90	98	147	435
align="left" colspan=3	Career	1,238	|	44,222	10,749	20,991	25	124	5,423	7,621	4,034	9,714	13,748	3,058	2,162	3,830	3,667	4,383	26,946
align="left" colspan=3	Playoffs	145	|	5,749	1,504	2,847	4	18	743	1,034	471	1,150	1,621	458	245	472	424	562	3,755
align="left" colspan=3	All-Star	12	|	278	45	110	1	1	26	50	38	56	94	17	15	23	26	31	117

Career highs

Top shot-blocking efforts

	Occurred in playoff competition
	Quadruple-double (third in NBA history)

! Blocks	! Opponent	! Home/Away	! Date	! Minutes played	Point (basketball)>Points	Rebound (basketball)>Rebounds	Assist (basketball)>Assists	Steal (basketball)>Steals
	Seattle SuperSonics	Home		53	38	17	6	7
	Utah Jazz	Home		42	24	21	2	5
	Golden State Warriors	Home		40	26	12	7	2
	Golden State Warriors	Home		40	29	18	9	5
	Milwaukee Bucks	Home		40	18	16	10	1
	Orlando Magic	Home		50	24	16	4	2
	San Antonio Spurs	Home		42	38	10	4	5
	Orlando Magic	Home		43	32	25	2	3
	Los Angeles Lakers	Away		43	11	11	1	2
	Portland Trail Blazers	Away		44	40	9	3	1
	Vancouver Grizzlies	Away		38	15	14	3	1
	Dallas Mavericks	Home		32	31	13	6	0

Regular season

! Stat	! High	! Opponent	! Date
Points	52	vs. Denver Nuggets
Points	51	vs. Boston Celtics
Field goal percentage	15—17 (.882)	vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
Field goals made	24	vs. Denver Nuggets
Field goal attempts	40	vs. Denver Nuggets
Free throws made, none missed	13—13	vs. San Antonio Spurs
Free throws made, none missed	13—13	vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
Free throws made	17	vs. Utah Jazz
Free throw attempts	20	vs. Orlando Magic
Rebounds	25	at New York Knicks
Rebounds	25	at New York Knicks
Rebounds	25	vs. Orlando Magic
Rebounds	25	at Detroit Pistons
Offensive rebounds	15	at New York Knicks
Defensive rebounds	22	at Detroit Pistons
Assists	12	at Golden State Warriors
Steals	8	at Cleveland Cavaliers
Steals	8	at Miami Heat
Steals	8	vs. Los Angeles Clippers
Turnovers	11	vs. Denver Nuggets
Minutes played	53	vs. Seattle SuperSonics

Playoffs

! Stat	! High	! Opponent	! Date
Points	49	at Seattle SuperSonics
Points	46	vs. Portland Trail Blazers
Field goals made	20	at Utah Jazz
Field goal attempts	34	vs. Phoenix Suns
Free throws made, none missed	13—13	vs. Utah Jazz
Free throws made	18	vs. Los Angeles Clippers
Free throw attempts	20	vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Free throw attempts	20	vs. Los Angeles Clippers
Free throw attempts	20	at Utah Jazz
Rebounds	26	at Dallas Mavericks
Rebounds	25	at Seattle SuperSonics
Offensive rebounds	11	at Seattle SuperSonics
Defensive rebounds	19	at Dallas Mavericks
Assists	10	vs. Phoenix Suns
Steals	6	vs. Denver Nuggets
		at Los Angeles Lakers
Blocked shots	9	vs. Los Angeles Clippers

See also

List of National Basketball Association players with 1000 games played

List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders

List of National Basketball Association career steals leaders

List of National Basketball Association career blocks leaders

List of National Basketball Association career turnovers leaders

List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff rebounding leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff steals leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff blocks leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff turnovers leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff free throw scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association season rebounding leaders

List of National Basketball Association season blocks leaders

List of National Basketball Association players with most blocks in a game

List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season rebounding leaders

Notes

Sources

External links

Hakeem Olajuwon entry at NBA Encyclopedia

Hakeem Olajuwon player profile at NBA.com

Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:African American basketball players Category:American expatriate basketball people in Canada Category:African American Muslims Category:American people of Nigerian descent Category:American people of Yoruba descent Category:Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Category:Centers (basketball) Category:Nigerian expatriate basketball people in the United States Category:Houston Cougars men's basketball players Category:Houston Rockets draft picks Category:Houston Rockets players Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:National Basketball Association players with retired numbers Category:NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award winners Category:NBA Finals MVP Award winners Category:Nigerian basketball players Category:Nigerian emigrants to the United States Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States Category:People from Lagos (city) Category:Toronto Raptors players Category:United States men's national basketball team members Category:Olympic medalists in basketball

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Coordinates	44°25′57″N26°6′14″N
name	Dwight Howard
height ft	6 | height_in 11 | weight_lb 265
team	Orlando Magic
number	12
position	Center
birth date	December 08, 1985
birth place	Atlanta, Georgia
high school	Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy
nationality	American
draft round	1
draft pick	1
draft year	2004
draft team	Orlando Magic
career start	2004
years1	–present | team1 Orlando Magic
highlights	3× NBA Defensive Player of the Year (–) 5× NBA All-Star (2007–2011) 4× All-NBA First Team (–) All-NBA Third Team () 3× NBA All-Defensive First Team (–) NBA All-Defensive Second Team () NBA Slam Dunk Champion (2008) NBA All-Rookie First Team (2005) Naismith Prep Player of the Year (2004) }}

Dwight David Howard (born December 8, 1985) is an American basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Howard, who usually plays center but can also play power forward, had an outstanding high school career at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy. He chose to forgo college and entered the 2004 NBA Draft, and was selected first overall by the Magic. A five-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA team selection, four-time All-Defensive member, and three-time Defensive Player of the Year, Howard has been ranked consistently as one of the best in the league in rebounds, blocks, field goal percentage and free throw attempts, and has set numerous franchise and league records. He has led the Magic to three division titles and one conference title, and he was the winner of the 2008 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. In the 2008 Olympics, he was the starting center for Team USA, which went on to win the gold medal.

Before he was drafted in 2004, Howard said that he wanted to use his NBA career and Christian faith to "raise the name of God within the league and throughout the world". In November 2009, he was named one of the 10 finalists for the Jefferson Awards for Public Service, which awards athletes for their charitable work.

Early life

Howard was born in Atlanta, Georgia to Dwight Sr. and Sheryl Howard and into a family with strong athletic connections. His father is a Georgia State Trooper and serves as Athletic Director of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, a private academy with one of the best high school basketball programs in the country, while his mother played on the inaugural women's basketball team at Morris Brown College. A devout Christian since his youth, Howard became serious about basketball around the age of nine; when in the eighth grade, he resolved to be selected as the number one pick in the NBA Draft one day. Despite his large frame, Howard was quick and versatile enough to play the guard position. He elected to attend Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy for high school, and in his four years he played mostly as power forward, averaging 16.6 points per game (ppg), 13.4 rebounds per game (rpg) and 6.3 blocks per game in 129 appearances. As a senior, Howard led his team to the 2004 state title. He averaged 25 points, 18 rebounds, 8.1 blocks and 3.5 assists per game. That same year, Howard was widely recognized as the best American high school basketball player, and he was awarded the Naismith Prep Player of the Year Award, the Morgan Wootten High School Player of the Year Award, Gatorade National Player of the Year and the McDonald's National High School Player of the Year honor. He was also co-MVP (with J. R. Smith) of the McDonald's High School All-American Game that year.

NBA career

Early years

Following his high school successes, Howard chose to forego college and declared for the 2004 NBA Draft—a decision partly inspired by his idol Kevin Garnett who had done the same in 1995—where the Orlando Magic selected him first overall over UConn junior Emeka Okafor. He took the number 12 for his jersey, in part because it was the reverse of Garnett's 21 when he played for Minnesota. Howard joined a depleted Magic squad that had finished with only 21 victories the previous season; further, the club had just lost perennial NBA All-Star Tracy McGrady. Howard, however, made an immediate impact. He finished his rookie season with an average of 12.0 ppg and 10.0 rpg, setting several NBA records in the process. He became the youngest player in NBA history to average a double double in the regular season. He also became the youngest player in NBA history to average at least 10.0 rebounds in a season and youngest NBA player ever to record at least 20 rebounds in a game. Howard's importance to the Magic was highlighted when he became the first player in NBA history directly out of high school to start all 82 games during his rookie season. For his efforts, he was selected to play in the 2005 NBA Rookie Challenge, and was unanimously selected to the All-Rookie Team. He also finished third to fellow center Okafor of the Charlotte Bobcats and guard Ben Gordon of the Chicago Bulls for the Rookie of the Year award.

Howard reported to camp for his second NBA campaign having added 20 pounds of muscle during the off-season. Orlando coach Brian Hill—responsible for grooming former Magic superstar Shaquille O'Neal—decided that Howard should be converted into a full-fledged center. Hill identified two areas where Howard needed to improve: his post-up game, and his defense. He exerted extra pressure on Howard, saying that the Magic would need him to emerge as a force in the middle before the team had a chance at the playoffs. Even though the big man played tentatively at times, he was able to build on his strong rookie year with an impressive sophomore season. On November 15, 2005, in a home game against the Charlotte Bobcats, Howard scored 21 points and 20 rebounds, becoming the youngest player ever to score 20 or more points and gather 20 or more rebounds in the same game. He was selected to play on the Sophomore Team in the 2006 Rookie Challenge during the All-Star break, and on April 15, 2006, he recorded a career-high 26 rebounds against the Philadelphia 76ers; his 28 points in that game also brought him close to an NBA rarity, a 30–30 game. Overall, he averaged 15.8 points and 12.5 rebounds per game, ranking second in the NBA in rebounds per game, offensive rebounds, and double doubles; and sixth in field goal percentage. Despite Howard's improvement, the Magic finished the season with a 36–46 win-loss record and failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive season since Howard's arrival.

Howard took another step forward as the franchise player for Orlando in the 2006–07 season, and for the third consecutive season he played in all 82 regular season games. On February 1, 2007, he received his first NBA All-Star selection as a reserve on the Eastern Conference squad for the 2007 NBA All-Star Game. Howard finished the game with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Less than a week later, he recorded a career-high 32 points against the Toronto Raptors. A highlight was his game-winning alley-oop off an inbound at the buzzer against the San Antonio Spurs at Amway Arena on February 9. As the push for playoff spots intensified, Howard was instrumental, recording another career-high 35 points against the Philadelphia 76ers on April 14, 2007. Under his leadership, the Magic qualified for the 2007 NBA Playoffs for the first time since 2003 as the number eight seed in the Eastern Conference. However, the Magic were swept by the eventual Eastern Conference finalist Detroit Pistons in the first round. Howard averaged 17.6 points and 12.3 rebounds per game, and finished first in the NBA in total rebounds, second in field goal percentage, and ninth in blocks. He was further recognized as one of the best players in the league when he was named to the All-NBA Third Team at the end of the 2006–07 campaign.

Leader of consecutive division champions

Howard continued posting impressive numbers in the 2007–08 season; with free agent Rashard Lewis added to the ranks alongisde Hedo Türkoğlu to provide an extra offensive spark, this was the Magic's best season yet. Howard's strong and consistent play ensured that he was named as a starter for the Eastern Conference All-Star team, and by the time the mid-season break arrived, he was leading the league in double doubles (he concluded the season with a league-high 69) and had recorded 20 points and 20 rebounds in a game on five occasions (eight by the season's end). On February 16, 2008, he won the 2008 NBA slam dunk contest by receiving 78% of the fan's votes via text messaging or online voting; in that contest, he performed a series of innovative dunks said to have rejuvenated the contest, including donning a Superman cape for one of the dunks. Howard led the Magic to their first division title in 12 years and to the third seed for the 2008 NBA Playoffs, and in the first-round match-up against the Toronto Raptors, Howard's dominance (three 20 point/20 rebound games) and point guard Jameer Nelson's strong play ensured that Orlando prevailed over five games. Howard's series total of 91 rebounds was also greater than the total rebounds collected by the entire Toronto frontcourt. In the next round against the Pistons, the Magic lost the first two road games before Howard's 20 point/12 rebound performance in Game 3 salvaged a home win. In that same week, the center was named to the All-NBA First Team for the first time, and subsequently, the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. Detroit played without their star point guard Chauncey Billups for Games 4 and 5, but Orlando was unable to capitalize on that and lost the series 4–1 to the veteran playoffs team.

The 2008–09 campaign began well for Howard. Ten games into the season, the center was leading the league in blocks per game (4.2) and even recorded his first triple-double: 30 points, 19 rebounds and 10 blocks. At the halfway point of the season, Howard was leading the league in rebounds and blocks, and was among the league leaders in field goal percentage. He garnered a record 3.1 million votes to earn the starting berth on the Eastern Conference team for the 2009 NBA All-Star game. On March 25, 2009, Howard led Orlando to its second straight Southeast Division title with 11 games of the regular season left to play, and eventually the third seed for the 2009 NBA Playoffs with a 59–23 record. On April 21, 2009, he became the youngest player ever to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, achieving a goal he had set for himself before the start of the season. The Magic went into the playoffs without its injured starting point guard Jameer Nelson, and in the first round against the 76ers, Howard recorded 24 points and 24 rebounds in Game 5 to give Orlando a 3–2 lead, before the Magic closed out the series in six games. On May 6, 2009, the center was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team, and a week later, to the All-NBA First Team. In the second round of the playoffs against the defending champions Boston, the Magic blew a lead in Game 5 and Howard publicly questioned coach Stan Van Gundy's tactics and said that he should be given the ball more; in Game 6, the center posted 23 points and 22 rebounds to force the series into seven games. The Magic went on to defeat Boston, and then defeated Cleveland—which was led by league MVP LeBron James—4–2 in the Eastern Conference Finals. Howard had a playoffs career-high 40 points to go with his 14 rebounds in the deciding Game 6, leading Orlando to its first NBA Finals in 14 years. The Los Angeles Lakers took the first two home games to establish a 2–0 lead in the Finals, before a home win by the Magic brought the score to 2–1. In Game 4, despite Howard putting up 21 rebounds and a Finals-record of 9 blocks in a game, the Magic lost in overtime. The Lakers went on to win Game 5, and the NBA Finals.

The Magic went into the 2009–10 season with one major roster change: Türkoğlu departed for the Toronto Raptors, while eight-time NBA All-Star Vince Carter arrived from the New Jersey Nets. As with the previous two seasons, the Magic got off to a strong start, winning 17 of their first 21 games, setting a franchise record in the process. He also picked up two Conference Player of the Week awards. On January 21, 2010, Howard was named as the starting center for the East in the 2010 NBA All-Star Game. Not long after the Magic completed the regular season with 59 wins and their third consecutive division title, Howard won the Defensive Player of the Year Award for the second straight year. He became the first player in NBA history to lead the league in blocks and rebounds in the same season twice—and for two years in a row. During the playoffs, the Magic defeated both Charlotte and Atlanta 4 games to none, in the first and second rounds respectively. In reaching the Conference Finals again, the Magic faced Boston—who had upset Cleveland in the Semifinals—Orlando lost the first three games, took the next two, but finally succumbed in Game 6.

Several teams in the Eastern Conference underwent significant roster changes to present a bigger challenge to Howard's Magic in the 2010–11 season: LeBron James and Chris Bosh teamed up with Dwyane Wade in Miami; Carlos Boozer was added to the Chicago Bulls; the aging Boston Celtics acquired Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal; and Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony joined New York. On Orlando's end, Türkoğlu returned, Carter and Jason Richardson of the Phoenix Suns swapped teams, as did Lewis and Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards. The Magic won 52 games in the regular season, and were seeded 4th in the Eastern Conference. Despite Howard posting career-highs in points and shooting percentages, the Magic lost to their first-round opponents in the playoffs, the Atlanta Hawks.

NBA honors, awards and achievements

Howard has amassed several NBA and franchise records and awards during his NBA career. He has led the league in rebounds per game three times, blocks per game twice, and double-doubles twice. He is also the youngest player in NBA history to reach one, two, three, four, five, six and seven thousand career rebounds, and the youngest player in NBA history to lead the league in rebounding and blocks. Following Howard's season, he became the first ever NBA player to lead the league in total rebounds for five consecutive seasons. He surpassed Wilt Chamberlain's record of four from —, and again from —. He became the first player to lead the league in rebounding and blocks in consecutive seasons, and was also the first player to ever lead the league in rebounding, blocks, and field goal percentage in the same season. On April 18, 2011, Howard won the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Award, becoming the first player in league history to have won the award in three consecutive seasons.

:''Correct through regular season''

Regular season

Led the league

|- | align="left" | | align="left" | Orlando | 82 || 82 || 32.6 || .520 || .000 || .671 || 10.0 || .9 || .9 || 1.7 || 12.0 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Orlando | 82 || 81 || 36.8 || .531 || .000 || .595 || 12.5 || 1.5 || .8 || 1.4 || 15.8 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Orlando |82 || 82 || 36.9 || .603 || .500 || .586 || 12.3 || 1.9 || .9 || 1.9 || 17.6 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Orlando | 82 || 82 || 37.7 || .599 || .000 || .590 ||bgcolor="CFECEC"| 14.2 || 1.3 || .9 || 2.2 || 20.7 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Orlando | 79 || 79 || 35.7 || .572 || .000 || .594 ||bgcolor="CFECEC"| 13.8|| 1.4 || 1.0 ||bgcolor="CFECEC"| 2.9|| 20.6 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Orlando | 82 || 82 || 34.7 || bgcolor="CFECEC"|.612|| .000 || .592 ||bgcolor="CFECEC"| 13.2 || 1.8 || .9 ||bgcolor="CFECEC"| 2.8 || 18.3 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Orlando | 78 || 78 || 37.5 || .593 || .000 || .596 || 14.1 || 1.4 || 1.4 || 2.4 || 22.9 |-class="sortbottom" | align="left" colspan=2| Career | 567 || 566 || 36.0 || .578 || .038 || .598 || 12.9 || 1.5 || 1.0 || 2.2 || 18.2 |-class="sortbottom" | align="left" colspan=2| All-Star | 5 || 4 || 25.4 || .674 || .167 || .444 || 8.4 || 1.2 || 1.0 || 1.6 || 14.2

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 2007 | align="left" | Orlando | 4 || 4 || 41.8 || .548 || .000 || .455 || 14.8 || 1.8 || .5 || 1.0 || 15.3 |- | align="left" | 2008 | align="left" | Orlando | 10 || 10 || 42.1 || .581 || .000 || .542 ||bgcolor="CFECEC"| 15.8|| .9 || .8 ||bgcolor="CFECEC"| 3.4 || 18.9 |- | align="left" | 2009 | align="left" | Orlando | 23 || 23 || 39.3 ||bgcolor="CFECEC"| .601|| .000 || .636 ||bgcolor="CFECEC"| 15.3 || 1.9 || .9 || 2.6 || 20.3 |- | align="left" | 2010 | align="left" | Orlando | 14 || 14 || 35.5 || .614 || .000 || .519 || 11.1 || 1.4 || .8 ||bgcolor="CFECEC"| 3.5|| 18.1 |- | align="left" | 2011 | align="left" | Orlando | 6 || 6 || 42.8 ||bgcolor="CFECEC"| .630|| .000 ||.682 ||bgcolor="CFECEC"| 15.5 || 0.5 || .7 || 1.8 || 27.0 |-class="sortbottom" | align="left" colspan=2| Career | 57 || 57 || 39.4 || .600 || .000 || .588 || 14.4 || 1.4 || .8 || 2.8 || 19.9

United States national team

}} Howard was named on 5 March 2006 to the 2006–2008 USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team program. As the team's regular starting center, he helped lead the team to a 5–0 record during its pre-World Championship tour, and subsequently helped the team win the bronze medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship. During the FIBA Americas Championship 2007, Howard was on the team which won its first nine games en route to qualifying for the finals and a spot for the 2008 Olympics. He started in eight of those nine games, averaging 8.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg and led the team in shooting .778 from the field. In the finals, he made all seven of his shots and scored 20 points as the USA defeated Argentina to win the gold medal.

On June 23, 2008, Howard was named as one of the members of the 12-man squad representing the United States in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. With Howard starting as center, Team USA won all of its games en route to the gold medal, breaking their drought of gold medals dating back to the 2000 Olympics. Howard averaged 10.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in the tournament.

Player profile

Howard is considered the "franchise player" of the Magic. He is the NBA's leading rebounder (also leading the league in 2007–08 and 2008–09); to illustrate, in a game against the Golden State Warriors on January 10, 2007, his 25 rebounds for the Magic outnumbered the total number of boards grabbed by the starting five of the Warriors. Howard's rebounding is in part facilitated by his extraordinary athleticism; his vertical leap is estimated at almost 40 inches, rare for a player of his size (6'11", 265 pounds). He demonstrated this skill memorably in the 2007 Slam Dunk Contest during the NBA All-Star Weekend, during which he completed an alley oop dunk from teammate Jameer Nelson and slapped a sticker onto the backboard which reached . The sticker showed an image of his own smiling face with a handwritten "All things through Christ Phil: 4:13," a paraphrase of Philippians 4:13. As of April 2011, Howard's career average of 12.9 rebounds per game (in the regular season) ranks 13th in NBA history. The center has also remained largely injury-free in his NBA career, playing in 351 consecutive games before missing his first game.

Howard's abilities and powerful physique have drawn attention from fellow NBA All-Stars. Tim Duncan once remarked in 2007: "[Howard] is so developed... He has so much promise and I am glad that I will be out of the league when he is peaking." Kevin Garnett echoed those sentiments: "[Howard] is a freak of nature, man... I was nowhere near that physically talented. I wasn't that gifted, as far as body and physical presence." Subsequent to a game in the 2009 NBA Playoffs, Philadelphia 76ers swingman Andre Iguodala said: "It's like he can guard two guys at once. He can guard his guy and the guy coming off the pick-and-roll, which is almost impossible to do... If he gets any more athletic or jumps any higher, they're going to have to change the rules." As early as December 2007, ESPN writer David Thorpe declared Howard to be the most dominant center in the NBA.

While many sports pundits have been rating Howard as one of the top young prospects in the NBA since 2006, Howard has some weaknesses in his game. Offensively, his shooting range remains limited; he is also mistake-prone, having led the NBA in total number of turnovers in the 2006–07 season. Like many centers, he has a low free throw conversion percentage. As a result, he is often a target of the Hack-a-Shaq defense and is annually among the league leaders in free throw attempts. During the 2007–08 regular season, Howard led the NBA with 897 free throw attempts while shooting only 59% from the free throw line. Also in that season, outside of layups and dunks, his shooting percentage was only 31.6%. In the 2008–09 season, he led the NBA again with 849 free throw attempts and in 2009–10, he was second in the NBA with 816.

Personal life

Before he was drafted in 2004, Howard said that he wanted to use his NBA career and Christian faith to "raise the name of God within the league and throughout the world". He has stated he believes in reaching out to his community and fans and thus contributes substantially in the field of philanthropy. An avid listener of Gospel music, he attends the Fellowship of Faith Church when he is back home in Atlanta and is involved and active with the youth programs at the church. Together with his parents, Howard also established the Dwight D. Howard Foundation Inc. in 2004. The Foundation provides scholarships for students who want to attend his alma mater, Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, and grants to Lovell Elementary School and Memorial Middle School in Orlando, Florida. The Foundation also organizes summer basketball camps for boys and girls, and together with high school and college coaches and players, fellow NBA players are invited to be on hand at the camp. For his contributions in the Central Florida community, Howard received in 2005 the Rich and Helen De Vos Community Enrichment Award. Within the NBA itself, Howard has participated in several NBA "Read to Achieve" assemblies encouraging children to make reading a priority. In November 2009, the center was named one of the 10 finalists for the Jefferson Awards for Public Service, which awards athletes for their charitable work.

Elsewhere, Howard appeared as a special guest on an episode of the ABC series ''Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'' that aired 2 April 2006, in which Ty Pennington and his team built a new home and ministry offices for Sadie Holmes, who operates a social services ministry in the Orlando area.

Howard and Royce Reed, a former dancer for the team, have a son, Braylon.

See also

List of career achievements by Dwight Howard

List of National Basketball Association career blocks leaders

List of National Basketball Association season rebounding leaders

List of National Basketball Association season blocks leaders

List of National Basketball Association players with most blocks in a game

Notes

External links

Dwight Howard Official Site

Category:1985 births Category:Living people Category:African American basketball players Category:American basketball players Category:American Christians Category:Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Centers (basketball) Category:Gatorade National Basketball Player of the Year Category:Male basketball centers Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans Category:National Basketball Association high school draftees Category:NBA Slam Dunk Contest champions Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States Category:Orlando Magic draft picks Category:Orlando Magic players Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:United States men's national basketball team members Category:NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award winners Category:Olympic medalists in basketball

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Coordinates	44°25′57″N26°6′14″N
Name	John Cena
Names	John CenaThe Prototype
Height
Weight
Birth date	April 23, 1977
Birth place	West Newbury, Massachusetts
Resides	Tampa, Florida
Billed	Classified (UPW)West Newbury, Massachusetts (WWE)
Trainer	Ultimate Pro WrestlingOhio Valley Wrestling
Debut	2001 }}

John Felix Anthony Cena (; born April 23, 1977) is an American actor, professional wrestler and rapper. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its WWE Raw brand.

In WWE, Cena has won 19 championships in total, including 12 World Titles (having won the WWE Championship a record 10 times and the World Heavyweight Championship twice). In addition, Cena has also won the WWE United States Championship three times, and is a four-time Tag Team Champion, having held the World Tag Team Championship twice (once each with Shawn Michaels and Batista), and the WWE Tag Team Championship twice (once each with David Otunga and The Miz). Cena also won the 2008 Royal Rumble match, and is a two-time Superstar of the Year Slammy Award winner (2009 and 2010). He also has the fourth highest number of combined days as WWE Champion behind Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan & Bruno Sammartino.

Cena started his professional wrestling career in 2000, wrestling for Ultimate Pro Wrestling, where he held the UPW Heavyweight Championship. In 2001, Cena signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) where he held the OVW Heavyweight Championship and the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (with Rico Constantino).

Outside of wrestling, Cena has released the rap album ''You Can't See Me'', which debuted at No.15 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, and starred in the feature films ''The Marine'' (2006), ''12 Rounds'' (2009), and ''Legendary'' (2010). Cena has also made appearances on television shows including ''Manhunt'', ''Deal or No Deal'', ''MADtv'', ''Saturday Night Live'', ''Punk'd'', and ''Psych''. Cena was also a contestant on ''Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race'', where he made it to the final round before being eliminated, placing third in the overall competition.

Early life

Cena, who is of part Italian descent was born April 23, 1977, in West Newbury, Massachusetts, the son of Carol and John Cena, Sr. He is the second eldest of five brothers – Dan, Matt, Steve, and Sean. After graduating from Cushing Academy, Cena attended Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts. In college he was a Division III All-American center on the college football team, wearing the number 54, which is still used on some of his WWE merchandise. He graduated from Springfield in 1998 with a degree in exercise physiology, after which he pursued a career in bodybuilding, and also worked as a chauffeur for a limousine company.

Professional wrestling career

Training (2000–2001)

UPW

Cena started training to become a professional wrestler in 2000 at the California-based "Ultimate University" operated by Ultimate Pro Wrestling. 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''. While in UPW, Cena held the UPW Heavyweight Championship for just shy of a month in April 2000.

OVW

In 2001, he signed a developmental contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and was assigned to its developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). During his time there, Cena wrestled as both The Prototype and Mr. P, and held the OVW Heavyweight Championship for three months and the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (with Rico Constantino) for two months.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2002–present)

Debut (2002–2004)

Cena made his television debut answering an open challenge by Kurt Angle on June 27, 2002. Inspired by a speech given by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to the rising stars of the company, exhorting them to show "ruthless aggression" to earn a place among the legends, Cena took advantage of the opportunity and almost beat Angle kicking out of his finishing move, the Angle Slam and enduring the ankle lock submission hold. Cena ultimately lost to a hard amateur wrestling-style pin. Following the near-win, Cena became a fan favorite and started feuding with Chris Jericho. In October, Cena and Billy Kidman took part in a tag team tournament to crown the first WWE Tag Team Champions of the SmackDown! brand, losing in the first round. The next week, Cena turned on and attacked Kidman, blaming him for their loss, becoming a villain.

Shortly after the Kidman attack, on a Halloween themed episode of ''SmackDown'', Cena dressed as Vanilla Ice performing a freestyle rap. The next week, Cena received a new character: a rapper who cut promos while rhyming. As the gimmick grew, 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 was rechristened B-2 (also written B² and pronounced "B-Squared"). Buchanan was later replaced by Red Dogg, until he was sent to the Raw brand in February.

For the first half of 2003, Cena sought the WWE Championship and chased the reigning champion, Brock Lesnar, performing weekly "freestyles" challenging him to matches. During the feud, Cena unveiled a new finishing maneuver: the FU, a Fireman's carry powerslam, named to mock Lesnar's F-5. Cena won a number one contenders tournament against Lesnar at Backlash. However, Cena was defeated by Lesnar. At Vengeance Cena lost a singles match against The Undertaker. At the end of the year, Cena became a fan favorite again when he joined Kurt Angle as a member of his team at Survivor Series.

United States and WWE Champion (2004–2005)

In early 2004, Cena participated in the Royal Rumble match at the 2004 Royal Rumble, making it to the final six before being eliminated by Big Show and the Match being won by Chris Benoit. The Royal Rumble elimination led to a feud with Big Show, which Cena won the United States Championship from Big Show at WrestleMania XX. During his reign, Cena came into contention with SmackDown General Manager Kurt Angle over issues arising with René Duprée and Torrie Wilson. The reign ended almost four months later, when he was stripped of the belt on July 8 by Angle after he accidentally knocked him over, thus attacking an official. Cena won the championship back defeating Booker T in a best of five series that culminated at No Mercy, only to lose it to the debuting Carlito Caribbean Cool the next week. After the loss to Carlito, the duo began a feud, which Cena was 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 a month, while Cena was filming ''The Marine''. Immediately on his return in November, Cena won the United States Championship back from Carlito debuting a "custom made" spinner-style championship belt.

Cena took part in the 2005 Royal Rumble match, making it to the final two. Cena and Raw brand wrestler Batista went over the top rope at the same time, ostensibly ending the match. Vince McMahon, however, appeared on stage and re-started the match in sudden death rules, with Batista eventually eliminating Cena. The next month, Cena defeated Kurt Angle to earn a spot in the SmackDown brand's WrestleMania 21 main event match, beginning a feud with WWE Champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) and his Cabinet in the process. In the early stages of the feud, Cena lost his US belt to Cabinet member Orlando Jordan, who proceeded to "blow up" the spinner championship with JBL and returning a more traditional style belt. Cena defeated JBL at WrestleMania winning the WWE Championship, giving Cena his first world championship. Cena then had a spinner WWE Championship belt made, while JBL took the original belt and claimed to still be WWE Champion,

Cena was drafted to the Raw brand on the June 6, 2005, becoming the first wrestler selected by General Manager Eric Bischoff in the annual draft lottery. Cena immediately entered a feud with Bischoff, after refusing to participate in the "war" against the Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) roster at One Night Stand. 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 was portrayed as the fan favorite and Jericho as the villain, a vocal section of live crowds, nonetheless, were booing Cena during their matches. More crowds followed suit during Cena's next feud with Kurt Angle, who took over as Bischoff's hand-picked number-one contender after Cena defeated Jericho in a You're Fired match on the August 22 ''Raw''. As the feud continued and the dissenters grew more vocal, sometimes seeming to outnumber fans by wide margins, the announce team was forced to acknowledge the booing on television and began calling Cena a "controversial champion", claiming some people disliking him on account of his "in-ring style" and his chosen fashion. Despite the mixed and negative reactions, Cena held on to his championship through his feud with Angle, losing to him by disqualification – which titles do not change hands in WWE – at Unforgiven and pinning him at Survivor Series. The feud with Angle also saw Cena add a secondary, submission based, finishing maneuver – the STFU (a Stepover Toehold Sleeper, though named for a Stepover Toehold Facelock) – when he was put into a Triple Threat Submissions Only match on the November 28 ''Raw''.

WWE Championship feuds and injury (2006–2007)

Cena lost the WWE Championship at New Year's Revolution, but not in the Elimination Chamber match that he had been advertised to participate in beforehand. Instead, immediately after winning the Elimination Chamber, he was forced into a match against Edge, who cashed in his Money in the Bank contract – a "guaranteed title match for the WWE Champion at a time and place of the owners choosing." After two quick spears pinned Cena, winning the championship. Three weeks later, Cena won the championship back at the Royal Rumble. After winning the championship, Cena began feuding with Triple H, which the crowd began booing Cena and cheering the intended villain, Triple H. Cena beat Triple H at Wrestlemania 22 to retain his WWE Title. The negative reaction towards Cena intensified when facing Rob Van Dam at One Night Stand. Taking place in front of a crowd of mostly "old school" 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 into the match, the fans began chanting "You still suck". Cena lost the WWE Championship at One Night Stand, with Van Dam pinning Cena after interference from Edge.

In July, after Edge won the championship from Van Dam in a Triple Threat match that also involved Cena, re-ignited the feud between him and Cena from earlier in the year. After Edge went about retaining the title by dubious means – getting himself disqualified (for which Championships do not change hands) and using brass knuckles – he introduced his own version of Cena's "custom" belt, this one with his logo placed on the spinner. Cena eventually won the championship back in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at Unforgiven. The match had an added stipulation that had Cena lost he would leave the Raw brand and go to SmackDown. Cena returned his version of the spinner 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, the World Heavyweight Champion King Booker, and the ECW World Champion The Big Show engaged in a mini-feud leading to a Triple Threat match at Cyber Sunday, with the viewers voting on which of the three championships would be placed on the line. At the same time, Cena became involved in a storyline with non-wrestler Kevin Federline, when he began appearing on Raw with Johnny Nitro and Melina. After getting into a worked physical altercation with Federline on ''Raw'', Federline appeared at Cyber Sunday to hit Cena with the World Heavyweight Championship during the match, helping King Booker retain his championship. 2006 ended with Cena beginning a feud with the undefeated Umaga over the WWE Championship, while 2007 began with the end of his storyline with Kevin Federline. On the first ''Raw'' of the new year, Cena was pinned by Federline with an assist from Umaga, although later in the night he was able to get his hands on Federline performing an FU on him.

One night after the Royal Rumble, an impromptu team of Cena and Shawn Michaels defeated Rated-RKO (Edge and Randy Orton) for the World Tag Team Championship, making Cena a double champion. On the April 2 episode of ''Raw'', after losing a WWE Championship match to Cena at WrestleMania 23, Michaels turned on Cena, costing them the championship in the second of two 10 team battles royals, by throwing Cena over the top rope and eliminating the team. The Hardys (Matt and Jeff) eventually won the match and the championship. For the rest of the month, Cena feuded with Michaels, Orton, and Edge until The Great Khali declared his intentions to challenge for Cena's championship attacking and "laying out" all three of the top contenders before assaulting Cena himself and stealing the physical belt. For the next two months, Cena feuded with Khali over the championship, eventually becoming the first person in WWE to defeat him by submission at Judgment Day and then by pinfall at One Night Stand. Later that summer, Randy Orton was named the number one contender for the WWE championship, starting a feud between the two. Leading up to SummerSlam, Orton delivered a number of sneak-attacks, performing three RKOs to Cena, but in the actual match, Cena retained the championship. A rematch between the two occurred at Unforgiven, with Orton winning 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, 2007 episode of ''Raw'', Cena suffered a legitimate torn pectoral muscle while executing a hip toss. Though finishing the match and taking part in the scripted attack by Randy Orton after the match, surgery the following day found that his pectoralis major muscle was torn completely from the bone, estimating at the time to require seven months to a year of rehabilitation. As a result, Cena was stripped of the title in an announcement by Vince McMahon on the next night's episode of ''ECW'', ending what was the longest WWE Championship reign in over 19 years. Cena's surgery 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. Despite his injury, Cena attended the annual WWE Tribute to the Troops show filmed at Camp Speicher in Tikrit, Iraq on December 7, and aired on December 24.

Return and various feuds (2008–2010)

Cena made an unannounced return as the final participant of the Royal Rumble match, winning the match, and the traditional WrestleMania title shot, by last eliminating Triple H. Instead of waiting until WrestleMania, the title shot was cashed in against WWE Champion Randy Orton at February's No Way Out pay-per-view in a match where Cena won by disqualification, resulting in him not getting the championship. The night after No Way Out, Cena was placed back into WrestleMania XXIV's WWE Championship match, making it a Triple Threat match also involving Triple H, during which he was pinned by Orton. At Backlash, Cena failed to regain the title in a Fatal Four-Way elimination match, in which he was pinned by Orton. Triple H won the title during that match. During the match, Cena eliminated JBL, renewing their feud from 2005. Cena defeated JBL at Judgment Day and then at One Night Stand in a First Blood match. JBL, however, defeated him in a New York City Parking Lot Brawl at The Great American Bash in July.

On the August 4 episode of ''Raw'', Cena became a World Tag Team Champion for a second time, teaming with Batista to defeat Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, but failed to retain the titles the following week against the former champions. Batista defeated Cena at SummerSlam; shortly after, he was named one of four contenders for CM Punk's World Heavyweight Championship in the Championship scramble match at Unforgiven. He was replaced by Rey Mysterio, however, after announcing Cena had suffered a herniated disc in his neck, which would require surgery. Cena underwent successful surgery to repair the injury.

Cena made his in-ring return at the November pay-per-view event, Survivor Series, defeating Chris Jericho to win his first World Heavyweight Championship. The two continued their rivalry up to Armageddon, where Cena retained his championship. Cena lost the championship at No Way Out, to Edge after Kofi Kingston was attacked by Edge, who took his place in the Elimination Chamber match. Cena was given an opportunity to regain the title at WrestleMania XXV in a Triple Threat match also involving Big Show, which Cena won.

Cena lost the championship back to Edge in a Last Man Standing match at Backlash after interference from Big Show, who chokeslammed Cena through a big spotlight. This angle resulted in Cena beginning a feud with Big Show. Cena defeated Big Show at Judgment Day and at Extreme Rules in a Submission match by applying the STFU.

At the July pay-per-view, Night of Champions, he participated in a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship, which also involved Triple H and WWE Champion Randy Orton. Cena, however, did not win the match. Two months later, at Breaking Point, Cena defeated Randy Orton for the WWE Championship in an "I Quit" match to win his fourth WWE Championship. At Hell in a Cell, Cena dropped the title to Orton in a Hell in a Cell match. Three weeks later, at WWE Bragging Rights, Cena defeated Orton in a 60-minute Iron Man match.

Two months later, Cena would lose the title to Sheamus at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in a Tables match.

In February 2010, Cena regained the WWE title at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in an Elimination Chamber match after last eliminating Triple H. However, immediately after the match Mr. McMahon declared that he would immediately defend his title against Batista, who had been involved with Cena in Vince McMahon and Bret Hart's rivalry. Cena lost that match to Batista, and the WWE Championship and marking one of the shortest WWE Championship reigns in history. The following night after the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Cena asked for a rematch for the title at WrestleMania, which McMahon gave him the opportunity to as long as he defeated Batista that night. Later that night, Batista intentionally got himself disqualified by kicking Cena in the groin to set up their match at WrestleMania XXVI. At the event, Cena defeated Batista to win back the WWE title. At the April pay-per-view, Extreme Rules, Cena defeated Batista in a rematch for the WWE title in a Last Man Standing match. He faced Batista one more time in an I Quit match at Over the Limit which he successfully won.

Feuding and joining Nexus (2010–2011)

On the June 7, 2010 episode of ''Raw'', Cena was suddenly thrust into a new storyline when during his main event match against CM Punk, he was attacked by all eight former contestants of WWE NXT Season 1, with Wade Barrett as their leader. Punk, his follower Luke Gallows, and other personnel around the ring were attacked as well, but Cena took the worst of the attack and was carried out on a stretcher. This group would later refer to themselves as The Nexus.

At June's Fatal 4-Way event, Cena lost the WWE title to Sheamus in a fatal four-way match that also involved Edge and Randy Orton due to interference by Nexus. The following month, in a WWE title rematch against Sheamus in a steel cage match at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, the group interfered, thus costing Cena the chance of regaining the championship. Cena later formed an alliance with Edge, Chris Jericho, John Morrison, R-Truth, The Great Khali and Bret Hart to face the Nexus at SummerSlam, where Cena's team defeated Nexus with the returning Daniel Bryan, a former member of Nexus, who replaced Khali after getting injured.

Nexus's actions, however, did not stop after SummerSlam. Hoping to end Nexus for good, Cena challenged Wade Barrett to a match at "Hell in a Cell" only to lose due to interference by two fans, later identified as Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty. Due to the stipulations in place, Cena was forced to join Nexus. Cena had originally planned to destroy Nexus from within as a member of the group, but the Raw general manager ordered him to follow orders from Barrett, or else he would be fired. At Bragging Rights, Cena and Nexus member David Otunga defeated "Dashing" Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre to win the Tag Team Championship.

Later in the show Cena was forced to help Barrett to win his WWE Championship match against Randy Orton. If Barrett didn't win the match Cena would be fired. Cena twisted his words around and attacked Barrett, giving Barrett the win via disqualification but not Orton's title. The following day, Cena and Otunga lost the Tag Team Championship to fellow Nexus members Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel, when Barrett ordered Otunga to lay down and lose the title. At Survivor Series, Cena officiated a match for the WWE Championship between Wade Barrett and Randy Orton. As a part of a pre-match stipulation, if Barrett didn't win the championship, Cena would be fired from the WWE.

Orton defeated Barrett to retain the title, thus ending Cena's career in the WWE. The following day on ''Raw'', Cena gave a farewell speech, before costing Wade Barrett the WWE Championship by interfering in his rematch with Randy Orton. A week later, Cena invaded ''Raw'', first as a spectator, but he then attacked members of Nexus, explaining that he would still take down Nexus one by one, despite not having a job in the WWE anymore. On the December 13 episode of ''Raw'', Cena was rehired by Barrett, in exchange that he would face him at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in a Chairs Match. Prior to TLC, Cena teamed up with Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio to defeat Wade Barrett, The Miz and Alberto Del Rio at The WWE Tribute to the Troops. On December 19 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, John Cena was victorious against Wade Barrett in a Chairs match in the main event of the evening.

On the December 27 episode of ''Raw'', The Nexus, minus Wade Barrett, announced they were under new management and offered to bury the hatchet with John Cena, to which Cena refused. The Nexus attacked Cena, leaving a Nexus armband in the ring during the process. As the group retreated, CM Punk, who had attacked Cena with a steel chair twice the week before, came to the ring to, what looked like attack John Cena, but instead put on the armband left behind to symbolically announce his allegiance with The Nexus. The next week, Wade Barrett returned to ''Raw'' and confronted CM Punk over the issue of who the leader of The Nexus was and who was responsible for Cena's attack the week before. Barrett was placed into a Triple Threat Steel Cage Match that night that would determine the No. 1 contender for the WWE Championship. CM Punk added his own stipulation to the match saying if Barrett lost, he would be banished from the group, but if he won he would remain leader. Wade Barrett would lose the match after CM Punk interfered by ripping of Barrett's armband.

On the January 17 episode of ''Raw'', Cena returned and faced Punk in a match. During the match, a man, who would later be revealed to be Mason Ryan, attacked Cena. During the 2011 Royal Rumble match, Cena would eliminate most of the Nexus, ending his feud with them.

WWE Champion and various feuds (2011)

Cena competed in the 2011 Royal Rumble match at the pay-per-view, making it to the final five before being eliminated by The Miz, the current WWE Champion at the time, who wasn't an official participant in the match. On the January 31 episode of ''Raw'', Cena competed in a 7-man ''Raw Rumble'' match, where the winner would challenge The Miz for his WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber, but Cena was eliminated by Sheamus. As a result, Cena was entered into the Elimination Chamber match with the other five competitors who lost the match, to determine the number one contender for the title at WrestleMania XXVII. At the pay-per-view, Cena won the match, earning his title shot at WrestleMania against The Miz. On the February 21 episode of ''Raw'', Cena replied to The Rock's comments about him from the previous week, as The Rock returned as the announced guest host of WrestleMania, where he made a rap about Rock. That same night, Cena was placed into a WWE Tag Team Championship match, with him teaming with The Miz, where they defeated Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater to become WWE Tag Team Champions. After the match, Wade Barrett invoked Gabriel and Slater's rematch clause straight away, where they won their titles back, after Miz attacked Cena. After weeks of insults to each other, Cena met Rock face-to-face on the March 28 episode of ''Raw'', where Cena would hit his Attitude Adjustment finishing move on Rock. At WrestleMania, Cena and Miz would fight to a double count-out, but guest host Rock would restart the match, only for him to hit his Rock Bottom finishing move on Cena, allowing Miz to retain his title. The next night on ''Raw'', Cena and Rock agreed to face each other at WrestleMania XXVIII, making it the first match to be set up at WrestleMania one year in advance. At Extreme Rules, Cena would defeat Miz and Morrison to become WWE Champion. Cena would then defend his title successfully against Miz at Over the Limit in an "I Quit" match and against R-Truth at Capitol Punishment.

Cena was scheduled to defend his title against CM Punk at Money in the Bank, but Punk would deliver a shoot promo on-air on the June 27 episode of ''Raw'', concerning the way in which the company is run and owner Vince McMahon. This would then result in Punk being suspended from televised WWE events. Cena would petition against McMahon to reinstate Punk, to which McMahon would agree, adding that Cena would get fired if he were to lost the WWE Championship to Punk at the pay-per-view. At the pay-per-view, McMahon tried to recreate the Montreal Screwjob by sending John Laurinaitis down to ringside to end the match as Cena had Punk in the STF submission move. Cena would hit Laurinaitis before he could, only for Cena to lose the match as he re-entered the ring. The following night on ''Raw'', before McMahon announced Cena was fired, Triple H returned, announcing he is the new COO of the WWE, which would see him run the day-to-day operations of the company. Triple H then announced that McMahon was relived of his duties. On the July 25 episode of ''Raw'', Cena defeated Rey Mysterio to become WWE Champion for a record breaking ninth time. Following the match, CM Punk returned to the company, with the WWE Championship he won at Money in the Bank. The following week, Triple H would announce that Cena and Punk where both recognized as WWE Champion, which would lead to a title unification match at SummerSlam, with Triple H serving as special guest referee for the match, where the winner would become "undisputed" WWE Champion. At the pay-per-view, Punk defeated Cena to become "undisputed" WWE Champion. Punk would lose the championship following the match, after Kevin Nash returned and attacked him, with Alberto Del Rio then cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase to win the title. On the August 22 episode of ''Raw'', Cena defeated Punk to become number one contender for the WWE Championship, where Cena would defeat Del Rio at Night of Champions to become WWE Champion. Cena would then lose the title back to Del Rio two weeks later at Hell in a Cell, in a Triple Threat Hell in a Cell match also involving Punk, after Ricardo Rodriguez and Del Rio locked Cena outside of the Cell. Cena would get a rematch with Del Rio at Vengeance in a Last Man Standing match, where Del Rio defeated Cena after The Miz and R-Truth would attack Cena during the match. After a few weeks of Miz and Truth attacking Cena and other employees, Cena was allowed to choose his partner to challenge Miz and Truth at Survivor Series. Cena would announce that he had chosen The Rock to be his partner. At the pay-per-view, after Cena and Rock defeated Miz and Truth, Rock gave Cena another Rock Bottom.

On the December 12 episode of ''Raw'', during his match with Mark Henry, Cena was attacked by the returning Kane. The following week on ''Raw'', Cena would call out Kane for his actions last week, but Henry would come out instead. Kane would then come out soon after, and once again attacked Cena. The following week, Kane would explain to Cena that the reason he had attacked him was in disgust of Cena's "Rise Above Hate" t-shirt slogan, stating that hate is a "natural impulse" and shouldn't be contained. He then lead the fans in attendance who were not fond of Cena into chanting "Cena Sucks!" as RAW went off the air.

Other media

Film

WWE Studios, a division of World Wrestling Entertainment which produces and finances motion pictures, produced Cena's first movie — ''The Marine'', which was distributed theatrically by 20th Century Fox America beginning on October 13, 2006. In its first week, the film made approximately US$7 million at the United States box office. After ten weeks in theaters, the film grossed $18.7 million. Once the film was released on DVD, it fared better, making $30 million in rentals in the first twelve weeks. His second film, also produced by WWE Studios, was ''12 Rounds''. Filming began on February 25, 2008 in New Orleans; the film was released on March 27, 2009.

Cena co-starred in his third film produced by WWE Studios, titled ''Legendary'', which was played in selected theaters starting on September 10, 2010, for a limited time, then it was released on DVD on September 28, 2010.

That same year, Cena starred in the children's film ''Fred: The Movie'', a film based on Lucas Cruikshank's YouTube videos of the same name, where he plays Fred's father. The movie was released on the Nickelodeon channel in September 2010.

Filmography

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2000	''Ready to Rumble''	Gym Trainer	Extra
2006	''The Marine''	John Triton	Lead role
2007	''Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race''	Himself	Reality TV series
2009		Danny Fisher	Los Angeles Film Festival Award for Best Actor
2010	''Psych''	Ewan O'Hara	"You Can't Handle This Episode" (season 4: episode 10)
2010	''True Jackson, VP''	Himself	"Pajama Party" (season 2: episode 12)
2010		Mike Chetley	Nominated—Nevada Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
2010	''Hannah Montana''	Himself	"Love That Let's Go" (season 4: episode 7)
2010	''Fred: The Movie''	Fred's (imaginary) Dad	TV film
2010	''Generator Rex''	Hunter Cain	Voice role"The Hunter" (season 1: episode 13)
2011		Sam Cleary
2011	''Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred	Fred's (imaginary) Dad	TV film

Guest appearances

Before his WWE debut, Cena made an appearance on the Internet stream show ''Go Sick'' as Bruebaker, an angry, cursing wrestler in 2001.

During his WWE career, Cena has appeared on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' three times. Cena has also appeared on morning radio shows; including the CBS and XM versions of Opie and Anthony as part of their "walkover" on October 10, 2006. Other appearances have included ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', Fuse's ''Celebrity Playlist'', Fox Sports Net's ''The Best Damn Sports Show Period'', ''MADtv'', ''G4's Training Camp'' (with Shelton Benjamin), and two appearances on MTV's ''Punk'd'' (August 2006 and May 2007), as the victim of a practical joke. He also served as a co-presenter, with Hulk Hogan, at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards, as a guest judge during the third week of the 2006 season of ''Nashville Star'', and appeared at the 2007 Nickelodeon UK Kids Choice Awards.

In January 2007, Cena, Batista, and Ashley Massaro appeared representing WWE on an episode of ''Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'', giving the children of the family whose house was being renovated WWE merchandise and eight tickets to WrestleMania 23. Two months later, he and Bobby Lashley appeared on the NBC game show ''Deal or No Deal'' as "moral support" to long time WWE fan and front row staple, Rick "Sign Guy" Achberger. Edge and Randy Orton also appeared, but as antagonists. On April 9, 2008, Cena, along with fellow wrestlers Triple H and Chris Jericho, appeared on the ''Idol Gives Back'' fund-raising special. In March 2009, Cena made an appearance on ''Saturday Night Live'' during the show's cold opening sequence. On March 7, 2009, he was a guest on NPR's quiz show ''Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'' in a Not My Job sequence titled "Sure, pro wrestling is a good gig, but when you win, do they throw teddy bears into the ring?"

Television

In 2001, between his training in Ultimate Pro Wrestling and Ohio Valley Wrestling, Cena was involved in the UPN produced reality show ''Manhunt''. Cena portrayed Big Tim Kingman, leader of the group of bounty hunters who chased down the contestants who acted as fugitives. The show, however, was mired in controversy when it was alleged that the portions of the show were rigged to eliminate certain players, scenes were re-shot or staged to enhance drama and contestants read from scripts.

Cena was also featured on the ABC reality series ''Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race'', which aired in June 2007, making it to the final round before being eliminated on June 24, placing third in the competition overall.

In 2007 Cena was also interviewed for the ''CNN Special Investigations Unit'' documentary, "Death Grip: Inside Pro Wrestling", which focused on steroid and drug use in professional wrestling. When asked if he had taken steroids he was heard to reply, "I can't tell you that I haven't, but you'll never prove that I have." The day after the documentary aired WWE accused CNN of taking Cena's comments out of context to present a biased point of view, backing up their claim by posting an unedited video of his answering the same question—filmed by WWE cameras from another angle—in which he is heard beginning the same statement with "Absolutely not". A text interview on the website with Cena later had him saying the news outlet should apologize for misrepresenting him, which CNN refused in a statement, saying they felt the true answer to the question began with the phrase "My answer to that question". They did, however, edit the documentary on subsequent airings to include the "Absolutely not".

Cena hosted the Australian Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards with Natalie Bassingthwaighte on October 11, 2008 in Melbourne, Australia.

He guest starred as Ewan O'Hara in an episode of the fourth season of the comedy drama ''Psych'', as the brother of Juliet O'Hara, played by Maggie Lawson.

He also guest starred in the seventh episode of Disney Channel's Hannah Montana Forever as himself.

Make-A-Wish Foundation

John Cena has granted over 200 wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and in 2009 was a recipient of the Chris Greicius Celebrity Award.

Endorsements

Before his professional wrestling career, Cena appeared in an advertisement for Gold's Gym. As a wrestler he has endorsed the energy drink YJ Stinger, appearing in commercials beginning in October 2003, and Subway, for whom he filmed advertisements with their spokesperson Jared Fogle in November 2006 that began airing the next January. For a time in 2007 he also endorsed two "signature collections" of energy drinks and energy bars sold by American Body Builders. In 2008, Cena filmed a commercial as part of Gillette's "Young Guns" NASCAR campaign.

In 2009, Cena expanded his relationship with Gillette by introducing a new online campaign called "Be A Superstar" featuring himself alongside WWE Superstars Chris Jericho and Cody Rhodes. The campaign features motivational videos.

Fashion

For the extent of his WWE career, Cena's attire has attempted to reflect the most current thug fashions and stylings within the hip hop culture that his character represents. Cena started out wearing "throwback jerseys" until WWE produced specific Cena merchandise which he began wearing. While Cena was a member of the ''SmackDown!'' brand, one of his WWE produced t-shirts bore the suggestive spoonerism "Ruck Fules". Whenever it appeared on television the image was censored, not by the network, but by WWE to sell more shirts under the premise that it was "too hot for TV." He also wore a chain with a large padlock, occasionally using it as a weapon, until WrestleMania 21, when it was replaced with a chromed and diamond studded "Chain Gang" spinner medallion—reminiscent of the ones worn by members of G-Unit—matching his spinner title belt.

Around the time ''The Marine'' was released, Cena began wearing attire more military related, including camouflage shorts, dog tags, a Marine soldier cap and a WWE produced shirt with the legend "Chain Gang Assault Battalion." Shortly after WrestleMania 23, when promotion for The Marine ended, the military attire diminished and was replaced with apparel bearing his new slogan "American Made Muscle" along with denim shorts, not seen since he was a member of the SmackDown roster. He then wore shirts that promoted Cenation and his trademark line "You Can't See Me." In late 2011, Cena again switched to wearing camo shorts (to honor the U.S. Armed Forces), coininciding with his new black "Rise Above Hate" T-shirt promoting WWE's "Be a Star" anti-bullying campaign.

Music

In addition to his wrestling career, Cena is a rapper and a hip hop musician. Cena performed his fifth WWE theme song, "Basic Thugonomics," himself, and it was featured on the WWE soundtrack album ''WWE Originals''. He also recorded a song,"Untouchables", for the company's next soundtrack album ''WWE ThemeAddict: The Music, Vol. 6''. He collaborated on the song H-U-S-T-L-E remix along with Murs, E-40, and Chingo Bling.

Cena's debut album, ''You Can't See Me'', was recorded with his cousin Tha Trademarc. It features, amongst other songs, his entrance theme, "The Time is Now", and the single "Bad, Bad Man", for which a music video was made that parodied 1980s culture, including the television show ''The A-Team''. A video was also made for the second single, "Right Now," and premiered on the August 8 ''Raw''. Cena and Tha Trademarc were later featured on a track by The Perceptionists named "Champion Scratch." Cena will appear on Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins' upcoming album ''Still Cool'' featuring other guests.

;Albums

''You Can't See Me''

* Released: May 10, 2005

Chart positions: 15 U.S. ''Billboard'' 200, 10 U.S. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, 3 U.S. Rap, 103 UK Albums Chart

* Singles: "The Time Is Now", "Bad Bad Man" (featuring Bumpy Knuckles), "Right Now"

Personal life

Cena writes left-handed. He is a fan of Japanese animation and has mentioned that his favorite animated movie is ''Fist of the North Star''. He has also said he is a fan of the video game series ''Command & Conquer'' and noted that it was his favorite game. Cena is also a fan of the Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, Boston Celtics, Cena collects muscle cars and has over 20, some of which are one-of-a-kind.

While promoting his 2009 film, ''12 Rounds'', Cena announced his engagement to his girlfriend Elizabeth Huberdeau. They were married on July 11, 2009.

In wrestling

Finishing moves

''Attitude Adjustment'' (formerly ''FU'') (Fireman's carry transitioned into a takeover or a powerslam, sometimes from the second rope) – 2003–present

STF (formerly ''STFU'') – 2005–present

Signature moves

Diving leg drop bulldog

Dropkick, sometimes from the top rope

* Emerald Flowsion

Fisherman suplex

''Five Knuckle Shuffle'' (Running delayed fist drop, with theatrics, sometimes diving from the top rope)

* Gutwrench suplex

* ''Protobomb'' (OVW / UPW) / Spin-out powerbomb (WWE)

Running leaping shoulder block

Running one–handed bulldog

Sitout hip toss

''Rapper Punch'' ("You can't see me!" taunt followed by haymaker)

Spinebuster - 2002 - 2005 used rarely there after

''Throwback'' (Running neck snap to a bent–over opponent)

Twisting belly to belly suplex

Nicknames

"The Doctor of Thuganomics"

"The Champ" (as either the WWE Champion or the World Heavyweight Champion) – 2005–present

* "The Chain Gang Commander"

"The Chain Gang Soldier"

*"The CeNation Commander-in-Chief"

"The Marine"

* "Superman"

* "The Voice of Little Jimmys" (while feuding with R-Truth)

Managers

Kenny Bolin

* B–2

* Redd Dogg

Entrance themes

"Slam Smack" by R. Hardy (FirstCom Production Music) (June 27, 2002–November 7, 2002)

"Insert Bass Here" by DJ Case (FirstCom Production Music) (November 14, 2002–February 13, 2003)

* "Basic Thuganomics" by John Cena (March 27, 2003–March 10, 2005; April 5, 2009 for his entrance at WrestleMania XXV)

*"We Are One" by 12 Stones (WWE; October 3, 2010-November 21, 2010; Used While a part of Nexus)

* "The Time is Now" by John Cena and Tha Trademarc (March 17, 2005–present)

Championships and accomplishments

Ohio Valley Wrestling

OVW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Rico Constantino

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

PWI Feud of the Year (2006)

PWI Feud of the Year (2011)

PWI Match of the Year (2007)

PWI Match of the Year (2011)

PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2003)

PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (2004, 2005, 2007)

PWI Wrestler of the Year (2006, 2007)

PWI ranked #1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2006 and 2007

Pro Wrestling Report

*Match of the Year (2006) vs. Rob Van Dam at ECW One Night Stand II

Ultimate Pro Wrestling

UPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

World Wrestling Entertainment

World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Shawn Michaels (1) and Batista (1)

WWE Championship (10 times)

WWE Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with David Otunga (1), and The Miz (1)

WWE United States Championship (3 times)

* Royal Rumble (2008)

* Slammy Award winner – 2009 and 2010 Superstar of the Year

Slammy Award for Holy $#!+ Move of the Year (2010)

*Slammy Award for Game Changer of the Year (2011) – with The Rock

'''Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Wrestler of the Year (2007, 2010)

* 5 Star Match vs. CM Punk at WWE Money in the Bank on July 17, 2011

Best Box Office Draw (2007)

Best on Interviews (2007)

Most Charismatic (2006–2010)

Most Charismatic of the Decade (2000–2009)

Best Gimmick (2003)

References

Further reading

External links

John Cena at WWE.com

Professional wrestling record for John Cena from The Internet Wrestling Database

John Cena at Online World of Wrestling

Category:1977 births Category:American film actors Category:American football offensive linemen Category:American professional wrestlers Category:American professional wrestlers of Italian descent Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Drifting drivers Category:Formula D drivers Category:Living people Category:People from Essex County, Massachusetts Category:People from Tampa, Florida Category:Rappers from Florida Category:Springfield College (Massachusetts) alumni Category:Springfield Pride football players

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