5 things you didn't know about WWE Superstar John Cena

#3 His first championship wasn't in WWE

Cena preparing to compete as the Prototype.

For years, John Cena would tell the fans 'the Champ, is here!' and with good reason.

Across his WWE career, Cena has held 16 world championships (a record only tied by Ric Flair), as well as multiple United States and Tag Team Championships.

But despite all his accolades in the WWE, Cena's first title came before he'd even signed with Vince McMahon.

Appearing as 'The Prototype', Cena competed for Ultimate Pro Wrestling, winning the UPW Heavyweight Championship in April 2000, from the unfortunately-named 'Smelly'.

After a 27-day reign, Cena would lose the title to Smelly though continued working with the company until March 2001.

Interestingly, UPW helped give a lot of wrestlers their big breaks, as Samoa Joe, The Miz and Christopher Daniels all competed for the company at some point, before it closed in 2007.