Every WWE Superstar of the Year (2008-2015): Where are they now?

#5 John Cena (2009, 2010, 2012)

Even the most loyal of WWE fans will have to admit that the decision to hold a tournament for the 2009 Superstar of the Year Award was utterly absurd.

The four-man tournament saw John Cena defeat CM Punk via submission and Randy Orton defeat The Undertaker via countout in the first round, meaning Cena had to defeat Orton in the final to pick up that year’s prize.

One year later, Cena won the award again, this time by fan vote ahead of Orton, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Kane and The Miz, and he was successful again in 2012 when fans voted for him instead of fellow nominees Big Show, CM Punk and Sheamus.

John Cena in 2019

At the start of 2019, Cena returned to the ring to defeat Andrade and Zelina Vega in a tag team match with Becky Lynch on the New Year’s Day episode of SmackDown.

He went on to compete in multi-man matches on the next two episodes of RAW, but he did not appear at the 2019 Royal Rumble, which he had originally been advertised for, due to a kayfabe ankle injury.

With the exception of his WrestleMania 35 cameo as “The Doctor of Thuganomics”, Cena has spent the year working on various movies, including Fast & Furious 9 and Dolittle.