Big Match John, The Face that Runs the Place, Mr. Money in the Bank, whatever you want to call him, John Cena is a big deal in the pro wrestling world. In 2000 he signed with WWF (now WWE) and gained industry fame as a trash-talking rapper. In 2005 he won the WWE Championship for the first time, and he’s headlined several pay-per-view WWE events.
Thanks to his boyish good looks and charm, John Cena has never had any trouble with the ladies. He’s found success as a musician (You Can’t See Me gained platinum certification in 2005), an actor (leading roles in The Marine, 12 Rounds, Trainwreck, Bumblebee), a philanthropist, and serial dater. It seems he can do no wrong. He has even granted over 600 wishes at the Make-A-Wish Foundation—the most in company history.
Let’s take a look at 10 women John Cena has dated or rumored to have dated, and 5 women he never got the chance with, but wished he did.
15 Shay Shariatzadeh
John Cena’s most recent love interest, who he was first seen with walking down the street in Vancouver after a romantic dinner date, has been revealed as Shay Shariatzadeh. She is the first woman Cena has dated since breaking it off with Nikki Bella.
The beautiful brunette looks very close to Cena in this shot, and he looks comfortable as well. Shariatzadeh is a Canadian engineer who works at Avigilon, a security solutions company.
14 AJ Lee
This one has always been a rumor and has never been confirmed outright, but there is strong speculation that John Cena hooked up with CM Punk’s current wife, AJ Lee, in the past. Lee has been romantically involved with quite a few wrestlers as part of her WWE storylines, seeing as she’s a wrestler herself, and Cena is on that long list.
But does the on-screen romance translate off-screen? Who knows. She’s now the wife of WWE’s public enemy number one, CM Punk.
13 Barbie Blank/Kelly Kelly
Kelly Kelly, or Barbie Blank (which is just as good of a wrestling name as Kelly Kelly, if not better), is a hot wrestler who has appeared in a number of TV shows and the reality program WAGS. In 2011, she won the WWE Divas Championship, commencing a four-month reign.
She left WWE in 2012 but has returned occasionally. Cena and Kelly Kelly were seeing each other while Cena was still married, which is partly why Kelly took a break from WWE—so as to prevent the scandal from going public.
12 Mickie James
One of the primary things that led to John Cena’s divorce from his high school sweetheart-turned-wife, Liz Liz Huberdeau, was the result of an extramarital affair with Mickie James, a former TNA Knockout, one-time Divas Champion, and five-time WWE Women’s Champion.
To make matters worse, Mickie was in a relationship with Kenn Doane at the time, so it was a double-cheating incident. Cena’s ex-wife believes he had several affairs throughout their marriage, but this one was the most public.
11 Lisa Marie Varon/Victoria
Another female wrestler John Cena hooked up with is 48-year-old Lisa Marie Varon. Also known as Victoria or Tara, she’s still one of the hottest women in professional wrestling. She has spent time in WWE and TNA, and is a multiple-champion for both organizations.
Lisa had a relationship with Cena even though she had been married to Lee Varon for over 20 years: “We have separated a few times. One of those times that we were separated, I dated John for about a month.”
10 Kendra L
Kendra L is a French-Canadian film star who has appeared in over 140 films, and though she’s adamantly denied the rumors, many people believe she is the main reason why John Cena and his wife got a divorce. There are leaked photos of Lust wearing skimpy lingerie while holding up a championship belt that seems to confirm these suspicions, though Lust states she has never even met Cena.
Lust, who is also married, has stated that she would be more than willing to hook up with him, though.
9 Melina Perez
Melina Perez has apparently had her fair share of locker room hookups inside WWE, including Mike Knox, Bautista, John Morrison, CM Punk, and John Cena. She’s gained a reputation for being not only a bit promiscuous, but also for being holier-than-thou after praising herself multiple times backstage.
She was eventually released from WWE because of those characteristics, which didn’t make the company look good.
8 Maria Kanellis
Maria Kanellis is another wrestler who found love inside the ring (and outside), and is no stranger to dating fellow wrestlers. Before she married Michael Bennett, who currently works for TNA, Maria was in a relationship with CM Punk that lasted from 2005 to 2007, and she had an on-screen relationship with Cena.
Many believe there was more to the on-stage kiss between her and Cena than met the eye, though she said, “I’m an actress first… It’s a role.”
7 Liz Huberdeau
This one is no secret: John Cena and Elizabeth Huberdeau were high school sweethearts who endured a long-standing relationship before tying the knot in 2009. The couple remained together for three years, until Cena filed for divorce in 2012, apparently out of the blue, according to Huberdeau.
The result was an ugly public divorce that smeared Cena’s good-guy image outside of the WWE ring, as he was bombarded with numerous accusations of extramarital affairs from his ex.
6 Nikki Bella
This one is also not a secret, because John Cena dated the second half of the Bella Twins from 2013 to 2019. They worked on-screen with each other, in the ring together, though Big Match never tied the knot with her, though they had planned to get married in Napa, California.
Bella even had to sign a 75-page prenup agreement prior to those wedding plans, so Cena wouldn’t be burned again like he was with his ex-wife.
5 Wished He Did: Becky Lynch
Becky Lynch is reportedly single after breaking up with her comedian boyfriend, Jeff Dye, though she’s now in a relationship with WWE star Seth Rollins. There have been rumors that the two might be secretly dating, and that their on-screen feud in SmackDown is more than just play.
The “Irish Lasskicker” kicked John out of the ring during a tag team match to claim the victory. There’s even been hardcore fan-fiction about Lynch and Cena dating.
4 Wished He Did: Hailee Steinfeld
John Cena and Hailee Steinfeld both appeared in the movie Bumblebee earlier this year, and there are rumors that Cena fell in love with his co-star. Hailee Steinfeld, a beautiful 22-year-old actress, is known for her roles in True Grit (for which she was awarded the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress), Ender’s Game, Romeo & Juliet, Begin Again, and 3 Days to Kill.
John and Hailee have both denied the rumors of any romantic relationship, which seems like a bummer for The Face that Runs the Place.
3 Wished He Did: Kelly Carlson
Another rumored hookup of John Cena’s is actress Kelly Carlson, who was Cena’s co-star in the 2006 film, The Marine. During an interview with Howard Stern in 2006, Stern asked if the wrestler had hooked up with Carlson, to which Cena said he wished he had, but she had been married at the time. Carlson is well known for her role in Nip/Tuck, and is indeed very beautiful, so that’s too bad for Cena.
Though he did share an on-screen kiss with her in The Marine, so that’s something.
2 Wished He Did: Stacy Keibler
Stacy Keibler is a hot 39-year-old dancer, model, actress, and retired wrestler. She’s known for her work with WCW and WWE, the latter of which she joined in 2001. Her fame skyrocketed in 2006 thanks to her relationship with George Clooney. She managed Test and Scott Steiner and has been seen close to John Cena backstage at 2002 SmackDown.
The 5’11” blonde has been known as “The Legs of WWE” and “The Weapon of Mass Seduction” thanks to her long legs.
1 Wished He Did: Backstage Fan
People on Reddit are calling this version of John Cena, where he’s slightly balding, skinnier, and wearing a nWo shirt “Hollywood Cena.” He was seen posing and chatting for quite a long time with this platinum blonde fan, who got chummy and took multiple selfies with the pro wrestler.
While she’s very pretty, and Cena looks comfortable around her, she also looks a bit young.
References: thesportster.com, whosdatedwho.com, sportskeeda.com