25 Things You Didn't Know About John Cena
10. He Once Had A Movie Tie-In Finisher
Admittedly, some out there will remember this, but Cena debuted a new ‘sixth move of doom’ in 2018. During an otherwise forgettable house show match in Shanghai, China, he introduced what would briefly be known as the “Lightning Fist”. The whole wrestling world collectively yawned, because this wasn't a suitable replacement for his established Attitude Adjustment move.
Still, John was having a laugh and that's all he cared about. Besides, the 'new finisher' was a reference to his movie (tentatively titled Project X) with Jackie Chan. That house show happened on 1 September 2018. There, Cena teamed with Bobby Lashley and Finn Bálor vs. Baron Corbin, Elias and Jinder Mahal. Man, just looking at that line up shows how much WWE's roster has changed since.
There's no way the likes of Corbin, Elias or Mahal would've been part of Cena's retirement rour in 2025. You'd hope not, at least. None of those matches could replace Cena vs. CM Punk, Randy Orton or Cody Rhodes. 2018 was a time, let's just say that. It looked likely that JC wouldn't really be doing much wrestling at all during that era.
Project X was eventually renamed Hidden Strike and saw release in 2023. 5 years beforehand, Cena had nailed Elias with his "Lightning Fist" to apathy. For the record, the film had a budget of $80 million and only raked in just over 980k at the box office. John's bid to promote it ahead of time with a new finisher flopped almost as hard as the flick did.
Not one of his banner moments.