When it comes to the world of professional wrestling, there are few names that people are more familiar with than John Cena. The WWE legend has achieved everything there is to do in the business, having been the face of the company for many years which propelled him to success in Hollywood.

However, throughout that period he hasn’t changed his look much outside of a few different haircuts. Fans know what he looks like, either in his trademark jorts or a fancy suit, but when it comes to his early years, there are plenty of pictures that fans need to see to get an idea of how he was back then.

10 Meeting Santa Claus

John Cena might have been a tough individual inside the ring who has been involved in some brutal fights against the likes of JBL and Brock Lesnar, but he’s not always had to portray that side of himself. When he was a child it was all about just having fun and being a kid, like everybody else.

Meeting Santa Claus is something that all children look to do, and top WWE Superstars are no exception to that, as this picture proves. This picture showcases Cena in a completely different light to how he is inside a wrestling ring, but that is something audiences can relate to.

9 Playing With His Toys

John Cena action figures are all the rage now, and there have been a lot of versions for people to play with. That’s something that might have become normal for the WWE legend at this point, but it is something that would probably have blown him away when he was a child.

Because Cena enjoyed playing with different toys himself, it is clear that he was always interested in them. It shows what he was like when he was younger, which is a side of him that professional wrestling fans are not aware of.

8 Bodybuilding Career

John Cena had an incredible career in professional wrestling, but that isn’t the only sport that he has dabbled in. Cena has always had a love of lifting weights and being in the best physique as possible, and that has led to him looking fantastic during his entire career which helped grow his star power.

However, before his run in professional wrestling, he was able to take bodybuilding far more seriously, which can be seen in these photographs. He got the chance to compete in the sport, and it’s something that he could have thrived in.

7 Making People Laugh

John Cena has been a serious main-event player throughout his career in wrestling, but he has never had a problem being foolish in an attempt to make people laugh. He has never had a problem cutting a silly promo or being as over-the-top as possible in other fields, whether that be “Total Divas” or the movies he has been in.

From this picture it appears that Cena’s love for making people smile comes from an early age, as he was happy to pull silly faces to get the attention of others, proving that he has always been a hilarious person.

6 Goofing Around

Another example of John Cena messing around came when he was slightly older and was just trying to break into the business. Here he is portraying a doctor with some funny glasses being added to the mix as well as a major mustache, which isn’t a look fans are ever used to.

The photograph is a funny one that people can enjoy overall, especially because the majority of Cena’s career saw him competing in main events as part of serious storylines.

5 Early Days In Wrestling

John Cena has always had a visual that a lot of fans have identified with, and it’s one that he didn’t change much throughout his entire wrestling career. Because of that, seeing him look different from that is something that is always going to take fans by surprise.

This picture came from early on in his career with the business, and Cena can be seen sporting a blonde mohawk style which a lot of fans wouldn’t expect to see, as this is a style that didn’t make it to the main roster, unfortunately.

4 Training To Be A WWE Superstar

Nowadays fans get to see a lot of footage of young wrestlers getting their start in WWE because the company shares a lot of photographs and videos from the Performance Center. That has allowed audiences to connect with them immediately, but that type of information wasn’t as readily available to people in previous eras.

That is what makes this particular image such a brilliant one as it gives fans an example of what a young John Cena was like when he was getting himself prepared to be a WWE Superstar, with this made even better by Samoa Joe’s appearance.

3 Prototype

Long before he became the John Cena that fans know and love to this day he was working as Prototype. This was a very basic character that went on to the fact that he was physically impressive and was what people would put together with their ideal version of a wrestler.

However, this isn’t a character that a lot of fans aren’t aware of because it didn’t take place on the main roster. The focus for him was on looking physically impressive at this point, and that is exactly what he was able to accomplish.

2 Flexing

Being in great physical health has always been important to John Cena, and that has been clear throughout his entire life, whether it was in bodybuilding, professional wrestling, or even now as an actor. However, this picture highlights the fact that Cena loved posing even when he was young.

This is something that has always been important to him, and the fact that it has been part of his life from the start showcases a likely reason why it has continued to be that way.

1 Always A Champion

John Cena has dominated the title scene throughout his career in wrestling, and that was seemingly always going to be the case. Fans are more than used to seeing pictures of him with the WWE Championship in his hands, and that is a goal he was looking to achieve from an early age.

This picture showcases a young Cena with his homemade championship, with the cardboard cut-out being something he is proud to hold at this point. It’s an example of how he was a fan from a young age, which is something that can be lost on the WWE Universe at times.