"The Champ is Here"
John Cena's 2004 was the year of his United States Championship reign. He also became an anti-authority figure, battling the wheelchair-bound general manager Kurt Angle. Cena wrestled a memorable Best-of-Five series against Booker T, helped debut Carlito, and shocked the world by turning the classic title into a spinner belt covered in bling.
This prepared the rising star for what would come: a deeply personal feud with WWE Champion John Bradshaw Layfield, the longest reigning champ in the Smackdown era. By that time, everyone hated JBL. He had become one of the best heel gimmicks in history, and the WWE Universe was ready to see him get an ass-kicking on the biggest stage of them all, WrestleMania 21.
During the feud, John Cena defaced JBL's limo, and the champion's Chief of Staff Orlando Jordan literally blew up Cena's custom spinner belt. But when the two met in Hollywood for their WrestleMania match, John Cena was the last man standing, capturing his first world title and beginning the most dominant reign – not as a champion, but as "The Champion" – since the Attitude Era.
