John Cena Reveals Story Behind His Famed WWE Wrestling Gear

It's The Jorts!

IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Why did John Cena wear jorts to the ring throughout his Hall of Fame career? Well, he tried everything else and was disappointed.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Cena told the story of how he landed on jorts as his signature ring gear. "The reason I wear jorts is because I’ve tried everything," Cena said. "Denim is really durable—it doesn’t rip a lot as long as you can find a good fit. I don’t need any families attending a WWE event looking at my ugly bit."

"All you need to do is find something that fits around the butt and the thigh, because I always wear a drawstring belt. A belt buckle, you can really get messed up on. I’ve learned this through failure. It can stab you, it can scratch you, it can scrape you and it can also cause damage to opponents and referees. This is not a good piece of equipment."

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Cena began his run in WWE with traditional tights and boots as his gear, but pivoted to the jorts as part of his character shift to the Dr. of Thug-a-Nomics in the early 2000s. In jorts, Cena became the face of WWE and won 16 world championships -- tying the all-time record, previous held exclusively by Ric Flair.

2025 will be Cena's final year of active competition in the WWE. Cena announced this summer that he would be working multiple dates and shows next year as part of his retirement tour. He alluded to working Royal Rumble and WrestleMania as part of his final run.

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