John Cena isn’t just known for his wrestling victories or blockbuster roles, but has become one of the internet’s most enduring punchlines.
For over a decade, Cena’s image and catchphrases flooded social feeds, transforming him into a digital legend. His “You can’t see me” taunt and unmistakable entrance theme made him both meme material and muse.
Over time, his memes spread far beyond wrestling circles. From Vine compilations to TikTok edits, Cena’s presence (and supposed invisibility) became a universal language of surprise and absurdity.
Originally a WWE taunt, Cena’s “You can’t see me” quickly turned into a running gag across the web. Users inserted “invisible” versions of Cena into images, pretending not to notice him standing right there. Soon, entire Reddit threads and Twitter posts revolved around pretending Cena didn’t exist.
Then came the iconic “Unexpected Cena” videos. Around 2015, YouTube edits began interrupting random clips with a sudden blast of his theme song saying, “AND HIS NAME IS JOHN CENA!” His cameos in The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker added more material to the joke that refuses to fade.
As Cena moved into acting, fans found new ways to remix his roles into memes, and he can’t get enough of them.
In an interview with GQ, he said of his meme status, “When pop culture is kind enough to let you in, exploit you, and in a lot of cases make fun of you, and you’re just gonna be the vehicle to push this new gag, I totally embrace it. Whether it’s in praise or total humor, I don’t care. Just to be accepted at this point in my career, I think it’s pretty special. At the end of the day, I am overwhelmingly honored to interrupt such historic events.”
Below, check out 15 of the best John Cena memes of all time.
1. “You can’t see me”
2. What does John Cena look like
3. John Cena meme mashup
4. Dancing John Cena
@c_vlad_ Pure true 🎶 #johncena #lonely #foryou #cena #school #fy #teacher #phone #CapCut #dance #laugh #students ♬ original sound – Vladick
5. Why can’t someone look at me the way she looks at air?
6. John Cena eating John Cena
The reasoning behind the potato salad memes, according to u/Werner__Herzog, is “because Cena is generally considered to be bland and uninteresting as a character and in-ring talent, and so, he is the wrestling-equivalent of a potato salad.”
7. Peacemaker
8. The Break-a-Wish Foundation
9. If you ever feel useless, just look at this picture of John Cena wearing camo
10. John Cena in the ICU
11. The perfect John Cena Halloween costume
12. Are you sure about that?
13. New and improved for expert quality
14. This Epic Handshake meme
15. Laughing John Cena
16. Evil John Cena
17. John Xina
18. Last but not least, John Cena’s shrinking face
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