Is John Cena coming to the world of Overwatch? The overwhelming evidence says yes, even if you can’t see him.
For a guy you typically cannot see it sure does seem like WWE legend John Cena is popping up everywhere. From guest spots at the box office in Barbie and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem to hitting the griddy in Fortnite, the Doctor of Thuganomics is unstoppable. Still, it came as a shock to this long-time wrasslin' fan to hear the rumors of his next appearance. If the multitude of rumors are correct then John Cena is bound for Overwatch.
In what way? Beats me. We're still pretty early in the rumor mill stage. However, the man himself and some pretty slick hints on Overwatch livestreams gives credibility. The man once known as Prototype could be on a collision course with Overwatch 2.
BY GAWD, THAT'S JOHN CENA'S MUSIC!
Key takeaways
- Heavy and numerous hints seem to suggest John Cena is coming to Overwatch.
- We don't know if this means a collab, a voice acting spot, or something else.
- Cena's debut 2005 rap album 'You Can't See Me' went Platinum. Wow.
First, some caveats. All of this is rumor from secondary sources, such as some cyber sleuthing from Redditors. Second, John Cena himself is a known troll on social media and has never been afraid of poking the occasional bear. That said, too much of the evidence is on the nose for it all to be coincidence.
Let's start at the beginning.
Various Overwatch live streams this week began to be inundated with "hacked messages". This includes the likes of Emongg and KarQ, among others. As seen above, the first message came in the form of a code that appeared to be injected code. The message? "The invasion is coming. I need your help to form an army. Now is the time."
Not for nothing, but the lyrics to John Cena's iconic entrance theme includes the line "Your time is up, my time is now." The rumors get stronger upon the second set of "Hackerman" messages, this time featuring a display of code, seen below.
But what does it mean?
I'm no hackerologist, so luckily the fine folks of Reddit broke down what all of this means--and doesn't mean. There's more slick references like an HTML color code of #042377--John Cena's birthday. The more obvious clue is "Felix Antony," which is John Felix Anthony Cena's real name. And if all of that wasn't enough, the background color code of a repeating 16 just happens to be the number of times John Cena has held the WWE World Title.
If you're looking for more of an in-game story hook, it appears there's hints such as an encryption code that reads "NULL SECTOR IS COMING." Is this Hackerman part of a resistance movement against Null Sector? A man on the inside? Is he invisible? After all, we can't see him.
John Cena in Overwatch: Confirmed?
So, the real question: What does John Cena in Overwatch mean? Here's our options.
- Cena voicing a new Hero. This seems the most unlikely, as this would require him to come back in and record new voice lines.
- A celebrity sponsorship deal, akin to actress Megan Fox being used in the Diablo 4 promos.
- WWE x Overwatch collaboration. Not out of the ordinary, as Cena shared a screenshot on his IG page from a recent developer livestream in which the team was talking about potential collab opportunities. Also, WWE does this kind of thing all the time, most recently seen with Rainbow Six: Siege. Give me Wrecking Ball in a John Cena hat, shirt, and jorts, please.
The second option feels like the most likely, but a WWE crossover skin set would be amazing, dumb, and wonderful. Regardless, we won't have to wait long for an answer. This all seems tied to the Invasion patch coming on August 10. So, get ready for John Cena by slapping on the most awful-looking STF in wrestling history and waiting out the storm.
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