Who Is John Cena Dating? His Wife and Marriage Explained

The Short Answer

John Cena is married to Shay Shariatzadeh. The 49-year-old WWE icon and Hollywood actor married Shariatzadeh, a Canadian engineer, on October 12, 2020, in a private ceremony in Tampa, Florida. The couple has kept their marriage largely out of the spotlight, though they occasionally appear together at premieres and WWE events.

Before Shariatzadeh, Cena's love life was highly public: his marriage to high school sweetheart Elizabeth Huberdeau (2009-2012) and his headline-grabbing relationship with fellow WWE star Nikki Bella, whom he proposed to in the ring at WrestleMania 33 in 2017 before their 2018 split. The Shariatzadeh marriage represents a quieter chapter: no reality shows, no public drama, just a private partnership that has now lasted six years.

How They Met

Cena met Shariatzadeh in 2019 in Vancouver, Canada, while he was filming the movie Playing with Fire. Shariatzadeh, an engineer working in the tech industry, was not part of the entertainment world, and the two were first spotted together on dates in Vancouver that spring. By the summer they were appearing together publicly, and Cena brought her to high-profile events.

Their October 12, 2020 wedding in Tampa was a small, private affair, reflecting both the pandemic era and the couple's preference for privacy. In 2022 they held a second, slightly larger celebration in Vancouver, the city where they met, with family and friends. Cena has described Shariatzadeh as his best friend and the person who keeps him grounded.

The 2022 Vancouver celebration, the couple's second wedding event, was held in the city where they met, with close family and friends. Photos showed a relaxed, joyful couple, a stark contrast to the stadium-proposal spectacle of the Bella years, and exactly the low-key celebration they wanted.

The 2019 meeting during the Playing with Fire shoot was professional before it was personal, with Shariatzadeh working as a project manager on the Vancouver production. Their low-key courtship avoided the media circus of Cena's previous relationship.

Who Is Shay Shariatzadeh?

Shay Shariatzadeh, born in 1989 in Iran and raised in Canada, is a product manager and engineer who has worked in Vancouver's tech industry. She studied electrical and electronics engineering at the University of British Columbia. Unlike Cena's previous partners, she had no entertainment background, and she has maintained her professional career alongside the marriage.

Shariatzadeh rarely gives interviews and maintains a minimal public profile, though she accompanies Cena to premieres for films like Peacemaker and Fast X. Friends describe her as intelligent, private and unimpressed by celebrity, qualities Cena has said he values deeply after years in the spotlight.

Her engineering career at Vancouver tech firms continued after the marriage, with Shariatzadeh balancing professional life and the demands of being married to a global celebrity. Her normalcy is, by all accounts, exactly what Cena needed.

Nikki Bella: The Past Engagement

Before Shariatzadeh, Cena's most famous relationship was with Nikki Bella (Stephanie Nicole Garcia-Colace), his fellow WWE star. They dated from 2012 to 2018, and their romance played out on WWE programming and the reality shows Total Divas and Total Bellas. At WrestleMania 33 in April 2017, Cena proposed in the ring after a mixed tag match, in one of wrestling's most romantic moments.

The engagement ended in 2018, weeks before their planned May wedding, with the couple citing disagreements over marriage expectations and children. Bella later married dancer Artem Chigvintsev and had a son. Cena has rarely discussed the split in detail, but has acknowledged the relationship taught him about what he wants in a partner.

Bella's memoir Incomparable candidly discussed the Cena relationship's end, citing their incompatible views on marriage and children. The book's honesty about the split, and Cena's dignified silence in response, closed the chapter without the bitterness that marks most celebrity breakups.

The Bella engagement, proposed live in the WrestleMania 33 ring in 2017, was one of wrestling's most romantic moments, making their 2018 split all the more shocking. The breakup's cause, widely reported as disagreement over children, became a reality-TV storyline.

Six Years of Marriage

Cena and Shariatzadeh's six-year marriage has been notably drama-free. They divide time between Tampa, Los Angeles and Vancouver, and Cena, who once said he did not want children, has remained consistent on that point, with the couple presenting a united front on living child-free. His WWE farewell tour in 2025-2026, marking his retirement from in-ring competition, has been a victory lap the couple has shared publicly at times.

Cena frequently credits Shariatzadeh in interviews, calling her his rock and describing how she helped him through the transition from full-time wrestler to actor. Their red-carpet appearances, rare but warm, show an easy, affectionate dynamic far from the storylines of his past.

The couple's child-free stance, which Cena has discussed openly, was reportedly a factor in the Bella split and a point of unity with Shariatzadeh. Their shared vision of married life, travel, careers, philanthropy, without children, underpins the marriage's stability.

The couple's 2020 wedding, a private Tampa ceremony, was followed by a second Vancouver celebration for her family. The low-key approach, no magazine deal, no red carpet, set the tone for a marriage conducted largely out of the spotlight.

The marriage's quiet strength, six years in, is its normalcy: two professionals who chose each other without fanfare and built a life largely outside the spotlight's glare.

Who Is John Cena?

John Felix Anthony Cena, born April 23, 1977, in West Newbury, Massachusetts, is a 16-time WWE world champion, tied for the most in history, and one of the most famous wrestlers ever. His Never Give Up persona and Make-A-Wish record (over 650 wishes granted, the most in the charity's history) made him a hero to millions of kids.

As an actor he has starred in Blockers, Bumblebee, F9, The Suicide Squad and the hit series Peacemaker, successfully transitioning to Hollywood's comedy-action lane. His 2025-2026 WWE retirement tour closes the in-ring chapter of a 25-year wrestling career.

His Make-A-Wish record, over 650 wishes granted, is the most in the charity's history and arguably his proudest achievement. Cena has said the wish kids put everything in perspective, and his dedication to the charity has never wavered through any career phase.

Cena's Make-A-Wish record, over 650 wishes granted, is the most in the organization's history, and his charity work continues alongside his acting career. The goodwill he built with fans underpins his enduring popularity.

Their 2026 life in Tampa, balancing Cena's filming schedule with Shariatzadeh's career and their shared philanthropy, is the picture of stability. Friends describe a couple that genuinely enjoys its privacy.

The Farewell Tour

Cena's 2025-2026 farewell tour, his retirement from WWE in-ring competition, has been an emotional victory lap: final matches against a new generation, tearful arena goodbyes, and the symbolic passing of torches. The tour's culmination marks the end of a 25-year wrestling career that made him the face of WWE's PG era.

Shariatzadeh has been a quiet presence throughout the farewell, attending key dates and sharing in the tributes. Friends say the retirement decision was mutual: after years of 300-day road schedules, the couple is looking forward to a normal life, with Cena focusing on acting and his Make-A-Wish work, which continues unabated.

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