john cena
Julie Hambleton
Julie Hambleton
December 5, 2023 ·  3 min read

John Cena Posted A Pic Of His Black Twins Who Dubbed As ‘Black John Cena’

Some say that everyone has a doppelganger, or a “twin”, if you will, somewhere in the world. Most of us never meet or know of them. For those of us, however, whose doppelganger is a celebrity, it is much more evident. Back in August of 2021, a photo of a man-made its way around the internet of a man who people are calling “John Cena’s black twin”. This is the man everyone was talking about.5 Times Chris Rock’s Jokes Offended People & Provoked Backlash

Meet The Man Known As The Black John Cena

A couple of years ago, a photo went viral of London-based personal trainer Brendan Cobbina. The photo went viral because someone pointed out that Cobbina looked just like John Cena. That is to say, Cobbina looks just like John Cena if John Cena were a black man. From there, people began referring to him as the black John Cena, and he even earned the nickname Jamal Cena for a time. In fact, even John Cena himself posted a photo of Cobbina on his own Instagram account. Of course, soon the internet wanted to know: Who is The Black John Cena?

Well, the internet generally has a quick turnaround time for investigations such as this one. Soon after the people discovered The Black John Cena’s true identity: 24-year-old British personal trainer Brendan Cobbina.

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by John Cena (@johncena)

Leaning Into His New Title

Cobbina found the whole thing pretty entertaining and also agreed that he did have a striking resemblance to the famous actor. He decided to lean into his own newfound fame from the title. Even his Twitter bio states:

“You may know me as Brendan Cobbina or ‘Black John Cena’. Fitness Coach. Business Enquires email is: [email protected]. Instagram is in bio.” (2)

Two years later, the comparison photos are making their rounds again. Cobbina posted about it again on his Instagram with a side-by-side photo of himself and John Cena.

“I’m seeing myself go viral with the comparison tweets again,” he wrote in the caption. “So imma post this one”

The caption ended with a sideways laughing emoji and include two hashtags: #YouCantSeeUs #BlackJohnCena. Naturally, to be compared to an incredibly muscular, handsome action movie actor is not a bad thing. This is especially true for someone like Cobbina, who is a personal trainer in the business of helping people get fitter.

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A post shared by Brendan Cobbina (@brendancobbina)

John Cena’s Strange Instagram Habits

Cena, who’s starred in many action and comedy movies, is known for his somewhat strange Instagram habits. Whereas most famous people tend to post selfies, model shots, interview clips, or various images to promote their latest projects, Cena seems to post… well, whatever comes to his mind. 

We suppose you could say that he posts largely memes, but even that could be a stretch for describing what the actor posts regularly on his feed. Truthfully, it seems like more of a bizarre, unsensible string of images. What makes it even more strange is that Cena never writes a caption. He just drops the image on his feed for his followers to comment on and/or question.

This, of course, shouldn’t come as a surprise if you’ve read his Instagram bio. In fact, he was really quite explicit that his was not to be a regular celebrity Instagram account. In his bio, he wrote:

“Welcome to my Instagram. These images will be posted without explanation, for your interpretation. Enjoy.”

If you peruse his Instagram, you’ll quickly realize that a more truthful Instagram bio has never been written. You also may quickly come to the conclusion that perhaps you are better off not trying to interpret his posts. All we have to say is – You do you, John Cena. For the rest of us, as he said, Enjoy.

Keep Reading: 5 Times Chris Rock’s Jokes Offended People & Provoked Backlash

Sources

  1. John Cena posts his ‘Black twin,’ dubbed ‘Jamal Cena’.” CNN.  Lisa Respers France. August 12, 2021.
  2. Brendan Cobbina. Twitter
  3. Brendan Cobbina. Instagram
  4. John Cena. Instagram