John Cena and Bill Goldberg are best known for their achievements in the world of wrestling. Cena accomplished the astonishing feat of winning 25 professional wrestling championships, matching the achievement of WWE legend, Ric Flair. He also won the WWE U.S. Championship five times and the World Tag Team Championship four times.
Goldberg's set an unprecedented steak of 173 victorious matches without a defeat as he entered Starrcade 1998 with the WCW Championship.
Both wrestlers have also made their marks in Hollywood. Cena is known for his roles in numerous films, including Blockers, The Marine, 12 Rounds, Daddy’s Home. Bill Goldberg has made several films as well, including Nine Legends, American Satan, The Kid and I, and The Longest Yard. But perhaps his best acting role was as a demonic Santa Claus in the 2005 movie Santa's Slay.
The two wrestling champions also have classic cars in common. Both have built massive car collections that number more than 25 vehicles in each and heavily favor classic muscle cars. Here are five representative vehicles from each collection.
10 John Cena’s 2017 Ford GT
John Cena’s former 2017 Ford GT boasts a 3.5-liter V-6 producing 647 horsepower and 550 lb-ft. of torque. In Track mode, the carbon fiber and aluminum body of the GT lowers to the pavement while raising and reshaping the rear spoiler for optimum aerodynamic performance during hard cornering and braking.
While the Ford GT is a remarkable supercar, Cena’s GT has been embroiled in controversy since he sold it less than a month after purchase. Ford sued Cena for violating a clause in the purchase agreement prohibiting resale for two years after buying the $500,000 car. The two parties reached a settlement, and the car recently sold at auction for $1,320,000
9 Bill Goldberg’s 1970 Plymouth Barracuda
One of Bill Goldberg’s favorite cars is his Barracuda, powered by a massive 440 cubic inch Hemi V8 mated to a four-speed manual transmission. In 1970, Plymouth produced only 1,784 “Cuda” coupe and convertible models equipped with the 440-6 engine. Just 902 coupes included the four-speed transmission. The ‘70 Barracuda accelerated from 0 to 60 mph in 5.9 seconds (respectable for the era), reached the quarter-mile in 14.4 seconds at a speed of 100 mph, and achieved a top speed of 125 mph.
Goldberg restored his Barracuda to detailed factory specifications, even matching the paint scheme to original specs.
8 John Cena's 2013 Custom Corvette CR InCENArator
Not satisfied with the factory look of the C7 Corvette, John Cena decided to create his own version. He asked Florida’s Parker Brothers Concepts, known for designing and building the most outrageous vehicles in the world, to “make it look like it’s from the year 3000.”
Mechanically, the InCENArator is identical to a stock Corvette, featuring a 5.5L V8 that generates 491bhp. The exterior bears no resemblance to the “Vette” with its glass clamshell opening roof and 24-inch rims. The attention-getter is the assembly of 8 pipes that protrude out of the InCENArator and shoot flames on command, a feature every car will need in the year 3000.
7 Bill Golberg’s 1970 Pontiac Trans Am Ram Air IV
In 1970, options for the Trans Am seemed a bit banal, like a push-button radio, console, and tinted windshield. But one option makes the Pontiac one of the rarest and most desirable of all Trans Ams: The Ram Air IV engine. The upgrade cost only $389.68, adding better heads, bigger ports, an aluminum intake manifold, and swirl-polished valves. The result was 370 horsepower, at least 25 hp more than the standard D-port Ram Air III engine. The Pontiac Trans Am Ram Air IV is one of the unique cars in Goldbergs collection.
6 John Cena’s Manual Ferrari 360 Spider
Most kids who dream about owning an exotic car when they grow up have one favorite. They collect scale models and spend hours staring at the posters on the walls in their room, wondering what it would be like to drive one. John Cena was no different. His dream car was the Ferrari 360 Spider, and he made enough money from wrestling and acting to buy one.
Finished in Rosso Corsa, the Ferrari features a tan leather interior, red piping that highlights the Daytona seats, Scuderia shields ($2,000 each), and a manual transmission. Cena claims shifting through the gears with gated shifter makes the experience of driving a 360 Spider all that much better.
5 Bill Goldberg’s 1962 Ford Thunderbird
Nicknamed ‘Big Bird’ when new, the 1961-63 Ford Thunderbirds turned heads like few cars can when first introduced. The huge pointed fins that characterized cars in previous years were, by this time, well past their prime. The round taillights that looked like jet engine exhausts making the T-Bird seem ready for the launch pad at NASA.
In keeping with his theme of restoring and maintaining the cars in his collection as close to stock as possible, Goldberg’s Thunderbird looks like it just rolled out the factory door.
4 John Cena’s ’70 Plymouth Road Runner Superbird
The aerodynamically optimized Superbird with its wild nose cone and towering rear wing was built for NASCAR's superspeedways. Richard Petty, among others, drove it during the 1970 season before it was effectively banned from competition in 1971.
NASCAR officials were concerned that speeds were reaching dangerously high levels with the huge wing and pointed nose, and the cars no longer looked much like stock cars. The ban prompted Plymouth to end the production of the Superbird after just one year.
John Cena’s Superbird boasts the same orange color of the 1969 Dodge Charger (sans wing and nose cone) driven in the television series The Dukes of Hazzard by the Duke boys.
3 Bill Goldberg’s 1970 Boss 429 Lawman Mustang
The Lawman Mustang is considered by some enthusiasts to be the most significant Boss 429 ever, and it is one of the most highly sought-after vehicles in the world.
The Lawman Mustangs participated in performance exhibitions held overseas during 1970, including Viet Nam, partially to remind soldiers of home and why they were fighting.
The most legendary of the Mustangs that survived was the specially built supercharged Boss 429 that boasted nearly 1,000 horsepower. The car is currently part of Bill Goldberg’s collection.
2 John Cena’s 1989 Jeep Wrangler
The 1989 Jeep Wrangler may be the least expensive vehicle (estimated value of $10,000 to $14,000) in John Cena’s extravagant car collection, but it may have the most sentimental value.
Cena described the Jeep purchase: “This baby is the first thing I bought when I got a little smoke for myself from the WWE.” No doubt, this Jeep has seldom ventured off a paved surface, and the off-road capabilities are only used to negotiate the soft shoulder of a mountain road when stopping to take a photo.
1 Bill Goldberg’s 1965 Shelby Cobra Replica
In 2007, a 1966 Shelby Cobra 427 Super Snake made history when it fetched $5.5 million at a Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction, setting a world record price for an American car. In 2019, a 1967 Shelby Cobra 427 S/C Roadster sold at auction for $2,860,000.
Bill Goldberg’s 1965 Shelby Cobra would not be priced as high because it is a replica, but the estimated value is not insignificant at $160,000. Goldberg admits that while he likes the car, he does not like being seen in it because his big body squeezed into the tiny cabin makes him look like a “clown.”
Sources: motor-junkie.com, shearcomfort.com, dupontregistry.com, motorauthority.com