John Cena, 43, has a wrestling partner for life! The WWE star-turned-movie star tied the knot with Shay Shariatzadeh — a product manager for the enterprise software company Sonatype — in Tampa, Florida on Oct. 12, according to a marriage license obtained by HollywoodLife (see it below). The license was issued on Oct. 9.
This news comes as a complete surprise, since an engagement between John and Shay was not announced beforehand. The two have enjoyed a whirlwind romance since first sparking dating speculation with their date in Vancouver in March of 2019. John was filming a movie, Playing with Fire, in the area at the time, but the couple couldn’t leave their romance behind in Canada!
John and Shay were next seen passionately kissing at an airport in San Diego in April of 2019, and later traveled to Tampa in July of 2019, where a source confirmed with Hollywoodlife that the lovers attended a taping of WWE Raw. “They’ve been dating a few months,” our insider revealed at the time.
The couple then headed to New York City in October of that year, where they made their red carpet debut at the New York City premiere for Playing With Fire. John even raved about his plus-one, telling an Entertainment Tonight reporter at the event, “What’s truly special about this one is that, no matter what projects I’m involved in the future, this one will always have a special meaning because I got to film a special project and meet someone special.”
Going into 2020, John and Shay attended the film premiere for Dolittle / The Fantastic Journey of Dr. Dolittle in January. We also learned that John would be spending his 43rd birthday with Shay amid the pandemic. “John doesn’t have any big plans for his birthday…he’ll probably just relax, have a nice dinner with Shay and enjoy an evening at home,” a source close to the WWE star EXCLUSIVELY told HollywoodLife in April. The source added, “John Cena is very happy and content on his 43rd birthday. His love life and career is on complete fire, he recently came off a well received match at WrestleMania and he is healthy in a world that is clearly in trying times.”
John was previously engaged to fellow WWE star Nikki Bella, 36, but the relationship ultimately ended (for good) in July of 2018. Nikki went on to become engaged to Dancing with the Stars pro Artem Chigvintsev in Nov. 2019, and the couple welcomed their first child together, a baby boy named Matteo Artemovich Chigvintsev, in July of 2020.