John Cena gives heartfelt salute to Western Mass. in electric homecoming

SPRINGFIELD – John Cena may hail from West Newbury, but the WWE superstar and actor made sure to tell the crowd in Springfield Monday that the foundation for his career was built in Western Mass.

With “ Monday Night Raw ” at the Mass Mutual Center , Cena opened up the broadcast portion of the show with a segment setting up his upcoming match against Brock Lesnar.

But before that, he made a point to remind the younger fans of his ties to the city.

“Some of these young fans may not know this, but I spent a whole lot of years playing football up the street over at Springfield College ,” Cena said as part of his in-ring promo.

For most fans, the number most attached to John Cena is 17 - for his record 17 world championships he’s won in WWE.

But during this particular episode of Mo