WWE's John Cena becomes most liked US athlete on Facebook

John Cena

WWE released the following statement earlier:

WWE Superstar John Cena has passed Kobe Bryant to become the most-liked active U.S. athlete on Facebook, with more than 18.6 million followers.

Cena is the No. 7 most-followed athlete in the world on Facebook and has more followers than Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Roger Federer. The Cenation leader also has more Facebook followers than Kevin Durant, Michael Phelps and Tony Hawk combined.

WWE has eclipsed 260 million fans through its global social media networks, further cementing its position as one of the most followed brands in the world. Currently, WWE has more than 172 million Facebook fans and 82 million Twitter followers across all of its networks. WWE’s network of Facebook pages has more followers than the NFL and its 32 teams’ pages combined.

Last week, WWE announced that the WWE App has surpassed 10 million downloads in 220 countries since it launched in August 2012. The WWE App will be a key component in the delivery of WWE Network, the first-ever 24/7 streaming network that launches on Monday, February 24. Over the past year, the WWE App has been downloaded more than 6 million times, with more than 500,000 fans experiencing its second screen capabilities every week during Monday Night Raw.