Throughout the years, there have probably been hundreds of thousands, and potentially even millions of homemade signs that have been brought to wrestling events, but there is arguably no sign more famous than the one that promised a full-scale riot in 2006.

To say that the fans in the Hammerstein Ballroom on June 11, 2006, did not want John Cena to leave ECW One Night Stand with the WWE Championship would be a massive understatement. Cena was booed out of the building, he had toilet paper thrown at him, and after repeatedly throwing his shirt into the crowd only for it to be thrown back at him, a security guard who worked for ECW threw it back, flipped him the double bird, and joined in with the “ECW” chants that were as loud as they had ever been. On top of this, there was one sign hanging from the balcony that had lived on for nearly 20 years.

“If Cena Wins, We Riot.”

The thing that made this sign so iconic wasn’t just how it looked, or the fact that it was situated on the hard-cam that made it impossible to miss, but the fact that, on that night, if Rob Van Dam didn’t beat John Cena for the WWE Championship, it was entirely possible that the fans would storm the ring and come for Cena’s head. It wasn’t a sign of disdain for a wrestler; it was a very real threat. Thankfully for all the people in the Hammerstein Ballroom, although given the security’s views on Cena, they probably would have joined in, there was no rioting as RVD became the WWE Champion for the very first time.

In the years since ECW One Night Stand 2006, the “If Cena Wins, We Riot” sign has been imitated and replicated for various events where the fans want one person to win so badly, they will literally kill each other if it doesn’t happen. A black and yellow version that read “If Punk Loses, We Riot” was visible at WWE Money In The Bank 2011 for CM Punk’s match with John Cena. AEW fans had variations of the sign as recently as All In Texas on July 12, 2025 in support of Hangman Page for his match with Jon Moxley, and at GCW’s first-ever event in the Hammerstein Ballroom in 2022, “If Cardona Wins, We Riot” was not only a banner on display in the crowd for Matt Cardona’s match with Joey Janela, but Cardona even turned it into a t-shirt.