John Cena made a surprise return to regularly performing in WWE wrestling matches recently, along with frequent appearances on the promotions television shows. But at a Saturday post-show press conference, he made clear that once the SAG-AFTRA strike is over, he’s out.
Cena’s made occasional appearances since transitioning into larger Hollywood acting roles, including in the “Fast and the Furious” and the “Suicide Squad/Peacemaker” franchises. When asked in a press conference after Saturday’s WWE Fastlane live event if a deal between actors and studios being reached soon means Hollywood calls him away from WWE, Cena responded, “They do. They do. And I’ve made it perfectly clear, you can’t do both, because of the liability insurance. And if I were to try to juggle both, that’s very selfish, because I would put a whole lot of people in the movie business out of work if something happened to me.”
Noting that he had something in the works when the strike began, Cena said, “I stopped a project in the middle of it — I can’t even talk about the project, because of the strike we’re in — but we’re in the middle of it. So, as soon as we get back to work, we go back to work. But I don’t control any of that — I’m crossing my fingers, and hope we can find a resolve that everybody is happy with. And for right now, I think this is the best way I can help, is come back home to my family.”
While Cena says this isn’t his last run in the wrestling world, he knows that it’s coming. He also expressed frustration with his own in-ring conditioning. Having the cardio to be in ring shape versus being focused on a bodybuilding look for Hollywood projects likely contributes to issues he’s having keeping up during matches.
“Selfishly, this trip back has been a gauge for me to kind of test where I’m at, and what the future holds for me,” Cena said. “And some of y’all watched the match, I was in the thing tonight. I’ve got some work to do, and I’ve got to realize that I’ve got some figuring out to function at the level that I’m used to — to be able to perform at a level that is worthy of what I’m familiar with, and what the audience is familiar with.”
Addressing his age, Cena added, “That’s selfishly what this episode in the WWE is for me, is to kind of take stock in myself, where I feel physically. I’m 46. I’ve told everybody, this ain’t the last one, but I know the last one’s on the horizon, so I’m just kind of taking stock of where I’m at. And I’ve always promised that I don’t ever want to offend the WWE Universe with the effort I put out there, and I’m still trying to give all I’ve got, but I’ve got to work out some tweaks and find the mojo somewhere.”
Cena will be seen in the forthcoming “Peacemaker” Season 2, as well as being expected to return in “Fast X: Part 2.” That film could also see Cena alongside Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson returning to the franchise following his public feud with franchise star Vin Diesel.
Cena also addressed a wrestling feud he had years ago with Johnson that included Cena taking pointed shots at The Rock for leaving wrestling for Hollywood — and those who say he’s a hypocrite for doing the same thing and being a part-timer in recent years.
“I 100 percent see and understand that perspective,” Cena said. “And if you’ve been following what I’ve tried to do, especially as of late, publicly and personally to Dwayne Johnson, I’ve stated that although I thought I was trying to do what’s best for business, I went about it the wrong way. I violated his trust, and I made allegations about his perspective that I knew nothing about.”
Cena’s addressed these criticisms previously, but underlined those comments ahead of his own plans to leave WWE once again. He added Saturday that, deep down, he wanted the Rock back in wrestling.
“But I did it the wrong way,” Cena said. “I had to say I’m sorry and I was wrong — because I am sorry, and I was wrong, and that’s a very humbling experience. Dwayne is a hell of a guy. We had a conversation, we’ve grown.”
Talking about this temporary Cena strike-induced wrestling run, former wrestler and WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque expressed his thanks for Cena choosing to come back and wrestle.
“He doesn’t need to be here,” Levesque said. “And he talked about the time with Rock. You look at it different when you’re in it. … I know he said, betrayed a trust, and all that. But the point in time, it’s how you feel, it’s what you say, and I don’t know that he owed anybody an apology.”
Levesque added, “And to see John’s growth, but to always come back to this — doesn’t need to, doesn’t have to be here, could be doing a million other things maybe — like resting, or sleeping. I don’t know, he doesn’t seem to do either one of them. But he does it because he loves it, because there’s nothing like this … and getting that feeling, having that rush. That electric connection — Rock talks about it a lot, right? … It’s why talent do this in the first place, it’s why they do it even if they’re getting to the end and they decide it’s time to step away, they always want to come back. It’s why everybody has such a hard time retiring.”
Triple H reiterated Cena’s warning not to count on Cena to remain once the SAG-AFTRA strike ends, as well as Cena noting his age and wondering how much longer he has in the ring.
“I would just say this to everybody out there: Revel in it. I know I am,” Levesque said. “Because the appreciation level that John should get is off the charts, and we all just need to understand how good he is, and what he means to this industry. And why, you get a chance to see Babe Ruth play, you should see Babe Ruth play. When he’s here, don’t criticize, don’t overthink it, just enjoy it. Because it won’t last forever, and we all need to understand that.”
Earlier, Cena shared his thoughts on the pro wrestling business, which has seen better conditions for wrestlers thanks to competition from All Elite Wrestling, which has programming on both TBS and TNT.
“I don’t think there’s ever been a better time to be in the sports entertainment business,” Cena said. “There’s never been more opportunity to be a WWE superstar than right now.”
During WWE Fastlane, Cena tagged with hot new WWE star L.A. Knight in a match against The Bloodline (Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa) to help elevate the up-and-coming performer. Cena praised L.A. Knight for taking advantage of his momentum with fans, getting the company behind him in a way that they may not have years ago.
“I don’t know if that happens in any other era, just because of how few spots there were,” Cena said.
You can watch the full post-WWE Fastlane press conference here:
