John Cena is obsessed with noise. For him, noise is truth. Noise is job security. Noise is power. As a World Wrestling Entertainment superstar, he learned years ago that his career would thrive as long as the crowd stopped sucking down sodas and popcorn long enough to either cheer or jeer him, creating that all-coveted roar. ŌĆ£Regardless if someone in the office or one of the decision-makers likes you or they donŌĆÖt,ŌĆØ Cena says. ŌĆ£You cannot argue with the noise.ŌĆØ After 20 years in the business, Cena, 41, still evokes a rowdier response than anyone else, and not by happenstance. Before taking the stage, he studies the crowd, to gauge who they are and how theyŌĆÖre feeling, to read their signs, to ensure that he connects. He obsesses over his merch and his physique, his promos and his gimmick. ItŌĆÖs all crucial and has to be on point. After all, you donŌĆÖt become the biggest name in WWEŌĆönot to mention an internet meme and a rising movie starŌĆöjust by being a guy who can do the stock-in-trade meathead schtick. You have to bring the noise. Cena explains this to me in a photo studio in New York City, overlooking the Hudson River. ŌĆ£I was lucky enough to work with veterans who knew noise and knew how to interpret noise,ŌĆØ he says. ŌĆ£If the audience drove the story another way, the brilliant ones, the ones who had so much longevity, were able to ride the noise and bring the audience back.ŌĆØ
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Cena is busy today, as he is most days. And not your standard celebrity level of busy, but away-from-home-320-days-a-year busy. Last night, for example, he got to his hotel at four-something, then woke up at 8 a.m.; now heŌĆÖs here for this photo shoot, busy being John Cena. Tomorrow, heŌĆÖll co-host and officiate a wedding live on The Today Show, during which heŌĆÖll exclaim, ŌĆ£LetŌĆÖs get it on!ŌĆØ before handing the couple their rings. Admittedly, all this busyness complicates matters with his fianc├®e, Nikki Bella, star of the E! reality show Total Bellas and a WWE superstar in her own right. He has never wanted to slow down, and because of this, on their first date, he told her, ŌĆ£Hey, IŌĆÖm not getting married and having kidsŌĆØŌĆöwhich didnŌĆÖt go over too well. If you know anything about Cena, you know that he is an action figure come to life, a walking, talking, unstoppable mass of bronzed muscle. The clich├® isnŌĆÖt undeserved. He has claimed 25 WWE championship titles, remained the face of the company for more than a dozen years, and starred in a handful of forgettable tough-guy flicks, including 2006ŌĆÖs The Marine and 2009ŌĆÖs 12 Rounds. Over the past three years, however, things have begun to change for Cena. He appeared in a string of well-received comediesŌĆöincluding Sisters, in 2015, starring Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, and Trainwreck, the same year, starring Amy SchumerŌĆöthat has put his acting career on an entirely new track. In 2017, he voiced the titular character in the childrenŌĆÖs film Ferdinand. And now thereŌĆÖs Blockers, out in April, in which he co-stars with Leslie Mann and Ike Barinholtz. ItŌĆÖs about three parents who try to thwart their daughtersŌĆÖ efforts to lose their virginity on prom night. Cena plays an uptight dad who refuses to accept that his daughter intends to do the deed. He says comedy is a welcome change from his early-career action movies, which he admits were failures. ŌĆ£At my core, IŌĆÖm a 40-year-old dude who laughs at dick jokes,ŌĆØ he says. ŌĆ£So when you get around a group of people who enjoy the same punch lines, youŌĆÖre like, ŌĆśOh my God, that was great!ŌĆÖŌĆØ ŌĆ£You can kind of teach comedy but you really canŌĆÖt,ŌĆØ says the filmŌĆÖs director, Kay Cannon. ŌĆ£John just inherently has it. I donŌĆÖt want to compare him to Tom Hanks, because theyŌĆÖre so different, but heŌĆÖs, like, the everyman; people just love to watch him.ŌĆØ Cena stands next to a clothes rack as a stylist hands him shirts to try on. Our conversation returns to wrestling. HeŌĆÖs something of a missionary for the religion that is WWE, an organization to which he feels deeply indebted. ŌĆ£My goal is for everybody to realize that we got something cool at WWE,ŌĆØ he says. ŌĆ£ItŌĆÖs not for everybody, but itŌĆÖs for a lot of folks, and I just donŌĆÖt understand why folks turn their nose up.ŌĆØ (I am a coward, so I donŌĆÖt mention that perhaps the glorification of violence, or the bad acting, or the retrograde style of masculinity, or the glut of body oil may be to blame.)
Leslie Mann, Ike Barinholtz, and John Cena in the film Blockers, which premieres April 6. Universal
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Cena removes his button-down and pulls on a V-neck. Upon catching a flash of his torso, you come to appreciate fully that he is not one of those celebrities whom you meet in real life and think, That guy looks bigger on TV, as with deceptively short strong guys Mark Wahlberg (5ŌĆÖ8ŌĆ│) and Sylvester Stallone (5ŌĆÖ10ŌĆØ). In fact, television doesnŌĆÖt begin to capture CenaŌĆÖs size. At 6ŌĆÖ1ŌĆ│ and a ripped 250 pounds, he exerts a gravitational force, like a small planet, pulling you closer and closer until you nearly collide. ItŌĆÖs hard not to gawk at,┬Āand at least somewhat envy, him for being impossibly more fit than most people could ever dream to be. But heŌĆÖs so genial that you canŌĆÖt hold his bulk against him. Plus, he has granted more than 550 Make-a-Wish requests. How can you begrudge a guy like that? ItŌĆÖs tempting to put┬ĀCena in a box, to dismiss him as a meathead, or to disregard his achievements in WWE, given the performance-art nature of the whole spectacle. But Cena is not just another wrestler trying to pivot into movies. Well, maybe he sort of is, but labeling him Rock Redux sells him short. The man is an entertainer in the truest sense. For starters, he is killer at photo shoots. Brilliant at photo shoots, even. He needs no coachingŌĆöfunny comes easy. He can just stand somewhere and amuse, either by cocking an eyebrow, twisting his grin, or simply positioning himself next to objects much smaller than he is, which includes just about everything. Cena not only has a knack for captivating a crowd, but he also has a freakish level of commitment to his interests and his work. About halfway through the shoot, the photo assistants sit him at a miniature piano. Then, to my surprise, he begins to play, or play as best he can on the tiny keyboard. Out come a few bars of BeethovenŌĆÖs ŌĆ£MoonlightŌĆØ Sonata and then a bit of Erik Satie. Yes, Cena can play the piano. He decided to invest 50 hours into learning, and it stuck. He can also speak Mandarin. HeŌĆÖs not great at chess, but he can hang. He can rap, too, and act better than guys who have spent their entire careers on Hollywood sets. I wouldnŌĆÖt be surprised if he knew a step or two of tap.
Photographs by Art Streiber HeŌĆÖs a classic overachiever, and he would have likely excelled at whatever he decided to do in life. He could have enjoyed a fine career as an ambassador to a small country in the South Pacific, say, or as an officer in the military, which he nearly joined before giving wrestling a go. But he happened to find success in the ring early and followed the path deeper and deeper into the world of spandex, muscly dudes, and choreographed fighting. Then he outworked, and outmaneuvered, everyone else. He is not a fantastic wrestler, at least not on a technical level. But he believes in whatever heŌĆÖs saying on the mic and lets his character consume him so much that his shortcomings fade. ŌĆ£IŌĆÖm never the person who asks the question, How far do I go?ŌĆØ he says. ŌĆ£IŌĆÖm like, ŌĆśIf we are going, you have to tell me to stop.ŌĆÖŌĆØ
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That said, there are a lot of wrestlers who are good on the mic who havenŌĆÖt expanded their careers beyond WWE. ŌĆ£I donŌĆÖt care how big of a star you are in wrestling, your fame isnŌĆÖt going to naturally transfer over,ŌĆØ Dave Meltzer, publisher and editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, says. ŌĆ£ThereŌĆÖs a feeling that theyŌĆÖre not talented, so theyŌĆÖve got to overcome it.ŌĆØ It takes a cocktail of charisma and intrinsic likability to do it. ŌĆ£Hulk Hogan didnŌĆÖt make it, and Hogan was a huge star in wrestling,ŌĆØ Meltzer says. ŌĆ£Steve Austin was a huge star, and he didnŌĆÖt have a big movie career, either.ŌĆØ Bruce Prichard, a former WWE producer, explains that though matches are scripted, wrestlers tend to excel not if theyŌĆÖre good actors but if theyŌĆÖre good reactors. So the transition to other forms of entertainment doesnŌĆÖt come as easily as one might assume. Cena, though, can act, and, if for nothing else, he deserves credit for being one of the only two guys in the history of professional wrestling to have made the jump to Hollywood successfully. The other, of course, is the RockŌĆötoday better known as Dwayne Johnson, John the Baptist to CenaŌĆÖs Jesus Christ. Johnson made his name playing an Egyptian king in two of the Mummy films, then starred in a handful of The Fast and the Furious sequels. In every respect, heŌĆÖs a megastar, and he proved that wrestlers could do more than just body slam one another over make-believe beef. ŌĆ£ThereŌĆÖs no way you can put us in the same sentence,ŌĆØ Cena says, with self-deprecating sincerity. But for all of JohnsonŌĆÖs 40-odd movie roles, he hasnŌĆÖt had one half as memorable as CenaŌĆÖs in Trainwreck. In it, he plays Amy SchumerŌĆÖs sexually confused, CrossFit-obsessed boyfriend, and itŌĆÖs a contender for the greatest sports crossover in film history. In a standout scene, he trades insults with a guy at a movie theater, but as the fight escalates, CenaŌĆÖs character sort of begins to hit on the other guy. ŌĆ£OK, Koko B. Ware, you know what?ŌĆØ he exclaims. ŌĆ£YouŌĆÖre being an asshole! All right? You know what I do with assholes? I lick ŌĆÖem!ŌĆØ Cena sells the lines perfectly. ŌĆ£HeŌĆÖs one of the fastest minds IŌĆÖve ever seen at work,ŌĆØ Schumer says. ŌĆ£He took what was on the page and made it so much better.ŌĆØ HeŌĆÖs a pro, she adds, ŌĆ£but, fuck, that dude knows how to let his mind go free on set.ŌĆØ CenaŌĆÖs innate, and perhaps curious, ability to connect with people no doubt helps his characters resonate. ŌĆ£He looks like a robot built by the government to destroy people,ŌĆØ says Barinholtz, his Blockers co-star. ŌĆ£But heŌĆÖs incredibly kind and has absolutely no ego, and that connects with people.ŌĆØ On the set, Cena would do whatever it took to make the movie better, Barinholtz says. ŌĆ£He was like, ŌĆśSure, sure. Whatever you need, IŌĆÖll do it. Oh, you want to shove two beer funnels up my ass? OK, IŌĆÖll do it.ŌĆÖ ŌĆØ Cannon adds: ŌĆ£HeŌĆÖs just so open and accepting, and people can feel that. I think people see the good in him and want to be good like him.ŌĆØ IŌĆÖm never the person who asks the question, how far do I go? If we are going, you have to tell me when to stop. Cena has rightly earned applause for his recent comedy roles.┬ĀBut his greatest achievement to date remains the fact that he almost single-handedly changed WWEŌĆÖs business model by being the upright, disarming yet totally chiseled slice of white bread that he is. Consider WWE stars of the past: Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, the Undertaker. They all came across as dudes who, had their wrestling careers not panned out, might have ended up digging septic trenches or selling live bait. Longtime fans loved their dirt-under-the-fingernails, antiestablishment aesthetics, along with their monologues about ass whoopinŌĆÖ and beer drinking. As for John Cena? HeŌĆÖs the one who turned WWE into PG-rated, family-fun entertainment. One of five boys, he grew up in pastoral West Newbury, Massachusetts, an hour north of Boston. His dad, John Cena Sr.ŌĆöwho now promotes small-time wrestling matches under the name Johnny FabulousŌĆöwas a wrestling superfan and exposed Cena and his brothers to the sport at an early age. ŌĆ£As a New England kid, I didnŌĆÖt know who the Red Sox or Celtics were,ŌĆØ Cena says. But he was enthralled by the wrestlersŌĆÖ mystique and overblown personalities. ŌĆ£I honestly believed everything I saw,ŌĆØ he says. ŌĆ£Even if you know the situation, itŌĆÖs something you can lose yourself in.ŌĆØ And, sure, he enjoyed watching the guys beat, or pretend to beat, the stuffing out of one another. The family went as far as to construct a ring in the basement for the brothers to mimic what they saw on television. ŌĆ£I was kind of raised in a frat house,ŌĆØ Cena says. ŌĆ£Looking back on the things I was exposed to at such a young age, they probably were not exactly in the handbook of how to raise your kids.ŌĆØ
Cena in the ring in 2015. Photo by JP Yim/Getty Images After high school, Cena played football at Springfield College and then, in 1999, moved to Venice Beach, California, where he began pursuing his wrestling career. He started out with a small local outfit before WWE recruited him for its development league in Louisville, Kentucky. In his first televised WWE appearance, in June 2002, at age 25, he performed wearing bright, ass-hugging shorts and matching knee pads. He had no gimmickŌĆöwhich, in the world of pro wrestling, is to say that he had nothing. He flailed for a few months. ŌĆ£I was literally about to get fired,ŌĆØ he says. ŌĆ£Everybody told me, ŌĆśItŌĆÖs not working.ŌĆÖŌĆØ But that fall he developed a Vanilla IceŌĆōinspired rapper schtick and quickly became a fan favorite, thanks to his quick-witted, and often racy, rhymes. In 2005, for instance, Cena told Hiroko Suzuki, a geisha-style wrestling personality, that heŌĆÖd help whiten her face, the sexual connotations crystal clear. ŌĆ£We were willing to push the envelope,ŌĆØ Steve Austin says. ŌĆ£You had to be edgy, because if you werenŌĆÖt, you were going to get smoked.ŌĆØ By 2006, the demographics of WWEŌĆÖs live audience had begun to shift, however. More young families and kids began to fill the crowd. Cena was quick to notice and knew that he had to do something. The decision to change course ultimately fell on WWE CEO Vince McMahonŌĆöbut, says Cena, ŌĆ£I made it perfectly clear to him that I would like to stop doing what IŌĆÖm doing.ŌĆØ He soon pivoted to the squeaky-clean-hero character that he has stuck with ever since. ’┐╝’┐╝’┐╝’┐╝The image helped make him the face and change the direction of WWE. ŌĆ£John is the all-American clean-cut, blue-collar guy,ŌĆØ Austin says. ŌĆ£He goes out there in his jean shorts and his sneakers, and heŌĆÖs an entertainer. To me, thatŌĆÖs his gimmick.ŌĆØ Fans have criticized WWE for giving Cena too much exposure. But when it came down to it, Meltzer says, ŌĆ£the company thought that John looked like a superhero, so if they were sending guys out to do media, theyŌĆÖd go with John.ŌĆØ ŌĆ£He was never the chosen guy, never,ŌĆØ Austin adds. But because of the crowd response, WWE had no choice but to push him, he says. No matter whether people cheer or boo him, ŌĆ£100 percent of that crowd is invested in his match.ŌĆØ Part of why CenaŌĆÖs all-American schtick has worked so well is that the character isnŌĆÖt a stretch. HeŌĆÖs deeply patriotic. And it doesnŌĆÖt hurt that, according to a 2013 study, WWEŌĆÖs largest markets are in strongly conservative southern states, such as Arkansas, Tennessee, and Texas. But Cena is patriotic in a Greatest Generation sort of way, not a letŌĆÖs-build-a-wall-and-make-Mexico-pay-for-it type. ŌĆ£This country is built on coming here and getting a chance, and I love that,ŌĆØ he says, during a wardrobe swap-out. ŌĆ£America is a weird thing, and it goes through phases of finding and losing its way, but I think we always go back to that.ŌĆØ
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To wit, in 2016, he starred in a short PSA titled ŌĆ£We Are America,ŌĆØ in which, strolling through a quaint small town, he opines that ŌĆ£to love America is to love all Americans,ŌĆØ regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion, or orientation. The video garnered a couple of million views online and prompted People to call him a ŌĆ£perpetual font of goodness.ŌĆØ ŌĆ£I get to see the diversity,ŌĆØ he tells me, ŌĆ£and itŌĆÖs incredible to see all these cultures coexisting.ŌĆØ He points out the window, in the direction of the Statue of Liberty, four miles south. ŌĆ£ItŌĆÖs difficult at times,ŌĆØ he says. ŌĆ£But remember where you are. Remember the statue in the harborŌĆögive me your tired, hungry, poor.ŌĆØ ŌĆ£IŌĆÖm a character on a television show. IŌĆÖm lucky to do what I do; itŌĆÖs not real.ŌĆØ Besides, so what if fans hate him? ŌĆ£My job is to bring them on a ride.ŌĆØ As photo assistants corral Cena to the set again, I ask whether heŌĆÖd consider running for office one day (because thatŌĆÖs a question we ask celebrities in the Trump era, apparently). No, he says. ŌĆ£ItŌĆÖs not entertaining to me,ŌĆØ he explains, and heŌĆÖs not sure whether he could handle the stress. Some fans have taken to chanting ŌĆ£Cena sucksŌĆØ whenever he enters the ring; he handles the heckles with admirable composure, a characteristic, I add, that would serve him well as an elected official. ŌĆ£How am I supposed to be?ŌĆØ he asks. ŌĆ£IŌĆÖm a character on a television show. IŌĆÖm lucky to do what I do; itŌĆÖs not real.ŌĆØ Besides, so what if fans hate him? ŌĆ£My job is to bring them on a ride.ŌĆØ Cena knows his WWE┬Ārun is coming to an end. HeŌĆÖs already older than the superstars that came before him. ŌĆ£IŌĆÖve always said that if I feel and look a step slow out there, then itŌĆÖs time to go,ŌĆØ he says. In fact, he has already backed away from WWE some, appearing only part-time. When he gives up the ring for good, he hopes to continue acting; he has also dabbled in production and has a childrenŌĆÖs book coming out. But he can never leave WWE, not fully. It made him the man he is today, he says, and gave him a chance to make something of himself. As far as movies go, he knows heŌĆÖll make mistakes along the way. ŌĆ£IŌĆÖm just hoping to come out clean on the other side,ŌĆØ he says. As the shoot begins to wrap up, Cena and the crew take a break, and he sits and sips water on a sofa in a back room. HeŌĆÖs exhausted, and though he has been a good sport, heŌĆÖs clearly ready to bail. I tell him I donŌĆÖt know how he can stand always being on the road, especially with a new fianc├®e at home. ŌĆ£ThatŌĆÖs the thing,ŌĆØ he says. ŌĆ£Everybody is like, ŌĆśHow do you do it?ŌĆÖ ŌĆØ Easy: He loves his work. ŌĆ£And thatŌĆÖs why IŌĆÖve dedicated my life to it for over 15 years.ŌĆØ He sacrificed a normal existence for his career, he acknowledges. But now, in the twilight of his time as a WWE superstar, and as he begins to take more acting roles, he has started to reconsider some of his priorities, he says.
Photograph by Art Streiber He reflects on his first marriage, to his high-school sweetheart, which ended in divorce, in 2012. ŌĆ£I wasnŌĆÖt ready to be a husband. I was given this golden ticket to do something that I just thought was mythical.ŌĆØ So he would prioritize his career over his relationship, he says. I mention a 2006 interview he did with Howard Stern. In it, Cena discusses having sex with groupies while on the road with WWE. One night, he tells Stern, he had six women in his room at once, and he says later that he considers the best night of his life an evening he shared with two strippers from a ŌĆ£small ratty strip club, in Louisville, Kentucky.ŌĆØ
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ŌĆ£I lived a much more selfish life,ŌĆØ Cena tells me. ŌĆ£My definition of what I thought love was was way off track.ŌĆØ He has since realized that he has to consider other peopleŌĆÖs needs, he says, and heŌĆÖs now trying to learn how to balance his home life and his career ambitions. I tell him I donŌĆÖt think the balance exists. ŌĆ£It doesnŌĆÖt,ŌĆØ he says. ŌĆ£But I didnŌĆÖt think I could speak Chinese. I didnŌĆÖt think I could play the piano.ŌĆØ Either way, living with someone is hard, I say. ŌĆ£ItŌĆÖs not,ŌĆØ he says, then stops. ŌĆ£It is. IŌĆÖm not going to take that away from you. But you have to say to yourself, ŌĆśThis is hard. This is not easy.ŌĆÖ But anything worth anything is not easy. OK? It is hard.ŌĆØ And hard is something that Cena embraces. Every day people are going to ask him to do something supernatural, he says. ŌĆ£IŌĆÖm going to do it.ŌĆØ He accepts whatever challenge is at hand, no matter how daunting, because he knows that everything he hasŌĆöhis relationship, his movie career, his WWE stardomŌĆöis fragile. He pushes himself so that it all remains intact, so that the crowds keep turning out to see him, so that he can continue being John Cena. But for all his striving and high-achieving, heŌĆÖs not self-critical, he says. ŌĆ£No, IŌĆÖm just always searching for ways to keep the noise.ŌĆØ ┬Ā This story appears in the print edition of the May 2018 issue, with the headline ŌĆ£Breaking Big.ŌĆØ
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John Cena is obsessed with noise. For him, noise is truth. Noise is job security. Noise is power. As a World Wrestling Entertainment superstar, he learned years ago that his career would thrive as long as the crowd stopped sucking down sodas and popcorn long enough to either cheer or jeer him, creating that all-coveted roar. ŌĆ£Regardless if someone in the office or one of the decision-makers likes you or they donŌĆÖt,ŌĆØ Cena says. ŌĆ£You cannot argue with the noise.ŌĆØ
After 20 years in the business, Cena, 41, still evokes a rowdier response than anyone else, and not by happenstance. Before taking the stage, he studies the crowd, to gauge who they are and how theyŌĆÖre feeling, to read their signs, to ensure that he connects. He obsesses over his merch and his physique, his promos and his gimmick. ItŌĆÖs all crucial and has to be on point. After all, you donŌĆÖt become the biggest name in WWEŌĆönot to mention an internet meme and a rising movie starŌĆöjust by being a guy who can do the stock-in-trade meathead schtick. You have to bring the noise.
Cena explains this to me in a photo studio in New York City, overlooking the Hudson River. ŌĆ£I was lucky enough to work with veterans who knew noise and knew how to interpret noise,ŌĆØ he says. ŌĆ£If the audience drove the story another way, the brilliant ones, the ones who had so much longevity, were able to ride the noise and bring the audience back.ŌĆØ
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Cena is busy today, as he is most days. And not your standard celebrity level of busy, but away-from-home-320-days-a-year busy. Last night, for example, he got to his hotel at four-something, then woke up at 8 a.m.; now heŌĆÖs here for this photo shoot, busy being John Cena. Tomorrow, heŌĆÖll co-host and officiate a wedding live on The Today Show, during which heŌĆÖll exclaim, ŌĆ£LetŌĆÖs get it on!ŌĆØ before handing the couple their rings. Admittedly, all this busyness complicates matters with his fianc├®e, Nikki Bella, star of the E! reality show Total Bellas and a WWE superstar in her own right. He has never wanted to slow down, and because of this, on their first date, he told her, ŌĆ£Hey, IŌĆÖm not getting married and having kidsŌĆØŌĆöwhich didnŌĆÖt go over too well.
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Behind the Scenes of John CenaŌĆÖs Big Cover Shoot for MenŌĆÖs Journal
If you know anything about Cena, you know that he is an action figure come to life, a walking, talking, unstoppable mass of bronzed muscle. The clich├® isnŌĆÖt undeserved. He has claimed 25 WWE championship titles, remained the face of the company for more than a dozen years, and starred in a handful of forgettable tough-guy flicks, including 2006ŌĆÖs The Marine and 2009ŌĆÖs 12 Rounds. Over the past three years, however, things have begun to change for Cena. He appeared in a string of well-received comediesŌĆöincluding Sisters, in 2015, starring Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, and Trainwreck, the same year, starring Amy SchumerŌĆöthat has put his acting career on an entirely new track. In 2017, he voiced the titular character in the childrenŌĆÖs film Ferdinand.
And now thereŌĆÖs Blockers, out in April, in which he co-stars with Leslie Mann and Ike Barinholtz. ItŌĆÖs about three parents who try to thwart their daughtersŌĆÖ efforts to lose their virginity on prom night. Cena plays an uptight dad who refuses to accept that his daughter intends to do the deed. He says comedy is a welcome change from his early-career action movies, which he admits were failures. ŌĆ£At my core, IŌĆÖm a 40-year-old dude who laughs at dick jokes,ŌĆØ he says. ŌĆ£So when you get around a group of people who enjoy the same punch lines, youŌĆÖre like, ŌĆśOh my God, that was great!ŌĆÖŌĆØ
ŌĆ£You can kind of teach comedy but you really canŌĆÖt,ŌĆØ says the filmŌĆÖs director, Kay Cannon. ŌĆ£John just inherently has it. I donŌĆÖt want to compare him to Tom Hanks, because theyŌĆÖre so different, but heŌĆÖs, like, the everyman; people just love to watch him.ŌĆØ
Cena stands next to a clothes rack as a stylist hands him shirts to try on. Our conversation returns to wrestling. HeŌĆÖs something of a missionary for the religion that is WWE, an organization to which he feels deeply indebted. ŌĆ£My goal is for everybody to realize that we got something cool at WWE,ŌĆØ he says. ŌĆ£ItŌĆÖs not for everybody, but itŌĆÖs for a lot of folks, and I just donŌĆÖt understand why folks turn their nose up.ŌĆØ (I am a coward, so I donŌĆÖt mention that perhaps the glorification of violence, or the bad acting, or the retrograde style of masculinity, or the glut of body oil may be to blame.)
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Cena removes his button-down and pulls on a V-neck. Upon catching a flash of his torso, you come to appreciate fully that he is not one of those celebrities whom you meet in real life and think, That guy looks bigger on TV, as with deceptively short strong guys Mark Wahlberg (5ŌĆÖ8ŌĆ│) and Sylvester Stallone (5ŌĆÖ10ŌĆØ). In fact, television doesnŌĆÖt begin to capture CenaŌĆÖs size. At 6ŌĆÖ1ŌĆ│ and a ripped 250 pounds, he exerts a gravitational force, like a small planet, pulling you closer and closer until you nearly collide. ItŌĆÖs hard not to gawk at,┬Āand at least somewhat envy, him for being impossibly more fit than most people could ever dream to be. But heŌĆÖs so genial that you canŌĆÖt hold his bulk against him. Plus, he has granted more than 550 Make-a-Wish requests. How can you begrudge a guy like that?
57 Things Every Guy Needs to Know About Cooking
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ItŌĆÖs tempting to put┬ĀCena in a box, to dismiss him as a meathead, or to disregard his achievements in WWE, given the performance-art nature of the whole spectacle. But Cena is not just another wrestler trying to pivot into movies. Well, maybe he sort of is, but labeling him Rock Redux sells him short. The man is an entertainer in the truest sense. For starters, he is killer at photo shoots. Brilliant at photo shoots, even. He needs no coachingŌĆöfunny comes easy. He can just stand somewhere and amuse, either by cocking an eyebrow, twisting his grin, or simply positioning himself next to objects much smaller than he is, which includes just about everything.
Cena not only has a knack for captivating a crowd, but he also has a freakish level of commitment to his interests and his work. About halfway through the shoot, the photo assistants sit him at a miniature piano. Then, to my surprise, he begins to play, or play as best he can on the tiny keyboard. Out come a few bars of BeethovenŌĆÖs ŌĆ£MoonlightŌĆØ Sonata and then a bit of Erik Satie. Yes, Cena can play the piano. He decided to invest 50 hours into learning, and it stuck. He can also speak Mandarin. HeŌĆÖs not great at chess, but he can hang. He can rap, too, and act better than guys who have spent their entire careers on Hollywood sets. I wouldnŌĆÖt be surprised if he knew a step or two of tap.
HeŌĆÖs a classic overachiever, and he would have likely excelled at whatever he decided to do in life. He could have enjoyed a fine career as an ambassador to a small country in the South Pacific, say, or as an officer in the military, which he nearly joined before giving wrestling a go. But he happened to find success in the ring early and followed the path deeper and deeper into the world of spandex, muscly dudes, and choreographed fighting. Then he outworked, and outmaneuvered, everyone else. He is not a fantastic wrestler, at least not on a technical level. But he believes in whatever heŌĆÖs saying on the mic and lets his character consume him so much that his shortcomings fade. ŌĆ£IŌĆÖm never the person who asks the question, How far do I go?ŌĆØ he says. ŌĆ£IŌĆÖm like, ŌĆśIf we are going, you have to tell me to stop.ŌĆÖŌĆØ
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That said, there are a lot of wrestlers who are good on the mic who havenŌĆÖt expanded their careers beyond WWE. ŌĆ£I donŌĆÖt care how big of a star you are in wrestling, your fame isnŌĆÖt going to naturally transfer over,ŌĆØ Dave Meltzer, publisher and editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, says. ŌĆ£ThereŌĆÖs a feeling that theyŌĆÖre not talented, so theyŌĆÖve got to overcome it.ŌĆØ It takes a cocktail of charisma and intrinsic likability to do it. ŌĆ£Hulk Hogan didnŌĆÖt make it, and Hogan was a huge star in wrestling,ŌĆØ Meltzer says. ŌĆ£Steve Austin was a huge star, and he didnŌĆÖt have a big movie career, either.ŌĆØ Bruce Prichard, a former WWE producer, explains that though matches are scripted, wrestlers tend to excel not if theyŌĆÖre good actors but if theyŌĆÖre good reactors. So the transition to other forms of entertainment doesnŌĆÖt come as easily as one might assume.
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Cena, though, can act, and, if for nothing else, he deserves credit for being one of the only two guys in the history of professional wrestling to have made the jump to Hollywood successfully. The other, of course, is the RockŌĆötoday better known as Dwayne Johnson, John the Baptist to CenaŌĆÖs Jesus Christ. Johnson made his name playing an Egyptian king in two of the Mummy films, then starred in a handful of The Fast and the Furious sequels. In every respect, heŌĆÖs a megastar, and he proved that wrestlers could do more than just body slam one another over make-believe beef. ŌĆ£ThereŌĆÖs no way you can put us in the same sentence,ŌĆØ Cena says, with self-deprecating sincerity.
But for all of JohnsonŌĆÖs 40-odd movie roles, he hasnŌĆÖt had one half as memorable as CenaŌĆÖs in Trainwreck. In it, he plays Amy SchumerŌĆÖs sexually confused, CrossFit-obsessed boyfriend, and itŌĆÖs a contender for the greatest sports crossover in film history. In a standout scene, he trades insults with a guy at a movie theater, but as the fight escalates, CenaŌĆÖs character sort of begins to hit on the other guy. ŌĆ£OK, Koko B. Ware, you know what?ŌĆØ he exclaims. ŌĆ£YouŌĆÖre being an asshole! All right? You know what I do with assholes? I lick ŌĆÖem!ŌĆØ Cena sells the lines perfectly. ŌĆ£HeŌĆÖs one of the fastest minds IŌĆÖve ever seen at work,ŌĆØ Schumer says. ŌĆ£He took what was on the page and made it so much better.ŌĆØ HeŌĆÖs a pro, she adds, ŌĆ£but, fuck, that dude knows how to let his mind go free on set.ŌĆØ
CenaŌĆÖs innate, and perhaps curious, ability to connect with people no doubt helps his characters resonate. ŌĆ£He looks like a robot built by the government to destroy people,ŌĆØ says Barinholtz, his Blockers co-star. ŌĆ£But heŌĆÖs incredibly kind and has absolutely no ego, and that connects with people.ŌĆØ On the set, Cena would do whatever it took to make the movie better, Barinholtz says. ŌĆ£He was like, ŌĆśSure, sure. Whatever you need, IŌĆÖll do it. Oh, you want to shove two beer funnels up my ass? OK, IŌĆÖll do it.ŌĆÖ ŌĆØ
Cannon adds: ŌĆ£HeŌĆÖs just so open and accepting, and people can feel that. I think people see the good in him and want to be good like him.ŌĆØ
Cena has rightly earned applause for his recent comedy roles.┬ĀBut his greatest achievement to date remains the fact that he almost single-handedly changed WWEŌĆÖs business model by being the upright, disarming yet totally chiseled slice of white bread that he is. Consider WWE stars of the past: Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, the Undertaker. They all came across as dudes who, had their wrestling careers not panned out, might have ended up digging septic trenches or selling live bait. Longtime fans loved their dirt-under-the-fingernails, antiestablishment aesthetics, along with their monologues about ass whoopinŌĆÖ and beer drinking. As for John Cena? HeŌĆÖs the one who turned WWE into PG-rated, family-fun entertainment.
One of five boys, he grew up in pastoral West Newbury, Massachusetts, an hour north of Boston. His dad, John Cena Sr.ŌĆöwho now promotes small-time wrestling matches under the name Johnny FabulousŌĆöwas a wrestling superfan and exposed Cena and his brothers to the sport at an early age. ŌĆ£As a New England kid, I didnŌĆÖt know who the Red Sox or Celtics were,ŌĆØ Cena says. But he was enthralled by the wrestlersŌĆÖ mystique and overblown personalities. ŌĆ£I honestly believed everything I saw,ŌĆØ he says. ŌĆ£Even if you know the situation, itŌĆÖs something you can lose yourself in.ŌĆØ And, sure, he enjoyed watching the guys beat, or pretend to beat, the stuffing out of one another. The family went as far as to construct a ring in the basement for the brothers to mimic what they saw on television. ŌĆ£I was kind of raised in a frat house,ŌĆØ Cena says. ŌĆ£Looking back on the things I was exposed to at such a young age, they probably were not exactly in the handbook of how to raise your kids.ŌĆØ
After high school, Cena played football at Springfield College and then, in 1999, moved to Venice Beach, California, where he began pursuing his wrestling career. He started out with a small local outfit before WWE recruited him for its development league in Louisville, Kentucky. In his first televised WWE appearance, in June 2002, at age 25, he performed wearing bright, ass-hugging shorts and matching knee pads. He had no gimmickŌĆöwhich, in the world of pro wrestling, is to say that he had nothing. He flailed for a few months. ŌĆ£I was literally about to get fired,ŌĆØ he says. ŌĆ£Everybody told me, ŌĆśItŌĆÖs not working.ŌĆÖŌĆØ
But that fall he developed a Vanilla IceŌĆōinspired rapper schtick and quickly became a fan favorite, thanks to his quick-witted, and often racy, rhymes. In 2005, for instance, Cena told Hiroko Suzuki, a geisha-style wrestling personality, that heŌĆÖd help whiten her face, the sexual connotations crystal clear. ŌĆ£We were willing to push the envelope,ŌĆØ Steve Austin says. ŌĆ£You had to be edgy, because if you werenŌĆÖt, you were going to get smoked.ŌĆØ
By 2006, the demographics of WWEŌĆÖs live audience had begun to shift, however. More young families and kids began to fill the crowd. Cena was quick to notice and knew that he had to do something. The decision to change course ultimately fell on WWE CEO Vince McMahonŌĆöbut, says Cena, ŌĆ£I made it perfectly clear to him that I would like to stop doing what IŌĆÖm doing.ŌĆØ
He soon pivoted to the squeaky-clean-hero character that he has stuck with ever since. ’┐╝’┐╝’┐╝’┐╝The image helped make him the face and change the direction of WWE. ŌĆ£John is the all-American clean-cut, blue-collar guy,ŌĆØ Austin says. ŌĆ£He goes out there in his jean shorts and his sneakers, and heŌĆÖs an entertainer. To me, thatŌĆÖs his gimmick.ŌĆØ Fans have criticized WWE for giving Cena too much exposure. But when it came down to it, Meltzer says, ŌĆ£the company thought that John looked like a superhero, so if they were sending guys out to do media, theyŌĆÖd go with John.ŌĆØ
ŌĆ£He was never the chosen guy, never,ŌĆØ Austin adds. But because of the crowd response, WWE had no choice but to push him, he says. No matter whether people cheer or boo him, ŌĆ£100 percent of that crowd is invested in his match.ŌĆØ
Part of why CenaŌĆÖs all-American schtick has worked so well is that the character isnŌĆÖt a stretch. HeŌĆÖs deeply patriotic. And it doesnŌĆÖt hurt that, according to a 2013 study, WWEŌĆÖs largest markets are in strongly conservative southern states, such as Arkansas, Tennessee, and Texas. But Cena is patriotic in a Greatest Generation sort of way, not a letŌĆÖs-build-a-wall-and-make-Mexico-pay-for-it type. ŌĆ£This country is built on coming here and getting a chance, and I love that,ŌĆØ he says, during a wardrobe swap-out. ŌĆ£America is a weird thing, and it goes through phases of finding and losing its way, but I think we always go back to that.ŌĆØ
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To wit, in 2016, he starred in a short PSA titled ŌĆ£We Are America,ŌĆØ in which, strolling through a quaint small town, he opines that ŌĆ£to love America is to love all Americans,ŌĆØ regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion, or orientation. The video garnered a couple of million views online and prompted People to call him a ŌĆ£perpetual font of goodness.ŌĆØ ŌĆ£I get to see the diversity,ŌĆØ he tells me, ŌĆ£and itŌĆÖs incredible to see all these cultures coexisting.ŌĆØ He points out the window, in the direction of the Statue of Liberty, four miles south. ŌĆ£ItŌĆÖs difficult at times,ŌĆØ he says. ŌĆ£But remember where you are. Remember the statue in the harborŌĆögive me your tired, hungry, poor.ŌĆØ
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As photo assistants corral Cena to the set again, I ask whether heŌĆÖd consider running for office one day (because thatŌĆÖs a question we ask celebrities in the Trump era, apparently). No, he says. ŌĆ£ItŌĆÖs not entertaining to me,ŌĆØ he explains, and heŌĆÖs not sure whether he could handle the stress. Some fans have taken to chanting ŌĆ£Cena sucksŌĆØ whenever he enters the ring; he handles the heckles with admirable composure, a characteristic, I add, that would serve him well as an elected official. ŌĆ£How am I supposed to be?ŌĆØ he asks. ŌĆ£IŌĆÖm a character on a television show. IŌĆÖm lucky to do what I do; itŌĆÖs not real.ŌĆØ Besides, so what if fans hate him? ŌĆ£My job is to bring them on a ride.ŌĆØ
Cena knows his WWE┬Ārun is coming to an end. HeŌĆÖs already older than the superstars that came before him. ŌĆ£IŌĆÖve always said that if I feel and look a step slow out there, then itŌĆÖs time to go,ŌĆØ he says. In fact, he has already backed away from WWE some, appearing only part-time. When he gives up the ring for good, he hopes to continue acting; he has also dabbled in production and has a childrenŌĆÖs book coming out. But he can never leave WWE, not fully. It made him the man he is today, he says, and gave him a chance to make something of himself. As far as movies go, he knows heŌĆÖll make mistakes along the way. ŌĆ£IŌĆÖm just hoping to come out clean on the other side,ŌĆØ he says.
As the shoot begins to wrap up, Cena and the crew take a break, and he sits and sips water on a sofa in a back room. HeŌĆÖs exhausted, and though he has been a good sport, heŌĆÖs clearly ready to bail. I tell him I donŌĆÖt know how he can stand always being on the road, especially with a new fianc├®e at home. ŌĆ£ThatŌĆÖs the thing,ŌĆØ he says. ŌĆ£Everybody is like, ŌĆśHow do you do it?ŌĆÖ ŌĆØ Easy: He loves his work. ŌĆ£And thatŌĆÖs why IŌĆÖve dedicated my life to it for over 15 years.ŌĆØ He sacrificed a normal existence for his career, he acknowledges. But now, in the twilight of his time as a WWE superstar, and as he begins to take more acting roles, he has started to reconsider some of his priorities, he says.
He reflects on his first marriage, to his high-school sweetheart, which ended in divorce, in 2012. ŌĆ£I wasnŌĆÖt ready to be a husband. I was given this golden ticket to do something that I just thought was mythical.ŌĆØ So he would prioritize his career over his relationship, he says.
I mention a 2006 interview he did with Howard Stern. In it, Cena discusses having sex with groupies while on the road with WWE. One night, he tells Stern, he had six women in his room at once, and he says later that he considers the best night of his life an evening he shared with two strippers from a ŌĆ£small ratty strip club, in Louisville, Kentucky.ŌĆØ
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ŌĆ£I lived a much more selfish life,ŌĆØ Cena tells me. ŌĆ£My definition of what I thought love was was way off track.ŌĆØ He has since realized that he has to consider other peopleŌĆÖs needs, he says, and heŌĆÖs now trying to learn how to balance his home life and his career ambitions.
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I tell him I donŌĆÖt think the balance exists. ŌĆ£It doesnŌĆÖt,ŌĆØ he says. ŌĆ£But I didnŌĆÖt think I could speak Chinese. I didnŌĆÖt think I could play the piano.ŌĆØ Either way, living with someone is hard, I say. ŌĆ£ItŌĆÖs not,ŌĆØ he says, then stops. ŌĆ£It is. IŌĆÖm not going to take that away from you. But you have to say to yourself, ŌĆśThis is hard. This is not easy.ŌĆÖ But anything worth anything is not easy. OK? It is hard.ŌĆØ
And hard is something that Cena embraces. Every day people are going to ask him to do something supernatural, he says. ŌĆ£IŌĆÖm going to do it.ŌĆØ He accepts whatever challenge is at hand, no matter how daunting, because he knows that everything he hasŌĆöhis relationship, his movie career, his WWE stardomŌĆöis fragile. He pushes himself so that it all remains intact, so that the crowds keep turning out to see him, so that he can continue being John Cena. But for all his striving and high-achieving, heŌĆÖs not self-critical, he says. ŌĆ£No, IŌĆÖm just always searching for ways to keep the noise.ŌĆØ
┬Ā
This story appears in the print edition of the May 2018 issue, with the headline ŌĆ£Breaking Big.ŌĆØ
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