John Cena recently spoke with Collider where he spoke about a wide range of topics.
During the interview, he spoke about his WWE career winding down as well as cited Mickey Rourke’s “The Wrestler” movie from 2008 that follows an older wrestler who is past his prime but staying in the business after it moved on from him.
Cena started by stating that if everything in his professional life stops tomorrow then it’s okay with him as he knows the good things that define him and the qualities that he has as a human being.
He plans to move on and forward while also being grateful to have it and be able to contribute. At the same time, he doesn’t want to be greedy as a performer and he sees that a lot in sports entertainment.
“The movie The Wrestler was centered around a guy who can’t let go. I’m being a s–tty human being because I can’t let go of this thing. I invested my life in that company and then there’s no one, whether they like my performance or not, that will argue that. I think after the extended period of time that I put in, it’s okay for me to take a step back and reflect and be like, ‘Okay, I need to have more than that in my life because if that’s all that defines me, that’s a depreciating asset.’ Every sunset that happens, I get a little slower and a little older and a little slower and a little older and it’s eventually going to end.”
Cena talked about having a conversation with himself for at least three years now regarding his career. At the same time, while he has slowed down as an active in-ring performer, he has not ruled out a future of coaching and mentoring
“That’s been three years of hard conversations with that dude looking back in the mirror and I’m at peace with where it’s at,” Cena revealed. “I want to contribute where I can. I’ve even talked about coaching or mentoring. Like I said, it’s the environment I feel the most fluid, so I can sit down and talk to you about WWE as long as you want to talk, but what I don’t want to do is take somebody who has spent 50 bucks on a ticket for themselves, their partner, their families, they bought souvenirs, they bought popcorn and paid for parking and have look at me like, ‘He used to be something.’ You know?”
Cena recently teased making an appearance at WrestleMania 36 in April. For more on that, click here.
