As John Cena’s legendary in-ring career approaches its conclusion, the wrestling world is actively debating his legacy and his place on the Mount Rushmore of all-time greats. However, in a deeply philosophical interview, Cena himself revealed that he doesn’t care about his legacy at all and will be perfectly fine if he is never spoken about again after he retires.
His perspective is rooted in a belief that life is about being present in the moment and that striving for “immortality” or the approval of others can distract from the joy of the experience itself.
“The Man In The F—ing Arena”
Speaking on What’s Your Story? With Stephanie McMahon, Cena was asked about his legacy. He explained that he is simply grateful to have had the chance to perform and doesn’t need any validation after his chapter closes.
“A lot of their retirement questions have been like, ‘what do you want your legacy to be.’ I don’t care. What I’m grateful for is I had a chance to be the man in the f—ing arena that is beautiful, and I realized that, you know, I might have a chance to do this, and I’m gonna do it like that’s it for me. I don’t care what anyone else thinks. I don’t care. The best thing for business be for me to never be spoken about again, because that means the class that is present is running at full speed, and they don’t. You don’t need to remember anything about that… if when December comes and the final thing happens, and I’m out and like, I’m never talked about again, I’m still good, and it’s not gonna short change any of the seconds that I spent in the ring.”
Leaving It Better Than He Found It
While he doesn’t care about his personal legacy, Cena did say that he feels he has accomplished his one true career goal: to leave WWE in a better place than he found it.
“Do you feel you’ve left WWE in a better place than how you found it? I do, I do… Strictly from an analytic standpoint, sure, I came in, you guys are trading at five bucks… I came in with a name change, everybody either hurt or left, and the XFL… And then the housing crisis. I remember some lean years… And now here we are at like, $135 and it’s TKO, and it’s completely different company. The evolution… A lot more talent friendly. It’s, it has become a lot more of a media company.”
John Cena’s farewell tour is one of the biggest stories in professional wrestling, proving that no matter his personal feelings on the matter, his legacy as one of the most important and influential superstars of all time is firmly secure in the minds of the fans.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Whats Your Story? With Steph McMahon with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
