John Cena appeared on a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience where he discussed the current status of his former boss, Vince McMahon, and his philosophy regarding forgiveness and accountability.
During the conversation, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe suggested that McMahon—who resigned from TKO Group Holdings following sexual trafficking allegations—should be a guest on the podcast to discuss the history of the wrestling business.
“He would be great. I think he would love it,” Cena said. “I don’t know when the right time is, but, man, don’t miss out on that.”
When Rogan asked if McMahon was still involved in the company, Cena gave his perspective on McMahon’s standing.
“He’s out in my eyes,” Cena said. “I’d like to think that time heals everything, and I believe in forgiveness, but I also believe in, like, looking at the body of work. But I also noticed a lot of fragile stuff going on there. I don’t know. I don’t know. Man, I don’t know.”
Cena emphasized that his personal affection for McMahon does not exempt the former WWE Chairman from facing consequences for the allegations against him.
“I’ve learned to become a little bit more accountable for what I say. And yeah, just because I feel a certain way about a person, doesn’t exonerate them from being accountable for their actions,” Cena stated. “And just because he did start, quote, unquote, all this gangster shit, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t need to be accountable for his actions. So let’s figure out what that means, and then figure out if we can, if we can move forward and and bring that back in the fold, or if it stays the way it is.”
Cena admitted that whether McMahon ever returns is “way above my pay grade.”
Later in the episode, Cena expanded on his philosophy of forgiving flawed individuals, drawing a direct parallel to the difficult relationship he had with his own father. Cena explained that for years he struggled to accept his father for who he was.
“I had such a shitty relationship with my dad, and just recently, we’ve mended fences… I just wanted him to be something else. I always wanted that motherfucker to change. I wanted [him] to be something else,” Cena admitted. “Finally, I got out of my own way. The hard thing is meeting that guy where he’s at. The hard thing is allowing him to be who he is. Take the weight off my backpack and say, like, ‘Yo, I might have needed you to be this in my life, but because you weren’t, man, because of your absence in being the dad that I had in my mind. I got all these fucking cool male mentors.'”
Cena described the challenge of maintaining that relationship now, noting that his father still says things that frustrate him.
“Man, when we sit, there’s some shit that he’ll say that’s all fucked up… I want to call my dad, ‘What the fuck are you doing?’ But then, like, no, he’s doing what he does. This is him. This is the dad I love,” Cena said. “The easy thing to do is to hold a grudge against my dad. What I really wanted to do was tell my dad I love him, and sit down with him and be like, ‘Yo, let’s fucking break bread.'”
Cena applied this mindset to his broader outlook on life and how he handles conflict with others.
“The tough thing to do is like, life is handing me a moment right now,” Cena said. “The easy thing to do is sit on the couch and say, ‘Fuck it, somebody else’s fault.’… I don’t bat 1,000… If I can capitalize on 30% of the moments that life gives me and squander the other 70%, I believe I will go into the ground being like man, I earned life.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit The Joe Rogan Experience with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
