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John Cena on the 1 thing he wants to achieve before retiring from the WWE
John Cena is known for his loud and in-your-face personality, both in the wrestling ring and on screen.
As a child in small-town Massachusetts, Cena was bullied and started weightlifting at age 12 as a way to cope. He described how his unique style—complete with a high-top fade, polka dots, and airbrushed overalls—made him stand out and led to him being picked on.
Despite never planning to become a professional wrestler, Cena pursued the sport as a hobby in his early 20s, even though it meant living in his car because he couldn’t afford rent.
“I had avenues. It was a conscious choice to be like, ‘Nah, I like this wrestling thing, and I wanna do it as a hobby.’ I will work whatever B.S. job I can Monday through Friday so Friday night, I can dress up as a hero,” he said.
Now, Cena is preparing to retire from WWE, with his final performance scheduled for December 2025.
“I feel great,” he said about his decision to retire.
Before his retirement, Cena has one more goal: If he wins another world championship belt, he will become the most decorated champion in WWE history.
Whether rapping, wrestling, or making surprise appearances at the Oscars, Cena often reveals a more reserved side and admits he still gets nervous before he acts.
Cena on his latest movie role
In his latest movie, “Jackpot!,” wrestling icon Cena takes on the role of a bodyguard hired to protect a woman, played by actor Awkwafina, who accidentally ends up with a winning lottery ticket that makes her a target for murder. The action-comedy film showcases Cena’s tough-guy persona—something he is very well attuned to.
“Stereotyping’s okay. We’re humans. We judge. And the easiest way for us to judge is to put people into categories. We’ve grown as a species, so that’s not cool anymore,” Cena said.
In the movie, Cena plays a tough guy trying to be a nice guy—a character who struggles with his past. Reflecting on his own life, Cena said, “I think struggle’s part of life. If you meet somebody who’s not trying to climb some sort of hill, they could take a more honest look at themselves.”
Beyond acting and wrestling, Cena also speaks Mandarin, plays the piano, and writes New York Times best-selling children’s books. He also holds the record for granting the most wishes—over 650—for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
As he looks toward the future, Cena remains open to new possibilities.
“I’ll know what’s next when it comes up,” he said. “But I know if I wake up every day and say, ‘How can I earn the sunset?’ I’m gonna do something useful, and that’s gonna lead to something to be done.”
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In Hollywood, a land known for marquees and famous signs, there’s probably no sign that’s more on the nose than the store Just Food For Dogs. There, four-legged customers sample today’s offerings, while their owners stock up on the food.
Sarah Rector and her French bulldog, Lulu, are buying her regular order, including beef with russet potato, and venison with squash. Rector says she feels better buying the store’s food for Lulu rather than commercial dog food: “I just know that she’s getting the best possible, like, ingredients and health and overall wellness.”
She and her husband don’t have children, yet, but they have another French bulldog, “so I feel like we have kids.”
It’s tempting to write this off as a trendy L.A. fad, but Just Food For Dogs president Carey Tischler says this store is here because of a permanent shift in the roughly $50 billion U.S. pet food industry. “The last year of research shows that 82% of families think of pets as family, or as children, and that’s up significantly,” he said.
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Joe Ovalle is Just Food’s guest experience manager. He says all of their pet food is approved by the USDA for human consumption. “It is human-grade food, something you and I could eat,” he said.
He sampled one of their recipes, for fish and sweet potato. “Oh my God, it’s like ceviche,” he smiled.
It may seem a bit indulgent, and can cost double the price of Kibbles, but some say that feeding our dogs natural food is what we should have been doing all along – and making it yourself can cost the same as buying food from the store.
“It’s about going back to what is biologically appropriate, that they ate for tens of thousands of years,” said pet nutritionist Christine Filardi. “They ate prey animals and table scraps. So, I’m just educating people on how to go back to what they ate for tens of thousands of years prior to commercial pet food.”
Stewart, Tabori & Chang
Filardi is author of “Home Cooking For Your Dog,” a cookbook offering recipes with what she says are the three necessities: animal protein, a carb, and a veggie, as well as a few extravagant treats, like her bacon and cream cheese muffins.
Filardi says whether it’s store-bought or home-cooked fresh food, the results are the same: well-fed animals live longer, have cheaper vet bills, and are happier … which makes the owners happy, too.
“They take such good care of us,” she said. “We should take good care of them.”
RECIPE (FOR DOGS): Hearty Hamburgers
RECIPE (FOR DOGS): Friday Playdate Pizza
RECIPE (FOR DOGS): Bacon and Cream Cheese Muffins
RECIPE (FOR DOGS): Ground Turkey, Quinoa, and Carrots
For more info:
Story produced by John Goodwin. Editor: Joseph Frandino.
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