For a long time John Cena was the face of the WWE, but in recent years the 16 time WWE World Champion has been focusing on his acting career. Cena was WWE’s ultimate good guy during his reign at the top, but during a recent interview with GQ he acknowledged that audiences want to see a different type of character.
“And a lot of times, audiences now want to get behind a character who is flawed, like Peacemaker, who isn’t completely steadfast in his value system, and doesn’t completely operate for hustle, loyalty, and respect and the foundation of pure virtue. People want more depth than a character arc. In the WWE we are just playing a role, but I kind of do this for all of roles, whether it be Peacemaker or John Cena or whatever. I have to try to look within myself and take moments from my actual life and see how I felt and try to put that into a character. I’m not exactly someone who kicks in your front door and rips through your house in jean shorts and a T-shirt, ready to throw my hat at your parents and ask you to a last man standing match, but I know what it means to be excited.”
Fans certainly weren’t shy about letting John Cena know that they wanted him to turn heel during his WWE run, but the company continued to push his good guy character. While talking about a possible heel turn Cena said that he thinks there is another 10 years of story with a heel character, but the choice isn’t up to him.
“It takes a certain type of individual to go out there and play your hit song every night for two decades. There are decisions I can make, but I don’t make. ‘Okay, now John Cena’s gonna be a bad guy.’ I don’t make that choice, then I can be like ‘okay, I’m never gonna be a bad guy. How can I nuance a virtuous character?’ Would it have been great to be able to mess with the flaws of WWE John Cena? Oh my goodness, I think there is another 10 years of story in there, but it’s not my choice. I don’t run the company.”
John Cena last competed at the SummerSlam pay-per-view in 2021 when he challenged Roman Reigns for the Universal Championships, but unfortunately for Cena he didn’t manage to defeat The Tribal Chief. There’s currently no word on when Cena might wrestle again. Stay tuned for more updates as they become availabke.
