John Cena On WrestleMania 34 Opponent, WWE Originally Wanting Him To Do Movies, Adversity From Fans
John Cena spoke with Al Arabiya English on a number of topics in and outside of pro wrestling. Here are some of the highlights:
Getting into a film career:
"Originally my film career was a direction from upper management in WWE?like, 'Hey, go do movies.' Originally what I wanted my film career to be was an extension of the WWE business model. I understood. WWE studios opened in 2003/2004, they began to film movies, and the model of the business was, 'If we can make our stars bigger stars, they will come to see WWE'. Well, that's what I wanted, but I didn't want to go do movies.
The process of making a movie is so different. It takes a long time, it takes a lot of people, and there's nobody cheering you on. As a younger man I really was drawn, and still am, to the dynamic of a live audience, and the live experience of 'Just out there and see what happens'. But 15 years of telling stories in the WWE ring, the constant passion, loving my job every day, I began to ask why.
As a young man, I didn't have the perspective. It was, 'Oh, because I want to be champion, and I want to do this or that!' Now, after all these years, it's like, why do I still love this? I love telling stories, man. I love telling stories. That's something that I didn't enjoy on multiple platforms in 2005-2006. Now you can see I enjoy helping with morning shows, doing tonight show bits, hosting, doing R-rated comedies, doing family movies, still doing WWE, being on reality TV. I think I'm just drawn to the creative process. Now with more experience and a more comfortable feeling in my own right in WWE, I'm confident enough to use those skills elsewhere."
Who he'd like to face at WrestleMania 34:
"Aw, I'm never in the picking business, man. I might have mentioned that on Edge and Christian's podcast. Don't play Vince, if you're not Vince. The best way to love what you do in that respect is to say, hey, here's what's going to happen, and then say, 'Hey, I'm going to make this effin' awesome.'"
Finding a love for acting and how the daily adversity from the WWE Universe helped him:
"If you look at the stuff I do in WWE, yes there comes a time when the line is crossed, and I do have a moral ethos and I fight for that, but in front of the audience, I'm not afraid to be the butt of a joke. I'm not afraid to bring my life out there. Every time, and in a very genuine sense, and you can ask anyone I've ever stood in the ring with, I always tell them to come at me with their best shot.
It's about being comfortable enough in your environment to just enjoy it and see what happens. I have the WWE Universe to thank because it's the repeated process of facing that sort of adversity every day and it never getting to you and you being like, 'Meh, Sun's still up! Still a good time! Still a good day!' So I don't know. Once again, I'm very thankful and happy for all this stuff, and I realize that one day it's there and the next day it's gone, so I'm enjoying it right now and I'm trying to figure out, 'What is it about this that worked? Why did it work?' But not too obsessive because you don't want to make it this weird formula and it all breaks and it's all gone."
Source: Al Arabiya English