“You Think I Liked My Image On A Shirt?” – John Cena Makes Shocking Confession

John Cena made a shocking confession in a new interview.

Cena retired from WWE in-ring competition in December 2025. Despite his retirement, he remains part of WWE as the brand ambassador for the promotion.

The Never-Seen-17 recently appeared on the No Contest Wrestling podcast with O’Shea Jackson Jr. and TJ Jefferson for an exclusive interview.

During the conversation, John Cena revealed that he does not like having his image on a T-shirt. However, since it is what the fans want and like, he and WWE decided to move forward with the idea and put his face on his merch t-shirts.

You think I like my image on a shirt? I don’t. My favorite ones are like the Mario ones and like the G.I. Joe parody ones and like but people want your image on a shirt. So the salute man was born. Like that’s that’s the jump man. The Salute Man. (From 1:03:29)

John Cena On His Prototype Character

Before joining WWE and becoming a prominent star in the company, John Cena wrestled under the name “The Prototype,” portraying a semi-robotic, half-machine character in 1999 for Ultimate Glory Wrestling.

Speaking during the same interview, Cena reflected on that gimmick and bluntly stated that he felt the character “sucked.”

Chris was locked in with Creative for Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPO), and he came in with The Prototype, because those guys used to train with me, and I would never take a day off, would always over-train brought my meals like… I was a robot.

People were like ‘This guy’s not real’ like even bodybuilder guys were like ‘Man, this discipline is levels up on this guy. So they were like, ‘You should be half man, half machine, and real easy to make that connection. Just, it sucked. (21:09 onwards)

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