John Cena Compares Himself To Vintage Classic Car
John Cena has explained his status as a WWE superstar in a unique way while also discussing his journey in pro wrestling.
As a 16-time WWE World Champion who made his television debut 22 years ago, John Cena is considered by many people to be one of the greatest WWE superstars of all time.
When it comes to popularity, selling out arenas/stadiums, longevity as a main eventer and of course all of those title wins, Cena is one of the biggest names in the history of pro wrestling.
During a recent interview, John Cena spoke about how he has thought about having his last WWE match before he turns 50 years old, which is about three years away. Whether he sticks to that plan is unknown, but considering his role as a part-timer who is a successful actor, the reality is he can’t wrestle forever.
Cena was a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert where he spoke about the end of his wrestling career while comparing himself to a car.
“I’ll be 47 in April and the product is filled with superstars who are young, fast, and gifted. I’m just not as fast as I once was.”
“I compare myself to like a fine vintage classic car. So if you want to take it out one day, you got to warm it up for about two and a half hours, then you can take it out and you can hit the last gear, but please don’t pin it to red line. I can go for about 30 minutes. Then after you drive for 30 minutes, you got to take it back in the shop and fix all the noises it was making.”
I’m leaking fluids from places I didn’t know I had places. So it’s pretty rough around the edges.”
John Cena Describes How His WWE Career Began
As he continued, Cena talked about how he got signed by WWE in 2001, which was about a year before his television debut on Smackdown in June 2002.
“So I was living in a garage in Venice, California, and I had picked up… professional wrestling as a hobby. I did not know what I was going to do with my life.”
“I tried to be a cop. I failed the CHP exam. I couldn’t apply my college degree. I was going to go down to be a Marine. And the weekend I was going to go down, a friend was like, ‘hey, we’re training to be wrestlers in Orange County.’ I didn’t even know there was such a thing. So when I saw a ring, I was like, ‘I will figure it out to do this as a hobby.’ Never anything more than that.”
“I just wanted to live like Superman on the weekends and then I finally get my big contract with WWE. I got a call from Bruce Prichard, head of talent relations at the time. He said, ‘we want to sign you to $12,500 a year.’ And living in California, I quit my job right away, and I was balling like a newborn baby. I couldn’t have been happier. I view it as a chance to better myself, and I’m very grateful for that opportunity because it’s brought us here today.”
In John Cena’s last match, he lost clean to Solo Sikoa at WWE Crown Jewel on November 4th. Sikoa hit Cena with the Samoan Spike about a dozen times before putting the future Hall of Famer away.
It is unknown when Cena will wrestle in WWE again.