WWE’s John Cena Reveals Past Skin Cancer Diagnosis

John Cena is promoting a new sun care product while sharing a secret from his past about dealing with skin cancer.

At WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas, John Cena will challenge Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship as Cena tries to win a record-breaking 17th World Title in WWE in what will be his final WrestleMania match.

While this road to WrestleMania is different than others because Cena is now a heel rather than a babyface, Cena is also promoting Neutrogena’s Ultra Sheer Mineral Face Liquid Sunscreen SPF 70 to promote sun care safety. It is part of Neutrogena’s ‘Sunscreen You Can’t See’ campaign using Cena for it due to his famous “You Can’t See Me” catchphrase.

In a revealing article on People.com, the WWE legend Cena talked about being from the Massachusetts area growing up and then living in Florida for most of his WWE career, which is where he was exposed to the sun a lot more. He would go on to reveal that he had skin cancer.

“I was stubborn. I didn’t want to have a routine and I also thought the problem would never reach me. And it’s one of those things where I had a ton of exposure with minimal protection and it caught up with me. It wasn’t until I went to a dermatologist and got a skin checkup and had a cancerous spot removed from my right pec.”

At that point, Cena was told he would have to come back in to see the doctor again.

“I was very lucky to have a great dermatologist who kind of, I guess for lack of a better term, held me by the hand and let me know that I wasn’t alone. The stats on this are overwhelming, but as much as I learn about them, those numbers don’t mean anything.

I think the best way to hammer home a point is human-to-human connection. And I as a human can tell you: Man, that phone call’s not what you want to get because it is unpredictable and you don’t know how bad it’s going to be.”

Cena went on to discuss how he had a second cancerous spot removed near his shoulder.

“A year later I went back and had another spot removed close to my right shoulder. It shows up like a white polka dot on the side of my chest and on my shoulder. If you watch WWE, you’ll be able to see them.”

“I’m at a great space in my life where that’s now important to me. And I’m so grateful to be able to dodge those two bullets, but I wear them as a reminder of, ‘Hey man, you need to take the extra few seconds to protect yourself every day.'”

John Cena Didn’t Envision Himself As A “Go-To Person For A Skincare Campaign”

It is not a surprise to see John Cena promoting a major company’s product since he has been in the public eye for the past 25 years and has been doing it for a long time. He went on to discuss how Neutrogena reached out to him due to his “You Can’t See Me” catchphrase.

“Neutrogena came to me because they developed this Ultra Sheer sunscreen that goes on easily and is invisible and they wanted somebody who the world knows as invisible.

“They were like, ‘Hey, would you mind leaning into the “You Can’t See Me” joke?’ And I’m like, ‘Would I?!’ I’m already doing it anyway and the world kind of understands it. I’m in Budapest, and I walk the streets here and people put their hands in front of their face. So it’s something that has global reach. And I really appreciate Neutrogena wanting to lean into it.

The spots are very funny, and if you can make people laugh and send a message at the same time, that’s great.”

The future WWE Hall of Famer Cena went on to talk about being an unlikely spokesperson for a skincare routine and why he wanted to be a part of it.

“Never once did I picture myself as the go-to person for a skincare campaign. And just because I love what I do and have passion for what I do, and I’m so grateful to have the backing of such a dedicated audience for so long, a very unlikely spokesperson has been able to be a spokesperson for a skincare campaign. You never know who you’re going to reach, right?”

John Cena and Cody Rhodes are expected to be a big part of WWE Raw in London on March 31st as they continue to prepare for their WrestleMania 41 showdown.