WWE Icon John Cena Recalls Big Mistake: “He Could Have Just Gone Nuclear”

John Cena recalled a big mistake he made in his WWE career.

John Cena is widely regarded as one of the greatest WWE stars of all time. During his illustrious in-ring career, Cena rose to become the face of the company during a tumultuous time. He also won several World Titles during his run.

Last year, John Cena called it quits on his legendary WWE career and retired at Saturday Night’s Main Event after losing to Gunther. Since then, the Cenation leader has moved on to his acting career. However, he still makes sporadic appearances for WWE.

John Cena recalls a huge mistake he made with Vince McMahon

During a recent interview with NPR, John Cena was asked if he ever had to do something to advance his career even though he didn’t like it. The former World Champion replied that he makes those decisions all the time.

“So the answer to that is yes, and I’m faced with those all the time. I think we all are. Those are the – those are my most teachable moments, and those are the ones I reflect on with guilt, borderline shame.”

When asked for an example, John Cena recalled the time he tried to get involved with a social network startup, and he didn’t tell Vince McMahon. However, using his real name would violate WWE’s intellectual property.

“I think one time I tried to get involved with an entrepreneurial social network startup. And I didn’t tell my boss. And we talk about everything. This was like, man, we’re going to do this together. And in potentially being part of this startup, I would – my name’s John Cena, so I would essentially be leveraging intellectual property.”

Cena further added that he was trying to make more money. However, Vince McMahon found out about it and was great about the whole situation, even though it was a violation of his trust. Cena recalled feeling like an idiot about the whole incident.

“I was just trying to get more money, simply. I have my own philosophy on social networks. I’m very limited in my use by design. So it’s not something I’m interested in, not too fond of, like, limited access stuff. And this was a curated idea that seemed nice. But I looked at the projections. And man, my boss found out, and to be honest, he was great. He was great. He, like, walked me through the – OK, this is the choice you’ve made. Let’s walk through all the tentacles of what might happen. And in a moment where it was a direct violation of trust to somebody I had worked years – and he invested years in trusting me, too, so it was a moment where he could have just gone nuclear because, you know, trust takes years to build and moments to destroy. And he didn’t. He didn’t. He had patience and tolerance. And I think possibly as an entrepreneur himself, maybe tried to put himself in my shoes and walked me through it, and, like, it took five minutes or less to realize, like, I’m such an idiot. And I immediately called the company back and said I’m out. This isn’t for me.” [H/T NPR]

John Cena apologizes to Vince McMahon then boldly calls himself a professional wrestler.

A term that was strictly banned. pic.twitter.com/tXbMagx9aP

— Harry (@CenationCity) March 23, 2026

It remains to be seen what’s next for John Cena.

Also read: John Cena Makes Surprising Confession After WWE Retirement

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