John Cena Says He’s at a Turning Point in His Wrestling Career

John Cena is looking toward Hollywood stardom these days, but the 42-year old still looks back at the ring with a bit of wistfulness. He thinks often about what’s next after this current slate of films and he told Collider about the conversations he’s had around a possible return to a WWE ring at one point. He’s in Dolittle this month and then Cena will be in the mix during The Suicide Squad. Finally, he’ll amp up the octane in The Fast and the Furious where he could possibly cross paths with The Rock. But, even with all these roles in Tinseltown, the question remains, will he be heading back to the squared circle.

“Dude, all this stuff is great, but if it all stops tomorrow, I’m still okay with me,” Cena began. “I know the good things that define me and I know the qualities I have as a human being. I’m going to move on and go forward. I know that all this is borrowed. I’m just grateful to have it and grateful to be able to contribute. I don’t want to be greedy as a performer and I see that a lot in sports entertainment.”

“The movie The Wrestler was centered around a guy who can’t let go,” he explained. “I’m being a shitty human being because I can’t let go of this thing. I invested my life in that company and then there’s no one, whether they like my performance or not, that will argue that. I think after the extended period of time that I put in, it’s okay for me to take a step back and reflect and be like, “Okay, I need to have more than that in my life because if that’s all that defines me, that’s a depreciating asset.” Every sunset that happens, I get a little slower and a little older and a little slower and a little older and it’s eventually going to end.”

Even more revealing is the fact that later in the interview the WWE favorite admits that he’s been struggling with these questions for the better part of three years. That’s a long time to look at yourself in the mirror, but it must have been necessary to plan the next steps. But, cultivating the next generation is something that might interest Cena at this point too.

“That’s been three years of hard conversations with that dude looking back in the mirror and I’m at peace with where it’s at,” he admitted. “I want to contribute where I can. I’ve even talked about coaching or mentoring. Like I said, it’s the environment I feel the most fluid, so I can sit down and talk to you about WWE as long as you want to talk, but what I don’t want to do is take somebody who has spent 50 bucks on a ticket for themselves, their partner, their families, they bought souvenirs, they bought popcorn and paid for parking and have look at me like, ‘He used to be something.’ You know?”