John Cena Says Big Rumor About His Relationship With Vince McMahon is False

John Cena is currently back with the WWE on a "Summer of Cena" tour that will culminate in him facing Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship at SummerSlam. The 16-time world champion was recently on the ID10T podcast with Chris Hardwick, where he squashed the idea that he gets special treatment from Vince McMahon regarding how his character is booked and scripted.

"I heard it so much in WWE, 'Well, Vince lets him do whatever he wants. That's why he can consistently perform at a level that is acceptable and entertaining to the audience. He gets to do whatever he wants.' Nope," Cena said (h/t Fightful). "I ask, I execute, I invest, and I'm meticulous with the detail, I'm consistent night in and night out, trustworthy, giving of self. The perception everyone else has is, 'he has a better situation.' I'm not taking away from anyone's struggle and I have learned to appreciate everyone's struggle and everyone has a different struggle. I can understand where those feelings come from. You can have those feelings when you're done analyzing yourself and saying, 'Am I at max capacity? If I really want to wear those shoes and put on those jorts, am I at max capacity or did I party too much or did I want to see my family?'"

During that same interview, Cena explained how much longer he'll continue to wrestle for the WWE. He said, "Returning to WWE, it's a brand new world. A new cast of characters, new direction with the company, new platforms, new environment. There is a challenge there. To challenge myself as a 44-year-old to go back, there is an Intrinsic challenge there, a set of circumstances. That's a good challenge in many ways. My body could tell me after this extended stay, 'dude, you're done,' or it could tell me, 'You're so far from done it's crazy.' That's another interesting conversation with myself. If physically, I'm slower, I've said openly to everyone that I will keep doing this until I feel I'm offending the customer. I will continually go out there and do what I can to contribute and add.

"I don't want to go out there and be like, 'Okay, just let him go out there and (do his thing).' I'm not into that because I know what it's like to pay for a ticket," he added. If I were to get that on this go-round, it's a humbling and tough thing that I will have to hurdle. If I get the opposite and it's like, 'You're quicker and can do some things better and define a new personality,' then that's a new conversation because I do not have much time left and if I want to give it like, 'let's really commit to this thing and really go all in,' that's an honest choice where other stuff will have to take a backseat."