John Cena: I Had Freedom Over How I Could Curate My Character, But I Couldn’t Turn Bad

John Cena says he couldn’t turn heel. 

John Cena was the face of WWE for over a decade, and though fans didn’t always give him a warm reception, he portrayed a conquering hero whom children loved. 

In Hollywood, Cena has taken on a variety of roles, from action star to comedy goof. 

Speaking to Howard Stern on the Howard Stern Show, Cena was asked about transitioning to Hollywood and playing a character like he played in “Trainwreck” where he went away from the clean good guy and played a more raunchy role. 

“I think it was two-fold. One, my body was like, ‘You say you can do this forever. I’m going to give you another five years, max.’ That was me saying, ‘If I super take care of myself, I can stretch it to ten.’ For me, ten years is like, ‘I’m going to live forever.’ That’s a blink of an eye in WWE. You’re on the road so much, you blink, a decade goes by. I realized it’s something that I can’t do forever, combined with the fact that I didn’t have a lot of wild creative freedom in WWE. I had complete creative freedom over how I could curate my character, but I couldn’t turn bad. That limits what you’re capable of. Playing the same character over and over again for 15 years, every week, without an offseason, I still love it, and I still do, that’s why I go back. Then, someone gives you an opportunity like, ‘You want to be this weird, awkward, naked guy?’ ‘Fuck yeah, that sounds great, let’s do it,'” said Cena. 

He briefly turned heel in the Firefly Fun House match against Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 36. 

Cena still returns to WWE for at least one match a year as he’s continued to become one of the top stars in Hollywood.

Elsewhere during the interview, Cena commented on the allegations against Vince McMahon. You can find his full comments by clicking here. 

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