Despite Spending More Time in Hollywood, John Cena Points Out a Major Drawback of Movies When Compared to Pro Wrestling: “I’m a Pawn on the Chessboard”

John Cena is a busy Hollywood star these days. The WWE icon, who was last seen jostling in the squared circle at WrestleMania 39, recently had one of his films released. Fast X marked the first official Hollywood collaboration of Cena and Dwayne Johnson, the two successful wrestlers-turned-actors. The 46-year-old Cena, who completed 20 years in WWE last year, recently compared Hollywood to pro wrestling during a chat. Seemingly wiser now, Cena also dropped pearls of wisdom for people seeking his thoughts.

John Cena shares his take on creative control in live entertainment and movies

Having seen the best of both worlds- Hollywood and pro wrestling- and tasted success, John Cena knows a thing or two about the two different industries.

Speaking to Sam Roberts on Notsam Wrestling, Cena said, “I’m a pawn on the chessboard.” He said he doesn’t have creative control in movies, stating, “…on set I can call the shots, but I’m not following the director in the edit.”

The 16-time World Champion said that compared to that, pro-wrestling gives him time to express, though he said one must be ready to face the consequences. “I got to be accountable, but I got my five minutes to throw two middle fingers up to the world. You don’t have that in a movie,” he said.

The Cenation leader said doing so in a movie would result in getting dropped and people finding ways to edit and work around it.

He advised people to embrace the process and work with everyone. “Don’t think the world is against you, because it’s not,” Cena said.Read More: Eight Years After Their Last Encounter, John Cena Pays His Flowers to Brock Lesnar for Setting the Tone of His Hollywood Career: “He’s One Who Can Bring the Best Out of People”

Cena, admittedly, wasn’t like this always. There was a time, during his rise in WWE, when he made the mistake of provoking The Rock. That proved to be a humbling experience. The 46-year-old recently took responsibility for his actions and made a shocking claim about himself.

John Cena reveals his ‘selfish’ time in WWE, calls himself a ‘hypocrite’

Among the many highlights in John Cena’s prolonged WWE career is his feud with Dwayne Johnson, which has since assumed iconic status. The feud was initiated by the former WWE Champion after he called Johnson out in a 2008 interview. It culminated in two WrestleMania matches- 2012 and 2013. The first of these took place at WrestleMania 38, which saw two icons, fuelled by real-life heat, lock horns. 

Dubbed ‘Once in a lifetime’, Johnson won the match, defeating not just Cena, but his ego as well. Cena had said that despite claiming to love the business, Johnson couldn’t find time to attend WWE events. He questioned The Great One’s love towards the wrestling industry during his 2008 interview with The Sun. Recently, the 46-year-old said it was selfish of him to call out The Rock. 

“Like, what a hypocrite I am because I still love WWE and can’t go all the time. And I just didn’t see that. I was so selfish,” Cena told MTV’s Josh Horowitz earlier this month. He said after his WrestleMania defeat, he rushed to meet Ata Johnson, DJ’s mother, and sought forgiveness from her. After being granted his wish, Cena did the same with his senior WWE colleague.

He said having the chat strengthened their bond and allowed them to rework their friendship, which formed the base of their second WrestleMania encounter, in 2013. This time, John Cena went over and was lauded not just by the spectators, but by his rival as well. Over a decade after their legendary encounter, John Cena has truly matured, and it shows.

Meanwhile, do you agree with Cena’s take on the pro wrestling and entertainment business? Share your thoughts with us by using the comment box.

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