John Cena On Retirement, Winning His 17th Championship, Heel Turn, Bray Wyatt Match (Interview From March 2024)
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December 26, 2024
TLDR: John Cena discusses his comedy 'Ricky Stanicky' on Amazon Prime, Wrestling with Zac Efron, insights into WWE matches and returns, favorite Championship, longevity in wrestling, personal philosophies, future Bray Wyatt match, injuries recovery, lyrics preference, things he's grateful for, and more with Chris Van Vliet.

In the latest episode of the Chris Van Vliet podcast, superstar John Cena sat down for an insightful discussion on various topics, including his impressive wrestling career, retirement thoughts, upcoming movie roles, and the evolution of his character in WWE. This interview, aired on March 5, 2024, highlights Cena's journey as a WWE icon and an actor.
Key Highlights from the Interview
Cena's New Role in "Ricky Stanicky"
- Cena discusses his new comedy film, "Ricky Stanicky," in which he stars alongside Zac Efron and Andrew Santino. The film is notably more adult-themed compared to his previous works and showcases his versatility as an actor.
- Cena expresses admiration for Efron’s wrestling performance in "The Iron Claw" and shares his behind-the-scenes experiences during the film’s premiere.
Reflections on WWE Career
- John Cena, known for his stellar career as a 16-time WWE World Champion, reflects on his time in the ring and what it means to be a part of the WWE legacy.
- He emphasizes the camaraderie within the wrestling community by highlighting his respect for fellow wrestlers, who all played a part in shaping the industry. Cena insists, “Nobody does it alone.”
- Cena reveals that he never truly felt he was "the guy" in WWE, attributing much of his success to others and the changing landscape of the wrestling world.
Upcoming Retirement and the Future
- While contemplating retirement, Cena assures fans that he doesn’t intend to step away imminently but acknowledges that his wrestling days are numbered. He values the opportunity to perform and connect with audiences one final time.
- Mentioning a powerful mantra, he often refers to “control the controllable,” which helps him navigate the highs and lows of his career.
Creative Aspirations and Potential Heel Turn
- During the podcast, Cena discusses his past consideration of turning heel, particularly for his match against The Rock in 2012. Despite feeling ready for a shift, plans didn't materialize, and he respects the creative direction taken by WWE.
- He expresses interest in exploring more storytelling angles, stating that a compelling narrative resonates better with fans than mere physical appeal.
Impact of Audience on Performers
- Cena reflects on the duality of audience reactions throughout his career, notably during his peaks when fans would chant "John Cena sucks." He describes how he learned to manage criticism by leaning into the positive aspects of performance data and engagement.
- He acknowledges the unique relationship WWE performers have with their audiences, stating that audience feedback serves as constructive criticism rather than a personal affront.
Looking Back on Iconic Moments
- Cena fondly recalls notable career moments, including his unexpected return during the 2008 Royal Rumble after a severe injury, which he secretively recovered from ahead of schedule.
- Discussing his favorite championship win, Cena simply states, “My next one,” showcasing his relentless drive and love for the sport.
Cena's Approach to Growth and Gratitude
- The podcast emphasizes Cena's commitment to personal growth. He notes that he strives to be a better person every day, both in his career and life outside wrestling.
- When asked about gratitude, Cena lists his family, health, and opportunities in his professional career as the pillars of his happiness, stressing the importance of acknowledging the journey over the accolades.
Final Thoughts
In the conversation with Chris Van Vliet, John Cena thoroughly embodies a blend of humility, ambition, and resilience. His reflections provide valuable lessons not just for wrestling fans but anyone looking to understand the power of hard work and perseverance. Ultimately, Cena's journey serves as a testament to the enduring spirit of both wrestling and personal development, leaving listeners eager to see what his next chapter holds.
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Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Blee!
And congratulations, man. I told you on Iron Claw. Congratulations on all the success. No. Congratulations to you on everything. Everything. Personal life, professional life, everything. You're everywhere. And finally, we get to sit down and talk. Here we are. It's been a while. Are you matching wedding rings? I like your style. Is the silicone one? Yes. Amazing. I need to have something I can work out on, and I don't want to take it off. Is this the most R-rated comedy role that you've taken on? Uh, who?
I don't know. So what a great gift to be able to say, I'm not sure. Trainwreck was pretty raunchy. Suicide Squad was pretty raunchy. Peacemaker was pretty raunchy.
Blockers, although like highbrow, also pretty raunchy. This one is good. This one is good. This one is good. It is an R comedy for sure. A lot of songs about masturbating here. A lot of jizz jams, dude. A lot of jizz jams. Do you have a favorite one? I love the Decenider outfit because I used to have the Stay Hungry cassette tape. So to be able to do like
Twisted Sister, that was really cool to put on the persona. When the movie ended, and this is probably way too much information, I kept singing, Ooh, baby, I'm asked to bathe. Wall to wall chills, James. One of these days, when it all goes to hell, I'm going on the road as rock hard rod.
Were you purposely wearing a shirt that says goat in the film? So Peter is, that was his wardrobe. I don't trust suit and the goat shirt was his. And obviously we filmed this about a year ago. And this was before the recent return where I was given the moniker of that, of which that is also someone else's idea. So a weird serendipitous moment, I guess. Are you saying you're not the goat?
I'm saying that what we do is objective. So I can't fault anyone's opinion. So if you're asking for mine, not a chance. How about if I ask for your opinion of who you think is the go? So.
I would say people who elevate the business to new heights from a performance standpoint. So you'd have to, I mean, just adjust my perspective. And again, we're talking objectivity. So it's only opinion. There's no truth to what I'm saying. Hulk Hogan would have to be in there. Steve Austin, Dwayne Johnson, and Roman Reigns. When the company went public,
I think they started a trade of 32. And then my tenure has kind of helped everybody get put the pieces back together again. And Roman has done a fantastic job of taking the business to heights it's never been to before. When did you feel in your tenure that you were the guy in WWE? Never. Never. And I think that's a
a perspective that has gotten muddled, and I don't, again, just my opinion, you just used to want the championship. Now, as the areas become gray, people want to be the term like locker room leaders thrown around, and the guy is thrown around like,
That should be, the championship should be an identifiable instrument of that. And I think it helps the believability of the championship, either one or any championship. The importance of that is you channel whatever you want to say on the inside industry terms through the props that we give you. And that's, again, just my perspective.
But when you hold that championship 16 times, I think it's a pretty easy argument to make that you were the guy, you are the guy. So again, that's your argument, but I was coming up while I was there. You have people like Randy Orton who sat a tremendous career, Batista, Edge, CM Punk, Hack the Shield, a young Cody
roads who is now matured into a fantastic personality, not to mention all the strong performances by the women that I haven't had a chance to obviously wrestle with, but the fact that they have earned every inch of their market share that they've now been rewarded. I guess my throughline here is nobody does it alone. I don't exist without all the hard work of everybody else.
When we look at 16 championship wins, do you have a favorite in there? My next one. Your next one's a record-breaking one, then. That would be cool. Wait, there's going to be another one? I have often said that the time is coming for me to hang him up, and I'm not lying when I say that, but it's not tomorrow.
It's probably soon, but it's not tomorrow, so you never know. I took a lot from the entrances you've had over this last return. I personally took a lot from you going out there, and you can see that you take the moment in. Something that you didn't do earlier in your career, but now you come out and you take every moment of it in. What are you thinking in that moment? So life in the WWE.
is fast, and I'm a performer who enjoys being present. And my head is always on a swivel because the objective is obviously to give the audience the best show that you can possibly do. I also have a lot of stress off of my shoulders because when you're one of the pieces of the machine that is responsible for the financial well-being, if you fail, the bottom line is directly affected.
You're hypersensitive to that. If I go out there and fail now, the bottom line doesn't matter. It's the class carrying the torch now that needs the stress that I had. And I think before I had that weight on my shoulders, it was the stress of how do I get there?
And then once you're there, it's the stress of, am I doing enough? Is this working? And then you finally get to a place where it's somebody else's turn. I saw this firsthand with the DX run when they came back with the glow sticks and they were just having fun. And I remember a European tour where Sean Hunter came through Vic Curtain after doing some sort of match where it was heavily entertaining.
And I was going on last, and they were the match before. And I was like, man, you guys get to have all the fun and the paraphrasing. They said, we hope someday you will too, but it's not today. We've been where you're at and you're in a very important place. Go out and do that stuff.
And then hopefully one day you'll get to goof off and have fun and say to the other person when they come to the curtain. All right, I made them laugh. Now you're going to make them believe. And that's where you're right now. I just think in a spot where I can be more present, which is great because that's the thing I was trying to do before. I was trying to hear every voice.
acknowledge every noise, live every moment, try not to miss a beat. But like now, I just, I operate with that construct, but I don't have the stress of like, if I mess up, it's all going to crumble or they're going to fire me. Yeah. Both of those things, the crumble thing isn't going to happen and they can fire me. That's it. They can do that.
But it's interesting that you come in and you're willing to be in whatever spot that you need to be in in the show. You're not saying, I need to be fighting for the championship. I need to be in the main event. You're okay being the first match. So you're okay putting someone over in a few minutes like you did with Solo Sekoa. I really appreciate you saying that. And if you look at my body of work, I've never cared about any of that. I don't write the show.
I like to write the words that I say because I think someone writing for me handing me a piece of paper. It's not like the movies where they really take a lot of time to write a lot of it. WWE has a lot of content.
So you get somebody who doesn't necessarily think like you, writing something for you really fast and the hand it to you and be like, okay, this is what we're gonna say. And it's no, no, these are the points we need to make. Let's go make this good. But I don't write the show I never have. And I've had a lot of success in WWE and in my life, just trying to make the most of what is asked of me rather than make demands instead of what can you do for me? I like to operate under the construct of how can I help?
and that that's just my method and that's that's helped me a bunch, but I've never cared. That's amazing when I can go on television and be like, hey guys, I haven't won a match in like 2,500 days or another example of
doing back-to-back wrestling and main events with the rock, winning in New York, and then the next year fighting a rookie. Then the next year fighting a rookie, and then the next year doing something different. Then the next year doing something different. That was kind of it if you look at like, well, the main event is where the thing should be.
2012, that was the last one. But you were in a position where you could have said, I'm the guy. I've won X amount of championships. I don't want to be in that spot. So you're not, I guess you're not wrong. But what does that even mean? Like, if I want to write the story, cool, great.
I'm relying on the wisdom of someone who is the people creating the show saying, hey, we need you here. So rather than say, I need to be here, they say we need you here. Okay, how can I make here the best spot? Not steal the show, not go into business for myself and ruin the whole broadcast. How can I just make this meaningful?
What do you need from me? Well, we need to make each night exciting. We need to help LA night, and then we need to help solo. Cool. What's the best way we can do that? That's just one example of the way to operate. I think one of the reasons that you've been so successful is you genuinely care about people.
And I think that that just speaks to who you are as a person. Of course, we saw it with Makeup Wish, but you genuinely care about the people that you interact with. And I've seen this myself. That's the reason we're sitting down here right now. And I appreciate you so much for that. Thank you. I love WWE, I love sports entertainment. And I see potential in everyone I stand across the ring from.
I was really close to the chest with Austin Theory when we were able to go back and forth verbally. I see so much potential in him and I want to shake him and be like, you're going to learn all this stuff. I just wish you would learn it today. But I just, man, I also care about the audience. I've been on the other side. I know how much it costs for tickets and I know how much of a sacrifice it is to get in the building.
And I know how you feel after a good show, and I know how you feel after a bad show from a fan perspective. So I just, I haven't been perfect and I stunk out the joint plenty, but I want to at least leave knowing that if we leave the crickets, I still gave you everything I had. Who was the John Cena that we saw debut in 2002? And who is the John Cena that's sitting across from me right now?
I think the things that they share in common are gratitude, grit, perseverance, and humility. I think the difference is the younger version lacks self-worth, and the younger version lacks wisdom.
The John Cena in 2002 gets to go out and fight Kurt Angle under the impression of two words, ruthless aggression. And it was a failure because I was neither ruthless nor aggressive. And I wasn't able to see the opportunity. My blinders were, you're getting a chance to go out there, do everything you can and show them you can wrestle.
No, I was given a golden ticket and a gimmick. Ruthless aggression. And sure, I wasn't ready to match this at the last second because Undertaker was sick. So the gear doesn't match.
but neither did the attitude at all. Like sportsmanship and grateful, especially after I slapped the guy, like I should have been doing more in the match, so that gouge out an eyeball or rip it as tights, or be the exact opposite of Rutha's aggression. Be a pacifist. You know, whatever it is, but I didn't dive into the opportunity I was given. I just went out there to do stunts.
Even the handshake thing with the undertaker, somebody who's ruthlessly aggressive would have slapped him like he slapped Kurt Angle. And now you're like, who the, is this guy? But I didn't understand because I had blinders on about like what the business is about. And now I love, I love to go to NXT because everybody has a different personality. And I always like, what would I do? Have you ever thought about this for an idea?
But people are thinking the same way I was about like, I just want to go out and do these moves. And my man, it's, you need that, but you got to also get him to believe. Yeah. I want to ask him about that handshake with the Undertaker. It felt so awkward just watching it. Like he's shaking your hand up like here. They're good mega powers.
I think that's the standard sports entertainment, WWE. And then you're having to go up here to meet the handshake. It was very strange. So that was more of a situation of the moment happened in real life, where I don't think many people expected anything from me.
I understand why. Having been the new kid on the come up and then having been the veteran when it's like, this kid's great. And if they're not great, like, we've seen great, we've heard great, we've felt great, we've felt the electricity.
If you don't feel that, they shouldn't tell you anything because it's unfair to the talent. No one is gonna get that reaction when they come out. No one is gonna get the glass break. No one is gonna get the gong. That takes a lot of time. But you hear this stuff and immediately you're like, who's this person? So I get it and I didn't live up to the height, but I think I didn't do anything wrong. In all my spots, my timing was okay.
It made it like Kurt's like, man, I tried to run him ragged. I made it through just barely. I made it through. And I think he was impressed. So it gave me a handshake and Bruce Pritcher was like, we need to put that on TV. And again, the ruthless, aggressive guy is an awestruck fan.
I can hear the gimmick die. I can hear it. It was destined not to work. You're so good at taking what's in front of you and making it work, and you've told the story so many times of Stephanie McMahon hearing you freestyle on the back of the bus and going, could you do that for us? Sure. What if that moment never happened? I would get fired. I would have been fired in two months. That tour was in October, and I would have been part of the December cuts. Then what would have happened?
Uh, so before I was a professional, before a WWE was paying me, I was doing it as a hobby. And I told myself I would do it as a hobby until I couldn't do it anymore. Like when I found wrestling, I wasn't like, man, I'm gonna make bookloads of money doing this. It was like, okay, I'm gonna find a shit job that'll be flexible with ours.
so I can work. And I think I just would have worked. I was living in Massachusetts. I'd moved back into the room I grew up in. I was sleeping in a twin bed at my dad's house. I was from moving back here. You were in Venice Beach, right? No, I was in Venice and I moved to Kentucky.
And then when I got on TV to get rise to the airport, I moved back in with my dad. He was so gracious to take me in. And I slept literally in the room I grew up in on the same bed, because my room hadn't been altered. What was on the walls? Pictures of cars, pictures of bodybuilders, and pictures of wrestlers. Wow. Yep.
I just think I found out that Killer Kowalski School was there and never knew that was there. And at the time, I was doing something with a promotion there. Gosh, I can't remember the name, but I'd gone up to, like, on my days off. Again, what do you do during your free time? I would land and then just go wrestle with the guys of this promotion.
So, I was wrestling in my spare time. So, I probably would have got fired and just done that. Again, making the most of the opportunities in front of you. You're in WWE, the Marine comes along. This is 20 years ago, right? You filmed the plane in 2004. Wow, 20 years you've been making movies. It came out in 2006, but isn't the story that that role was going to be for... Steve Austin. Steve Austin. Yep. In about 10 days before shooting, he decided it wasn't for Steve Austin.
And I can understand the intricacies of that, but what is one man's trash is another man's trophy. At what point did you go from being a wrestler who made movies to actually feeling like, oh, I'm an actor now that makes movies? I don't think I'll ever not be a member of the WWE family first. So to answer that question, in my perspective, the switch has never happened.
that you know me, I always speak fondly of WWE and my time and experience there. I can't tell you how much the audience has made me the man I am today. Having to deal with all the polarizing audiences, we've seen a lot of performers not be able to do that and to have to do that for so long. It teaches you about you and you really go through a journey of self-worth. So I don't think I'll ever not be
WWE family first. Was there a movie where you were like, oh, I kind of feel like I'm getting it now? So train wreck was the first environment that I was put in where the people around me didn't make me feel like an outcast. The Fred movies were the movies where I was like, man, this is fun.
This is like super fun and I don't, the days are long, but I don't mind it. You gotta understand I went from different city every night, do the thing and move on, electricity, energy, audience. I'm in my early 20s riding a lightning bolt, like it was all amazing. And then I get shipped off to Australia and I gotta wait for them to set up lights for four hours. It's weird. It's a weird shift.
My heart wasn't in it. And the explanation I got was, listen, if this works, more people will come to wrestling. No problem. I'm in. I'll do it. I didn't want to be an actor or, like, the WWE is a vehicle to do something more.
I'm grateful for the skillset I have because it's allowed me to tell stories of my body's like, hey, man, you probably shouldn't be doing this 200 times a year. But my heart wasn't. And it shows in the performance, just like it's a mirror image of ruthless aggression, John. You have the tools and the fundamentals, but you have blinders on about what the experience is about. The experience is about getting more people to buy wrestling tickets. Okay, maybe.
But that's gonna happen if you give of self and give an authentic performance. But you found it, like you found your lane like... But I also found it in WWE and I found it by working with people better than me.
I found it by being fortunate enough to get trained by that last group of physical improv geniuses, Rikishi, Booker T, Eddie Guerrero, The Undertaker, Triple H, Sean Michaels, John Bradshaw, Layfield, all of these guys. I loved it because I think a lot of them like the pressure they put on somebody when they take a new talent and be like, I'll see you out there.
They've had enough matches to do that. And by the way, that's also a great way to operate because they don't know what they're going to get from the audience out there. But I learned to operate like that. And I also learned that I finally started getting feedback on mistakes.
Because I was now part of their match. You're doing this wrong, dude. And this is why it's wrong. And this is what you need to do to correct it. So when you're put in an environment where you're not an outcast, train wrecking is an example. That was my train wreck was my first match with Eddie Guerrero. Shut up, listen, take directions, say this, no problem.
You got anything you want to add? Sure. And just go for it. That's Eddie saying, all right, you call it. Okay. All right, great.
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For this movie, Ricky Stinecki had Zack already filmed the iron claw. Yeah, he just came off iron claw, straight from iron claw to this one. Did you guys talk about the iron claw? I saw him, I saw photos of him before he even got this and then knowing I'd see him right after I was ants, man. You never know how to break the ice with somebody and you never know what somebody's world is and I always try to grade people on a curve.
But I knew he'd done a movie about the Von Erics and as much as I worked with the Free Bird, I wanted to be able to talk to him about that. And then he was like, man, it was crazy. This guy, Chavo Grouching. I used to wrestle Chavo. So we immediately had a lot of stuff to talk about. And he had a great experience filming the movie. And it was a nice icebreaker for us. What do you think of his wrestling in the film? I thought it was awesome. And I thought the film was great. And I thought it
I thought I did a really good job of encapsulating the mania, but in the way that it was, it was still the Sportatorium. It was still a world-class championship. I thought they did a really good job, and that's tough. That's tough. So I want to talk about those polarizing audiences, because for a decade, when your music hit, it was John Cena sucks. How do you develop the thick skin to not let that get to you? Well, that's the job.
But you're supposed to be a good guy, like if your job's to be a good guy, they're telling you you suck. Yeah. So what is a virtuous guy do to that? I guess just go out and do your thing. Go out and do your thing. So that's the job. And that's what I mean about like the people who are responsible for creating the decisions had me win a lot. I'm not going to deny that.
But they've also had me lose a lot. And every reason or every time I've won, it was to be a stepping stone in another thread of the story. It was also heavily understood that like, hey, you're the good guy. And I know what you're hearing is one thing. Instinct is saying that
We're getting more opportunities in branding. We're doing really good with event sales. Pay-per-view buys are up. That was still a thing back then. Ratings are up. More people are paying attention. You can, you can, you're a great ambassador for us. People like your stuff and they're buying it. It's not everybody, but it doesn't have to be everybody. If you put 10,000 people in a building and 5,000 people buy your stuff, we're doing great. So,
I think seeing the data also helped. And I was one of the first people to really want to plug into the data. You know, guys used to ask what the house was because they'd be able to calculate what they made. I wanted to ask what it was to see our improvement.
I wanted to see what the walk up was if I did media. And if we didn't walk up, well, what media outlets can we change next time? How can we work harder? Have we run this town too much? If so, why? There's never an excuse, like it shouldn't be this. It should be this. What can I do better to make the event better? And Eddie Guerrero taught me at an early age, it's like, you work your ass off every night, but yo, you give extra to those lighthouses, because they're gonna go tell a friend, and the next time you're gonna do better, and you'll be able to see the improvement.
So I would ask for the data to make sure that the one piece of information I was given, it was just kind of fooling my senses. You know what I'm saying? And you can't argue with the numbers. If the numbers had shifted and I wasn't selling any t-shirts and ratings were down and attendance was down. Yeah, sure, switch.
But the numbers didn't never lie. So I couldn't man that I want to embrace that side. And now we see with all the chances and movie roles that I get, every time I sit down with somebody, somebody's like, man, I never saw you doing this.
I love that because it's a testament to how well we did in WWE. And like, oh, you're just a good guy. That's what you do. I'm a human being. I have emotions. I have sadness. I have despair. I have guilt. I have shame. I have anger. Just like I have happiness, excitement, love, like all that stuff.
just need an avenue to show it. WWE's wasn't that avenue. How close were you to turning heel? Real close. Around what time period? Seen a rock one. I got word that they were going to do it. I went out and recorded a new song. I went out and got all new gear. I wasn't prepared for ruthless aggression.
That was the last time I wasn't prepared. And I mean, I heard rumblings of, we're gonna do it. And in 48 hours, I had a new track, a new studio mix theme song, final mix. I had seven new singlets, low cut singlets with boxing type robes. I already had the boots and storage, so I dusted them off. Like I was ready to go.
and already thinking about what I could do with the story. What is a heel? A heel is not just a new gear. The objectivity or the message behind the singlet and the boxing robes and the boots is its exact opposite of what you saw with the street gear.
The jean shorts the t-shirt the ball cap the sneakers no go the opposite route and now lean into the opposite of everything you stand for so i would begin to not work as hard i would show up less i would be untrustworthy on loyal i would lack respect in what i did like all you have to do is turn that on it's i would give up a lot i would.
All those things you can take and make interesting stories, and this is the stuff that's running through my head, not what moves can I do. It's like, how can I take the intellectual property that people are familiar with and twist it? So it's like, this guy is insane. It's everything I've come to love, and now I genuinely hate it.
And in being a real bad guy, and I think that was the conversation that was eventually had where it's like, OK, it's a bad idea. I'm like, hey, I know this is going to sting, but I'm not going to sell another t-shirt. I'm going to take all merchandise off the market. I'm not going to put on anything new. I'm not going to do any more appearances. I'm not going to do any make-a-wishes. I'm not going to do anything like that. I'm going to be a bad guy to make your good guy, so your good guy does all that.
And that's when I was like, ah, we're kind of in too deep. So it worked out the way it worked out. But bro, I was ready. I can see the excitement as you're describing this. How good was the theme song? I recorded it with saxophones instead of trumpets. It's called fear my name. I still haven't locked away somewhere. If it ever sees the light of day, I want to remix it with trumpets instead of saxophones.
But it has the hit of time is now. Imagine a world where the rocks are healed now. Imagine a world where the rock and John Cena are healed at the same time. So the weird thing is that's supposed to happen. Like if you think of the course of human life, no one is perfect, right? And it's very tough each day to wake up and live a good life. It's tough to be mistake-free.
So that's like human trajectory. We all go through patches where we make decisions against our value system. We all turn heel at one point. It's just a matter of if you see the light and I think that's what makes a lot of the characters redeemable is if you take a really good, good guy and then have them lose their way.
It's Darth Vader in Star Wars, man, you want a root form, because you know you don't give up on that guy. I know there's good in him. Like, that's beautiful. Those stories are beautiful. What did you think of The Rock turning a hill?
I don't know what to think of it yet. Um, I liked when he did it back when he was like Hollywood rock. Yeah. Look, I'm from Toronto. So him cutting that one promo. Yay. I'm from Toronto. That was that gets me every time. I'd have to see the.
and result. Yeah. And I love being surprised and I also love saying I'm wrong because I've been wrong about a whole lot of stuff. Nobody loves saying they're wrong. That's what a great character trait. Well, man, when I say I'm wrong, that means I'm just about to learn something that I'm not going to forget. So I think Twain Johnson is such an attraction. I think the rock is such an attraction. I don't think
Our audience is angry with him. I think there's an underlying sense of filament that they're angry, that their expectations were changed. The metric I use from my own path of polarization. They did a segment that was heavily disliked.
I think it was the most disliked segment in WWE social history. Yeah. How many WrestleMania ticket refunds you see? Yeah. Zero. The metric to look at for me is how many people don't want to see the show. They turned it around though with that press conference. So they did and that's why I don't know yet. I don't know yet.
Because my instinct would say, stay the course and the show is an infinite loop. The treadmill never stops.
So if your expectations change in April, what's to say we can't fulfill in next April? You know what I mean? Wrestling fans are anything but patient. But they are patients. Are they? They are. And they love a long-term payoff. Like Daniel Bryan is a great example.
They will tell you how they feel, but holy hell, they love that long-term payoff and it's brilliant and beautiful. And they'll hang in there as long as you believe and as long as they believe in you, you got a chance. With wrestling fans telling you how they feel, 2013, you go out there to cut a promo telling the audience, I'm going to be out. It's met with cheers.
Like they're cheering that you got injured. They're cheering that you're going to be out. How'd that make you feel? Man, they weren't quiet. They were not. I think that's the one thing you got to understand. That's the one thing I value most about my relationship with my family, as I call them. They've been honest with me. In turn, I've been honest with them. We're often told as performers to ignore certain moments that happen with our audience.
I don't see what we do through that lens, and I have never taken that advice. My belief is if the audience is enjoying themselves, you at home are enjoying yourself. And there's not a better image than Dwayne Johnson, The Rock, and Hulk Hogan looking at each other, an absolute insanity going on behind them.
And everyone at home going insane, two people are just looking at each other. I was there. Look, I was one of those people. And it was amazing. It was awesome. Yeah. But they're acknowledging what's going on. And our fans are stars. They help the show. You just have to, I've always
tried to acknowledge the noise, acknowledge it, but never waver from who you are, never operate without virtue. You coming back last year is the absolute definition of you don't know what it's got. You've got till it's gone because you come out another cheer. They're singing every word of your theme song. That was stupid. What a cool thing.
I mean, our fans just want to escape. And I'm not stupid. I'm a family personality. I'm geared towards young kids and families. That's not our whole audience. If our show is in no offense, but down the wheelhouse of like Disney on ice,
and they start booing, then you're the real bad guy. But our show is such a melting pot. The WWE is such a mixed bag where you have every age range. Gender fluid, race fluid, doesn't matter. Everybody shows up and everyone has an opinion.
I don't like this guy. I do like this guy. The whole pitch change of the, that's gonna be nuts. So you know it sucks. It couldn't be more of an indication of how diverse we are as a platform. You cannot please everyone. You can't. So the fact that the reactions are the way they are now, that's special. Yeah. It's thinking every word. I mean, it just shows that
even if they were yelling at the top of their lungs, seen as sucks, it's because they just wanted to be heard and they gave a shit. So now the nostalgia is a beautiful thing, dude, to be able to look back on those moments of like, yo, this happened when, and I get to see the guy again. That's pretty cool. And what point did you develop like the
You just have this patience, this understanding. There's this video that went viral of this guy following you around, filming you. You were so patient, so kind, so polite, even though he's invading your privacy. How are you able to develop that? Through failure. Yeah. And by no means am I perfect? And I understand.
A lot of people operate under the construct of record and document everything. I just, in that case, what was going through my mind was I don't know who this person is. And if I immediately fall into his act and he's somebody who doesn't represent the values I believe in, I become an endorser of this person. So I can't stop a voyeuristic video happening.
But when you make me part of the act without asking my permission, that's a different set of circumstance. If you are over there and you catch a video, that's fine. But when you turn the camera around and barge into my life, I immediately am attached to you. And if that I speak as if there's fluency between us and a relationship between us, I now endorse your value system. And I don't know you. I've never met you to this person. Yeah.
That can be difficult. So I, that was going through my mind. Like man, if this guy would just take a pause, say hello, tell me what he's trying to do. Maybe we can do something, but I'm just, I'm just trying to buy coffee, bro. But you were so respectful. So glad the light. I wouldn't handle it that way. I hope to be better next time, but no one's in the wrong.
I understand, I understand everybody's perspective, and that's a hard pill to swallow sometimes, but it's just a matter of opinions and nobody's in the wrong. So when you know you're in a video with someone or a photo with someone, and it becomes an endorsement like you're talking about, I was with you at the iron claw. MJF walks up, you guys share a great moment, you take a photo together, what's happening in that moment?
whole totality of the thing is I knew he was going to be there and I don't think the old me would have associated with him just because of how maybe WWE I was but I still am WWE but they're
There's room for competition and competition is great. And just because you don't wear the company brand I have doesn't mean you're a bad performer. Sports entertainment is a finicky business. And again, there's a lot of chance to make moments. So this is one of their top performers for UW. And I don't know if I'm going to be the target of a moment. I'm just going to support my friend in a movie.
He couldn't have been nicer, he couldn't have been more cordial, and we meet each other, and I got pulled away to take some pictures. And then we were about to go do everything else before I even got to you. And I was like, hold on, give me two minutes.
I shook his hand. I said, man, I'm so sorry. Excuse my ignorance. I didn't know what to expect from you today. You are a class act. I can't believe you're professional as professional as you are. That's just my ignorance. I'm sorry I had that judgment. I want to thank you for being so special. This is thanks for making my night. And then we got back and I was able to talk to him more. And I kind of
Maybe we can get you to play for the right team one day and all that. There's no denying the fact that he's doing good work. And I don't think that I should ignore that. And honestly, I was floored by his professionalism, where it would have been an easy target at a wrestling movie premiere to have yourself a moment.
And we did have a moment, and it was one that the internet paid attention to, and it was one where I was hoping that this person that I met, I could once bet on, like, man, I hope we just get you over here. That'd be awesome. But it was great. It was great to meet a professional, classy, driven young man. And then you put him over on Instagram the next day.
Yes, I posted an image. Although we, you know, it's up to us for your interpretation. Yes, of course. Yes. Although on the flip side, your Twitter is the exact opposite of your Instagram. So I want to dive into your Twitter because I like your tweets all the time. I retweet them all the time. There's just such great messages there. Where do those come from? How do you come up with so many? I try to
seek wisdom from others. I try to read a lot. If anything catches my ear or my eye, I jot it down. I have so many backlogs in my Twitter drafts. It's almost like a journal. Like a threat of conscience.
Every day I have one but like there'll be some days where I'm just thinking about stuff and I'll Write down a bunch of notes. So essentially my Twitter drafts are my notes and I'll have these incomplete thoughts that don't make any sense and I'll try to understand what I'm thinking that day and I'll come back to it and it'll come to me and then I'm yeah, all right. Yeah, that's kind of how I'm feeling or Man, I a lot of it is the advice I could use for the day so if I was too short or unempathetic
And a lot of it is advice that I could use. And a lot of it is me holding myself accountable for you. You're out. I, I say that I do. So once you put it out to the world, uh, well, X probably isn't the best example of accountability, but I'd like to put it out there so I can be accountable for it. You follow no one on Instagram. You follow everybody on Twitter. Why? Uh, for the simple fact that
Because Instagram is an interpretive exercise. I don't want to lead the witness by following anyone. Because if I follow Bill Gates, okay, well, this is curating the experience for me. And I may feel a certain way about Bill Gates, so I feel a certain way about these images. Twitter is a conversation starter. And how do you start conversation? Follow everyone. People you know nothing about, walks of life you know nothing about.
People that don't share your views, people who speak out harshly against your value system, people who live within your value system, people who've pissed you off, people who, like I said, you just follow everyone because then people can engage with, hey, I was thinking this today. Go for it. You make people's day when they see that you follow them. Maybe it's their month. So that's another thing. There's a little shred of gravity in that too.
I love the new verified thing, because again, it's just a blue check mark, but you had to come out of pocket to prove that you're the person. It's not foolproof, but man, if you got a blue check mark, that's a go-to for me, you're in. And I want you in on the conversation, and I want to know that I see and hear you, and it may be because we don't agree. And I need to have your perspective. If you get yourself around, yes, man.
And like mine, it folks, you don't learn anything. So the construct behind Instagram, once you explain it, it's like, okay, I get that. And Twitter is the same thing of like, I want everyone's opinion on what I'm putting out there. Because maybe I'm full of my own shit. And it's stupid. And I hear that message enough. I have to challenge myself. Are they... John Cena sucks. Should I turn heel? Not yet.
You know, like it's just a, but it's a sounding board. Yeah. And I guess because of my experience in front of a live audience, I enjoy the sounding board. So the Royal Rumble was recently, someone asked me, what's your favorite Rumble moment of all time? I said, easy. 2008, John Cena comes back. Nobody thought you were going to be in that building.
Number one, how did you come back so quickly from that injury? And number two, how did you keep it a secret? So I completely respect James Andrews who did the surgery and Kevin Wilk and who helped me with physical therapy. They have to put a realistic timeline on their work. And that timeline is based on the construct that you do physical therapy three times a week.
I would do physical therapy three times a day and I moved to Birmingham and my goal as a professional was to get back on the field in a safe manner. So because I just did a lot six days a week, you heal. You know, I was pretty much put in a heal tank. I didn't have to go back. The reason they say six months for a pectare,
Because a lot of people that tear their pecs, maybe they did a darn recreational sport or maybe they're a student athlete or they have other responsibilities, people's got families or whatever, you have to split time. I was like a physical therapy terminator. Show up for the morning session, go get some food, show up for the noon session, go get some food, show up for the afternoon session as they're closing. Alright guys, see you in a few hours.
And I just did that for three months, and everyone. Dr. Andrews was fine. Kevin was fine. I passed all my tests, and I passed it like two and a half months in, and the rumble was coming up. And they're like, OK, we'll keep it a secret. I don't want to advertise you because I don't even know if you're going to be there. But then when everybody gave the OK, they're like, we really have the chance to keep something secret. And it was only let out like a few people
And if you see the, like once again, we only remember the moments. Tell me anything I did in that. You won. Bingo. But the action to win was very simple. I remember that everybody remembers that. Because... And the look on Triple H's face. Yes. The action was very simple because it was as it happens. We couldn't really plan anything crazy because we didn't want people to tell people to tell people to spoil the surprise.
So I was like, he's coming out. He's going to win. That's happening now. So it was great. What does that mean? The other 29 people in the match thought somebody else was going to win? I don't even. Yes, I think so. Yeah. I mean, I came up to the gorilla position at number 31, like 28 came up.
And I had been, usually they'll, like nowadays they'll kind of hide guys offsite or in a bus or something. I was in like a broom closet at the garden and just came up the twirly ramp and walked right into my full gear, like, ready to go. And we just knew that it was gonna be remedial and basic, but we were hedging on the surprise. They're not gonna really grade the art and plus if we keep it basic, we don't really test this out. So that gives me another month and a half.
to build and heal and refine. So it was all for the good of the moment. Do you have a favorite moment over the course of your WWE career? I like being told I was gonna let go. I do. No, man, no one is replaceable. I mean, everyone is replaceable. Nothing is permanent. And I like being told like you're not getting it.
because I tell that to people now. Not that I'm gonna fire you, I don't have that power. But like, hey, you have all these talent strengths and gifts, but you don't get what we do here. You could be something that I could never be. But to do that, you gotta make them believe. You can't just go out and score a perfect 10 on a floor routine. Because no one can, I can't tell you what I did in the Rumble. But I know I won and I remember this.
And that's, I remember Rock and Hogan. I remember you saying in an interview that John Cena, the character, is like Superman. Yes. So if he's like Superman, what's John Cena, the character's Kryptonite? Oh, man. That's a good question. I think I think my stubbornness probably.
Like, uh, and I've really, really, really worked hard on that. Uh, because now as I'm getting older, there's a lot more kryptonite, like father time and my body and all that. But I think in the height of everything, probably my stubbornness, like being, I can climb any hill. I can do anything. And I still wake up every day with a lust for life, but I also know my limitations. And I think then I just, uh,
I had to run into the wall and Peter Griffin, myself, on the floor to realize that a wall was there. Is this the Peter Griffin? The one frame, blood seep out, like, yeah. I think your greatest strength now is your self-awareness.
Like, and maybe that comes along with the father time, the getting older, like your self-awareness is incredible. I have told the pocket watch story before this one keeps time, this one keeps perspective. What's engraved on that? The back says comparison is the thief of joy. And the front says memento moray. So if I'm getting too into my own shit, I remember that I'm still just a human being.
and I'm above no one. And if I feel uncomfortable, which is in many rooms in Hollywood or in any new industry, in any new room you walk in, I literally, anytime you see me go into my pocket, I'm nervous and I feel uncomfortable. And it's kind of like just a little symbol for me to say, hey, man, you're enough. Even if I'm not enough to you, I take accountability for all my choices. I live with who I am and I'm still fulfilled.
If you're not their bag, so what? The interview that we did during WrestleMania 35 weekend, you said three words during that interview that have stayed with me forever. It's really changed my perspective on life. Control to control. Dude, and that's tough. It's tough to play with in that construct. It is, but that phrase helps me out a lot when expectations change. Where did you get that from? Because I got it from you, and thank you so much for that. I guess that's stoicism, I guess, in a way.
You may be able to root it to that. I know there's an old adage of be like water. It's like control what you can. It's also like the sobriety prayer. There's something in there with that. It's a constant theme. So if everyone's borrowing it, it must be for a purpose. This is pretty good. I think when
When you get frustrated, what can you control right now? I don't know, it just helps me a lot. What is your favorite lyric from basic thogonomics? Oh, man.
I'm trying to think of the song. I'll give you mine. Two-face rappers walk away with four shyness. Four shyness, man. Who was that kid? In a shake his hand. Brilliant. Can I shake his hand? Take it. Wow. Wow. To what, taken over Earth and still kicking in your hands? Oh, that's so good.
How about the moment where you're in the ring with L.A. Knight recently? He quotes that song. Nobody picks up on it but you. You're lying. So there's a situation where I want to say what I want to say is he's gifted. That's not the right thing to say. What I should say is, man, he has worked to get his talent.
because he is the embodiment of perseverance and hard work and believing in self, he has earned every inch. And it was really, really fun to be in there with him. I texted him after I said, did John know you were gonna say that? He's like, no. I had it in my back pocket and I just pulled it out. And I like performers who have ammo.
And I know he had more, and he didn't spend some of the rounds. But I like that preparation. I like that overpreparation. I like that belief in self. He is authentically LA Knight. I believe everything he does. His mannerisms, his story is awesome, and he's not afraid to tell it.
He's gonna give you a time cue, but that's just show the five. And then I'll time it with my watch. He gets a mulligan. He gets a pass, so we're good. We're good. I know we got left. We're all right. How much do we have left? He's giving you the five sign, so we'll put a timer on it, but that's okay. We'll be all right. We'll be good. So I got to see him mature just in the short time I was there. I got to be the referee's match.
And to see the way he worked then to his philosophy, to the tag match, and then to watch his matches after that, I could see him gain confidence even in that short period of time. And that's what gets me to the edge of my seat. That's what gets me going. You were just on Impulsive Logan Paul Shelly. Yeah. He is crushing it in WWE.
What's your take on him coming in and taking to it so quickly? So I actually told him, I'm like, the old me would have hated it. And the old me would have been like, what are you trying to take from us? And that's just an archaic way of thinking that I was taught. And I understand why old carnival business don't trust this guy who's coming into our territory.
That idea was archaic in the 80s. We bring in outside influence to help us. And then you have someone you don't really need to convince that much to come on in. And then somebody who embraces our world and is completely respectful and risks a lot more than I would in the ring like dust stuff that I'll never be able to do.
in every match.
The me now appreciates the fact that he is bringing his world into ours and respectfully so. But there's a lot, I think he's had eight matches, I think as we sit here right now, there's a lot of wrestlers that have had eight matches that look terrible. Oh my goodness. Well, that's just so.
me being one of them. It just goes to show how hard he works and effort equals passion. You don't work hard on something that you don't care about. It doesn't mean like, that's to me that's just a direct reflection of his passion for what we do and his drive to be great.
feel like what's going on right now and pro wrestling as a whole, it's palpable. Wrestling is hotter than it's been in a long, long time. What do you think we can attribute this to? So I think it's the ability for, so like this, I've kind of been through this, right?
The Attitude Era happens, and the Attitude Era was the bubbling up of, like, essentially kind of who's gonna take over after the Hogan Era calms down. And, you know, there were kinda...
people to do that, but when it really blew open is when people started swinging big and really going for it and understanding the lightning in a bottle that you catch and leaning into the personalities you have and maybe a little bit of battling of egos, the attitude era is born. Huge stars, huge ratings, another whole commandial like transcendence of the business. Then everybody goes.
And then we're left with, what's gonna happen now? And then our class kind of matriculates with Brock and Dave and Randy and me. And it's like, oh, okay, now we have these guys. And this is gonna happen for a while. And then we all kind of bounce. And then they're like, well, what's gonna happen now? I remember the conversation coming up of like, I'm so bad with time, but like 2013, 14, 15, well, who's gonna be the next John Cena?
I try to let people know. I'm like, I don't think it's going to be one guy. I think it's going to be like a super friends of guys, of performers, just because I could see the amount of people who were really good. And all they had to do was that light bulb, like it.
Joe's not gonna say suffer and suck attach anymore. Cause he's got the light bulb. Like Colby has got the light bulb, Becky, Charlotte, Cody, they all got it. And they all kind of got it at the same time. And I think they all got it at the same time cause they could all see the field was wide open.
it's wide open and now it's like it is the super friends and everyone means something and everyone has a definable character and that's a really tough juggling act with SmackDown Raw and NXT and I've got to perform an NXT dude they're great.
They have believable characters, a great venue, an audience that just won't quit. It's fun to be down there. And there's a whole crew of hungry young kids that aren't even on NXT who are working every day to try to get there and to try to get up. Our system is a lot better to find the talent to. I am so curious what the original plan was for WrestleMania in 2020 before the world shut down. Were you gonna have an actual match with Bray Wyatt? Yeah.
Yeah, and then things happened. And I remember three days before we filmed the Firefly Funhouse match, it was the last TV taping.
where they came in and they were like, you're gonna have a Firefly Funhouse match. And I remember there was three people in one of the conference rooms in NXT with me, I said, what's a Firefly Funhouse? He said, I don't know, it's great. What can we do? And that was like, oh man, again, control the controllable.
I wish we had an audience, like performers are like, I wish I could, I wish there could be blood. I wish we could do chair shots to the head. I wish we could swear. I wish I could flip people off. Control and control will use the tools in your tool belt. How do we make something entertaining over a two day period with no audience? And they gave us a stipulation.
Everybody else just has a regular match. And it's your step, like it's your step. It's not a doctor of economics match or a hustle loyalty respect match. That's completely different. You have these definitive characters, you have all this ammunition, you have all this personality, and that's what people really radiate towards. When you put on that NWO shirt. Holy shit, we could make this a meta look at my life.
Like, and we could get away with it. What do we have up in the warehouse? We have the fist, we have the blue cage. I can get some end up, you owe stuff. Dude, we can make this work. And I remember it's the only match I've ever ridden from start to finish. Wow. And my poor wife, I made her print it out and I'm writing and giving her a paper and she's, what is this? What does it even mean? I just print it. It is needed. And somewhere I still have the original draft.
in my handwriting of the Firefly. But man, Bray couldn't have been better. He like knew what was up. And he knew the whole thing. And I never, because I wrote it like the night before. So I'm trying to text these guys like, I got something weird. And I think I might have sent a picture of the draft. And I still in my phone, I don't have it with me, but I have it saved. A text that I sent him.
the night of the match, especially after we saw the Undertaker's match night before, and they crushed. And there was a whole lot more physicality. We got one punch. And I texted him how nervous I was, but I wanted to thank him for being so brave and trusting me. And I think we, you know, I couldn't have done any more. And I think we gave it our best shot and hopefully it works. And it was, that was an effort that I am very proud of.
I want to thank you. I have just a few more questions before we wrap this up. But thank you for being who you are. Thank you for all the memories along the way, both in the ring and on the silver screen with the movies you make. I just want to acknowledge you for being John Cena. So thank you. Man, what a cool thing to be able to say. Like if you'd ask me.
25 years ago, like what that name means, you know, what a cool thing to be able to say. And what a, again, like,
Oh, we want to use people's real names. I caught that. Keyhole worth of time. They're like, oh, they're the real names. No, real names, but not their real names. So we can have the real name and they have to be the other person. I was right in that snippet of time where, but you get your name and you're like,
But there's no the rock to it and there's no stone cold to it. There's just John Cena. And, you know, lucky I was lucky enough to kind of figure that out and what a crazy thing to be able to listen to you. And you'd be like, thank you for being John Cena. And like no one calls me John. Everybody always is like John Cena. Of course. And what a weird thing that is that it's all so foolish.
So with all of that said, everything you've done in wrestling, everything you've done in movies, everything you've done in your life, how do you define success? I think going to sleep every day a little wiser than when you woke up. I think I really lean into the purpose of earning every sunset because I realize I've been, I've cashed in like a thousand lot of tickets and I need to earn that every day. I can't just rest on that. So I need to
better every day and that could be like furthering my growth in a search for written wisdom or trying to learn piano or trying to be stronger or take care of my health or be a good husband or relax. I tell myself I'm going to relax. It's almost meditative. I don't
Wax in between the ears of like, but I can do this and I can do this. Nope. Today, you're going to earn it by taking the day and be a good husband or try something new. Listen to an opinion you don't agree with. Be more empathetic. I dig.
trying to stay curious, which is really tough, especially as you get older, you get set in your ways, but the curiosity for life of like Manish, so much of it out there, I'm still fired up about life and being fulfilled.
knowing that you and it is enough, and all the rest of the stuff, it's just great opportunities. You don't do anything as a vehicle for anything else. And I meet so many people that, I guess, use the term transition, like, man, what were you thinking about when you want to transition into movies? Nothing. I was thinking about wrestling.
I was thinking about doing really good in wrestling. And then after 20 years of doing really good in wrestling, somebody's like, man, I haven't watched you for 20 years. You want to do this thing where you're in your tidy whities? Yeah, cool. I'm in a time in my life where I'd do that right now and that'd be fun. And it's not like this was my grand plan all along. No, I just wanted to entertain people who came through the turnstiles. And now we're trying to do that in the silver screen. And I'm still trying to find my way in that, you know, I
I was in Barbie, but I wasn't Barbie, so I'm still searching for that moment. You know what I'm saying? But if I never get it, and you got to do the math on the movies that get those accolades and the movies that don't, there's a whole lot more that don't, my life still has a sense of fulfillment and a sense of purpose. I'm not going to end my journey unfulfilled.
you know, or if I don't win 17 or whatever, whatever it is, just know that you're enough I guess. By the way, the number one comment on this video is going to be, why was you talking to an empty chair the whole time? I know and I love it. I got to be honest with you. I went through a period of being frustrated with that and it's the same thing with trying to be empathetic with fans. I went through a period where
I deserve my time. I put on a show for you guys. I deserve my time when I'm out. No, I don't. I don't. The trade-off for getting to do this is understanding that your work has affected people. And even if someone's being a dick, they're trying to tell you, like, dude, I know you and your work has affected my life.
And I operate under a constructive respect. And if someone is disrespectful, I can try to calm down the situation the best I can. The video guy's a good example. Pretty much everybody just wants to say what's up. And when you go outside a place that's not your home, you got to understand that that's awesome. And it's also going to stop. And there's going to come a time when nobody gives a shit. And I'm probably moving.
Yeah, I remember when people used to come over and say, hello, yes. Hey, hey, guys. Hey, what's up? What's going on? So I haven't always felt like that. It's taking a lot of work to get there. But dude, when you can land in that pocket, it's sweet doing 60 interviews today. I'm still good. He gave you five minutes. Fuck that guy. Appreciate you. Appreciate you. Appreciate you. Appreciate you. But like,
Man, somebody give me five minutes of their day to help promote my movie. That's pretty dope. And I shouldn't treat it like, ah, here we go. But the instinct is like, sitting in this chair, I'm gonna be asked about what's the biggest lie I've ever told about 62 times today. All right, but then I see a guy like Jackie Chan, who is the master. And he'll tell you, everyone is my first one. And I can't go to a theater. And every theater, I go in like, oh, wait, wait, good.
I was feeling off that day. So this scene is going to be a little off. It's going to pick up after that. Dude, I learned a lot from him and it was good to sit under his learning tree and he approaches this with the same enthusiasm as he approaches the movie because it's all the work. So I never used to think like it just got to a point where it's like, all right, enjoy life because you have been given
more opportunities than the normal person gets. That is very safe to say. I will follow that with I very rarely let one go to waste and I give every opportunity I get everything I have. So it is not without its effort, but I'm well aware that I have been given more winning lottery tickets than a small community of people.
This is why you're the best. This is why you're the best. And thank you. Thank you for all of the time here, all of the wisdom you've given us. And I end every conversation with gratitude. It's such a big part of my life. I wake up every day, say out loud three things I'm grateful for. I do it before. What were the three things this morning? Grateful for my family. We got a little girl. She's a blind soul. Congratulations. Thank you. She's the best. Her name's Logan. So grateful for my wife Rachel and our daughter, Logan. Grateful for our health.
Without our health, you got nothing. Also, from what I'm hearing, the wrong side of the bed is a real thing.
and I had it four hours of sleep. The Super Bowl was yesterday and I didn't go crazy. I knew I was gonna get up early. But are you here? No, I was in Florida. So this is what I'm talking about. So I had a chance to be home for two days and the wife and I haven't run in like crazy. So we chose to sleep in our own bed, which means I got up at midnight 30 your time to land here on time. I got to do that because we got to spend in our time in our own bed.
So what I'm saying is if, you know, sometimes if you're sleep deprived or if you didn't sleep well or if your body aches or maybe you got injured or something like that, having my elbow in pain and not being able to sleep on your side, you wake up, you're like, ah, but if you start the day with like, man, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Like, it's almost like a few deep breaths when I'm hearing in like a count to 10 of like,
Man, it's good. There's always something. Dude, I couldn't agree more. That's really cool to hear. The third thing is just opportunity. Like to be able to do this, to be able to do this for a living, to be able to share this time with you. Right? So grateful for that. It doesn't make every day easy. I challenge people who say, love what you do, and you'll never work a day in your life. I don't like that saying. I think if you can find something you love and do it for work, it does make
The hard days more rewarding. So what are your three? I am grateful for those I love in my life and to have love in my life. I'm certainly grateful for my health And I'm grateful for the gift I'm grateful to be able to open my eyes because I know that very closely coincides with health
time is undefeated and my health is deteriorating every day and I'm a big believer in I'm gonna go down swinging I want to I want to open my eyes as many times as I can because it's it's that beautiful so even if there is a point where I don't have health but I still have consciousness I'll be grateful for that
I've been in broadcasting since 2005, and I can confidently say this is my favorite interview I've ever done. So, thank you.
and you're the way I end my day, so that's great. Oh wow, can we take a photo? Excellent. Thank you guys. Thank you for all of your
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