WWE Superstar John Cena has been at the top of the WWE mountain for ten years. He has been with WWE for near 13 years, but in near 11 years he has literally been THE MAN for WWE and no one has been able to outdraw him. While others like Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan have proven to be good replacements for Cena, after CM Punk left, there is no one with the name appeal to keep current fans around, much less bring in new ones.
John Cena has grown in popularity, similarly to The Rock had in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Cena has been able to gain some outside appeal. This has helped him in getting noticed by many in Hollywood. Due to WWE Films, Cena was able to test his acting chops. In his first movie, and WWE’s most successful solo film to date, the original The Marine film, Cena proved he could draw people to the theater. He was not a brilliant actor, but this was his first attempt at doing such a thing.
Afterward, in movies such as 12 Rounds and Legendary , Cena proved he could act. Legendary was a terrific film for Cena and a big departure role for him. It was a serious film where he played a deadbeat brother who had a washed up amateur wrestling career and was in trouble with the law a lot.
The films caught a lot of attention and many brought him in for guests spots such as shows on Nickelodeon and Disney Channel to Saturday Night Live . He has also appeared in commercials, most notably a commercial for Fruity Pebbles. Literally, that actually happened. He took Fred Flintstone off the cover of his own cereal! Oh, and the cereal sold quite well due to the campaign by the way.
Cena has proven that he is not just a wrestler, but a brand. Owning his own name, unlike “The Rock” who ended up using his lesser known real name of Dwayne Johnson after a while. Now he is known by both, depending on who you ask. Cena literally has to change nothing to be accepted into the new world he has been getting attention for.
Cena has wrapped up Judd Apatow film recently where he plays Amy Shumer’s boyfriend. People on the film claim that Cena “nailed it” in terms of his performance. Here is a little bit on Cena’s character from a source on the set for the movie Trainwreck ….
“In Trainwreck , Cena plays Steven, described as a dim-witted health and Cross-fit obsessed gym rat. Over the course of the film, the script and Cena’s performance plays up the fact that he actually be a closeted homoesexual, which got a great reaction out of the audience last night and with one scene in particular, ended up with Cena getting the loudest laughs of the screening.
“That scene features Schumer’s character asking Cena’s Steven to speak dirty to her while they are making love. Our sources notes that, ‘Steven at first resists, though eventually settles on, “you looked so hot when I first met you…wearing those jeans that I love…that make your a** look great…from behind you look like a…a…duuuuuuuuude!!’ The emphasis on ‘dude’ is written as such because that is at that point where Cena’s character has an earth shattering orgasm.
“Over the course of the film, Cena and Schumer have the one graphic sex scene while other scenes feature Cena doing full nudity from behind and the aforementioned ‘bringing down the house’ scene where Cena’s character, after having sex, is seen fully nude, with a dampened washcloth covering (but being held up) by his male parts, which got a huge reaction from the audience.”
The movie is a definite Rated R film, apparently he took a lesson from Edge.
Judd Apatow was asked about Cena’s performance.
“I wasn’t so familiar with his other work, so I had no bias. I just saw him as an actor who was riotously funny. We read a bunch of people, and he was by far the funniest. Then he came and did a table read before we shot the movie, and got more laughs than anyone.”
Big words from a major Hollywood director for the 15 time World Champion.
Many feel this could be a break-out role for Cena, similar to Batista’s role in Guardians of the Galaxy . While many do not expect this film to do as well as a Marvel film, it will show Cena off in a big way. It will show not only the sex appeal that can be used with him on screen and how far he is willing to go, but it will show his comedic side, something we have not yet seen from him in a major way on film yet.
Cena is also scheduled to shoot a film with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, where he plays a bad guy. The Nest will be another comedic film for Cena, but one where he once again works with notable actors and actresses.
WWE seems to enjoy seeing Cena take these parts, as they can help Cena gain popularity which in turn, brings fans to WWE. It is a win/win. Variety.com did an entire spread on why Cena could seriously bring in a variety of fans with the more roles he gains. The issue with this is that it will cut down his schedule with WWE. This could be a big help toward Cena’s wrestling career.
By not wrestling as often, his body stays healthier. Thus, allowing him to stay around to wrestle for more years to come. However, if he is in essence part-time, WWE would need to crown another top guy to take his place. Eventually however, his Hollywood career will be too demanding if he continues to seal up massive roles. He could be like The Rock and wrestle with WWE here and there, but if a schedule does not permit it, then he is stuck working on a set instead of in a ring.
While John Cena does love the world of wrestling and always wanted to be a wrestler since he will a little kid, he has already done everything there is to do. He has faced every major name possible and worked with everyone who is worth working with. He has won 15 World Titles and has held the top guy position in WWE longer than any other in the modern era.
He knows that he has to eventually retire, and if Hollywood is giving him the green light now to come in, it would be smart to take it instead of wrestling until he is unable to enjoy a future in movies or television. This is why many are concerned that his WWE career could be over sooner rather than later, and no one could blame Cena for leaving. When you’ve done all you can in one world, it is okay to move on to another. WWE can always find another top guy, but Cena cannot always have a career in Hollywood.
[IMG Credits: WWE.com, imageevent.com, nytimes.com]