5 jobs that WWE legend John Cena worked outside of wrestling
Over the years, WWE legend John Cena has embarked on several different avenues outside of professional wrestling.
The leader of the Cenation will return to WWE later this month to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his WWE debut. Over the past two decades, Cena has been the face of the company and one of the most accomplished superstars in WWE history.
Many may not be aware that aside from being arguably the greatest superstar in the Stamford-based promotion's history, Cena has worked in other professions. The Leader of the Cenation also tried his hand at a few different careers during his days full-time in WWE.
Here are five jobs that WWE legend John Cena worked outside of wrestling.
#5. John Cena worked as a limousine driver
After graduating from high school, 19-year-old John Cena landed a job as a limousine driver. Nevertheless, he later confessed that he was not a good one. The 16-time Champion had to drive Lincoln town cars to and from Logan Airport. However, he was always late.
In an interview with The Drew Barrymore Show, Cena spoke about his time as a limo driver. He disclosed that in addition to usually being late, his car also smelled of steamed chicken breasts and tuna fish as he carried his lunch along. He also revealed how his customers reacted to his behavior.
"So I was always late, I mean late. I would pick people up two and half hours late for their flight. I earned every single expletive that I was called and I gotta hand it to passengers. They come up with some new stuff that I'd never had heard, and I grew up with four brothers," he said [H/T: Essentially Sports]
Despite all that, Cena enjoyed his time as a limo driver. He even stated that it was his favorite job before joining WWE.
#4. John Cena was a trainer at Gold's Gym
16 years ago I worked here and a friend convinced me to take a chance and go to wrestling school. Thank u Golds Gym http://t.co/3IkC0gun6v
Nearly 23 years ago, John Cena graduated with a degree in exercise physiology and body movement from Springfield College. He then moved from his hometown of West Newbury, Massachusetts, all the way to Los Angeles, California.
In an interview with People Magazine, The Leader of the Cenation disclosed that he moved to the City of Angels because everything that applied to his college degree was there. Upon arriving in Los Angeles, he landed a job as a trainer at Gold's Gym.
"I got in working at Gold's Gym and that was the best I could do. I worked in the protein shop. I worked on the floor. I knew every member and a bunch of the members would talk about wrestling and WWE specifically. This is right when two companies were jockeying for supremacy, the company owned by Turner and the company owned by Vince McMahon. One of my friends in a casual conversation was like, 'Hey, we're training down in Orange County to be wrestlers. Do you want to join?'" Cena said. (Credit: People's Magazine)
The 45-year-old decided to give wrestling a shot. What initially started as a hobby for Cena ended up changing his life.
"It wasn't like, 'Yeah, this is my chance to make it big in the WWE,' it was like, 'Yo, this would be a sick a** hobby, so when I worked my ass off during the week, I can go be a personality on the weekends, I'll try it.' I paid the promoter a bunch of money to get in the ring and learn how to fall down and the rest is history. So if we had never had that conversation, I'd never found a ring, and I'd never been talking to you right now," he added. (Credit: People's Magazine)
In 2001, Cena officially signed a developmental contract with Vince McMahon's company. He made his main roster debut nearly a year later, competing against Kurt Angle on SmackDown in his first match.
#3. John Cena released a rap album
After debuting on SmackDown in mid-2002, John Cena's ruthless aggression persona failed to connect with fans. The company was even considering firing him when Stephanie McMahon, coincidentally, heard him performing a freestyle rap in the back of a bus.
The Billion Dollar Princess then asked Cena to do the same on television. Hence, he adopted his famous Doctor of Thuganomics persona, which became very successful.
In the years that followed, Cena pursued a career in music. He performed a few songs that were released on WWE soundtrack albums. In 2005, he released a rap album, "You Can't See Me."
In an interview with the Ballin' Out podcast, Cena revealed that the album was his idea. He stated that he enjoys hip hop and hip hop culture.
"I enjoyed the time so it was almost a hobby... I heard the beat for 'Time is Now' and I'm like 'man, we're gonna make this song and I heard a few more beats and I'm like 'we're gonna have like eight or nine songs... I went to my boss and I was like, 'I'm gonna re-do my theme music, so would you be interested if we make an album? ... it was a way to further solidify like, 'hey, The Doctor of Thuganomics moniker isn't just some phony tag I threw on myself. I enjoy hip hop. I enjoy hip hop culture," he said. [23:43 - 24:37]
Although Cena has not released any other albums, he has collaborated with some rappers on a few songs in the past few years.
#2. John Cena hosted a car review show on YouTube
In addition to his passion for wrestling and hip hop, John Cena is a car fanatic. While dating Nikki Bella a few years ago, he hosted a car review show on The Bella Twins' YouTube channel.
Cena's show, Auto Geek, received millions of views. He reviewed several car brands and models. He also showcased some of his car collection, including a 1989 Jeep Wrangler he bought after signing his first-ever WWE contract.
The car review show ran for nearly a year. The last episode got uploaded to YouTube on April 10, 2018. Six days later, Cena and Bella called off their engagement and announced their breakup. Hence, The Leader of the Cenation never appeared again on Bella Twins' YouTube channel.
#1. John Cena is now a Hollywood star
Over the past few years, John Cena has transitioned from a full-time WWE Superstar to a part-time one. He has since been focusing on his acting career.
In an interview with WrestleTalk in 2017, Big Match John disclosed that he could no longer wrestle regularly in Vince McMahon's company while working in Hollywood.
"Here is the absolute fact, when you sign up to do a movie insurance doesn't let you wrestle. The movie only shoots for so long and then you've got to plan to do stuff like this, you have to promote an event. That's like having Wrestlemania and not letting everybody know where to get a ticket, nobody would show up, so you do have to make time to promote. I don't ever want to rob the consumer and phone in a performance and I don't feel at my age that I can do a full WWE schedule, but I know that I can still contribute and I will contribute in any way shape or form," he said," he said. [H/T: Give Me Sport]
Cena has starred in several hit movies, including F9: The Fast Saga alongside Vin Diesel, and The Suicide Squad alongside Sylvester Stallone, Margot Robbie, and Idris Elba. He is also now the star of the television series Peacemaker.
The 45-year-old last competed in WWE in August 2021 when he lost to Roman Reigns in a Universal Championship match at SummerSlam. Following his brief comeback to WWE, Cena returned to Hollywood to continue working on his acting projects. This year, he stars in several movies, including The Bubble and Project X-Traction.