John Cena talks about his reputation with the fans and more

John Cena will be Grand Marshal at Saturday’s Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure in D.C. (Courtesy of WWE)

John Cena, who is arguably the most recognizable face currently in WWE, has become one of the biggest proponents of breast cancer awareness. When Cena isn’t grappling in the ring — and drawing equal number of cheers and jeers as a golden boy that some fans love and others love to hate — he is frequently found supporting charitable causes.

The Washington Post did an interview with him over the weekend. Here are some excerpts:

You take part in charity and cause events more than anyone else in WWE, it seems, and you’ve been doing it for more than a decade now. Does it still have the same sense of fulfillment after all these years?

Absolutely. Especially something like this, the Global Race for the Cure in D.C. is enormous. I get to pretty much grand marshal the race, get to rile everybody up, get them set to run a good one. When I talk about that instance with my brother, my goal is to help people. When you walk down this career path — you say I’ve been doing this close to a decade — your goals change as your career goes on. You want to spend your time making a difference after you’ve become successful. I guess that’s the easiest way to say it. With this, early detection is the way to fight and beat this thing. D.C. has the highest mortality rate in breast cancer. So to be able to grand marshal the Global Race in D.C., it makes a difference. Hopefully it will help save some people’s lives.

When dealing with your own body, how do you take care of yourself in an industry that’s dangerous and also gets its share of public bad news every so often?

I think that bad news is relative. You hear bad news through all of sports, in all of life. It’s not just entertainers or athletes. There are people with problems in life. The way I stay on top of that is, honestly, regularly scheduled check-ups, listening to my body, making sure I push myself to the limit and not beyond. You can only do what you handle.

A lot has changed with WWE in the past decade in terms of health and well-being, do you think the younger wrestlers are now better informed and know their limits?

With the addition of impact testing, the addition of drug testing, the formulation of developmental territories where these younger WWE superstars are getting the best medical attention, the best financial advice, getting future advice — the company has literally leaps and bounds improved the work environment to the best it’s ever been. Being a WWE superstar is now a greater achievement and a greater luxury than it’s ever been.

Your status with the fans is kind of split these days and has been for a little while. Does that every impact the things you do outside of the ring?

Dude. You say a little while. On April 6 we just celebrated the 30th anniversary of Wrestlemania. I distinctly remember Wrestlemania 22 in Chicago, hearing the loudest one-sided reaction opposite me I’ve ever heard. Since then it’s been like that. It’s been eight years now. That stuff doesn’t transfer. The few audience members that it does transfer, they don’t have a proper sense of what’s going on.