John Cena recently looked back on an important moment early in his WWE career, revealing that Vince McMahon stopped him from making what he now considers one of the biggest mistakes of his life.
Speaking with NPR, Cena shared how his desire to earn more money almost led him into a business deal that could have created problems with WWE’s intellectual property. Instead of getting angry, McMahon calmly explained the situation. Moreover, he helped Cena understand why it was a bad idea before anything went wrong.
John Cena says Vince McMahon saved him from making a big mistake
As his career took off, Cena started looking for ways to make extra money. One opportunity was a social networking startup. But before joining the project, he forgot to discuss it with Vince McMahon.
Looking back, Cena realized that using the “John Cena” name for a business wasn’t entirely his choice because the character was closely connected to WWE.
“I think one time I tried to get involved with an entrepreneurial social network startup. And I didn’t tell my boss. And we talk about everything. This was like, man, we’re going to do this together. And in potentially being part of this startup, I would – my name’s John Cena, so I would essentially be leveraging intellectual property,” Cena said.
Cena also admitted that, despite the financial opportunity, he wasn’t really interested in social media or the business itself.
Cena then revealed that when McMahon found out, he went through everything that could happen if he moved forward with the deal. He also explained that it could damage the trust they had built over the years.
“Man, my boss found out, and to be honest, he was great. He was great. He, like, walked me through the – OK, this is the choice you’ve made. Let’s walk through all the tentacles…,” Cena said.
John Cena admitted McMahon had every reason to be angry. Instead, he stayed calm and talked him through the issue.
“And in a moment where it was a direct violation of trust to somebody I had worked years – and he invested years in trusting me, too, so it was a moment where he could have just gone nuclear because, you know, trust takes years to build and moments to destroy. And he didn’t. He didn’t. He had patience and tolerance. And I think possibly as an entrepreneur himself, maybe tried to put himself in my shoes and walked me through it, and, like, it took five minutes or less to realize, like, I’m such an idiot. And I immediately called the company back and said I’m out. This isn’t for me,” Cena said.
It didn’t take long for the 17-time WWE Champion to realize he had made a mistake.
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