John Cena recently spoke with Brian Campbell for ESPN.com about his WWE career, balancing outside interests and more; you can read a few excerpts below:
John Cena comments on his mainstream commitments being balanced with his WWE career:
“I’ll answer it like this: Every single day that I don’t have an outside obligation, I will fulfill any commitment that I have to WWE. And I will attach this quote with it that every outside obligation I have is to expand the brand of WWE and there has never been a superstar to say that before.”
Cena says his crossover success hasn’t come overnight:
“It hasn’t been like, ‘Here kid, here’s the key to the city. Keep in mind it has been a 15-year journey for me and an over 30-year journey for the WWE. I guess my mission statement is now to let the world know on a global scale that WWE certainly is a wonderful form of entertainment but its superstars are more than just superstars inside the ring. They do so much more outside the ring and have so much more to offer.”
Cena talks about transitioning his ‘Thuganomics’ character over the years to fit the PG image:
“To me, there was definitely some method behind it. Hip-hop certainly is in sync with the youth and every day that passes I grow less youthful, as much as I have tried to hold onto it. I knew that the platform really wouldn’t be indicative of success. I knew [the PG format] would just drastically change the style and almost cripple the character so I was the one proactively who said ‘no’ and said ‘I would like to take everything another way.'”
Cena says he made a promise to compete for WWE as long as he can be at his best:
“Right now the roster is loaded with characters. It demands that you perform at your best every single night. I don’t believe in shortchanging the consumer. I believe in giving the WWE universe what they want and the day I can’t do that is the day I move aside.”
