With John Cena's professional wrestling career set to come to an end next year after spending 2025 on a farewell tour around the WWE Universe, it's safe to say the only place “The Champ” will run as the face of will be Hollywood… and Atlanta, Toronto, and everywhere else movie productions happen nowadays.
Stopping by Screencrush to discuss his film career and what he's learned from screen acting that he could potentially bring back to the squared circle for matches, promos, and backstage segments, Cena noted that, funny enough, he really hasn't taken much from his acting chops, but he has taken much of what he's learned in WWE to the acting world, as his decades in the trenches have taught him a ton about stage presence.
“Amazingly enough, it's the opposite. I used to always think about how WWE is different from acting because WWE is so big and so theatrical. There are so many more moments now that I'm like, ‘Man, this parallels my existence in WWE.' And they do run a whole lot of parallel lines,” John Cena told Screencrush. “And gosh, am I grateful for the 22 years so far that I've had in WWE, and as I retire next year, I'm really excited for that tour and to close that chapter. I will never forget the wisdom I've received from that, and it helps me in my everyday professional and personal life.”
While calling WWE Superstars, and professional wrestlers in general actors has long been used as a term to discredit their specific athletic pursuit, as the sport is *spoiler alert* scripted and written in advance, the chops really can translate if a performer has a good head on their shoulders and a growth mindset, as folks like Dave Bautista have clearly proven. If Cena can draw on his wrestling background for his scenes, be they dramatic, comedic, or something in between, it's safe to say his time in WWE has served his future prospects perfectly.
John Cena hopes to see more good wrestling movies like The Wrestler
Elsewhere in his conversation with Screencrush, Cena was asked about the professional wrestling movie landscape, which simply hasn't featured as many quality contributions to the cannon as other sports.
Does Cena know why WWE and wrestling in general haven't produced more quality pictures? Well, some of that might have to do with the Kayfabe goings-on of backstage wrestling happenings, which is starting to change are more promotions release more behind-the-scenes documentaries.
“Those are great questions. I think for the longest time, possibly it was just because of the misunderstanding that everyone had, or maybe the cloak of secrecy that the business itself tried to cast. I think now a lot of that cloak has been lifted. As a matter of fact, as we see more and more behind-the-scenes footage from WWE, and they're doing more and more documentaries, I think the more information that gets out there and the more stories that the world knows, the more movie ideas are out there and the more series ideas are out there,” John Cena told Screencrush.
“There's been a few that have been really good. I really did like The Wrestler. I thought it was just so sad and emotional. And I remember starting out on the independent circuit and wrestling a lot of guys who had been in the industry for a long time. That movie struck a chord on the beginnings of my career. So it allowed me to look back and romanticize a little bit of that, but also it was a very well done performance [by Mickey Rourke]. When it came out, of course, I'm in WWE, and everyone's like “What did you think of The Wrestler?” I thought it was a sad movie. It could have been called The Rockstar or The Baseball Player, but I was so glad they chose wrestling to use as a forum to tell that story because it made a good movie about wrestling. And then with one that's a success, people were like “Oh man, maybe we can do something with this. Iron Claw was another one that just came out, there was a really good one. There've been scattered ones, but gosh, what a treasure chest of stories WWE and professional wrestling is in general. So who knows? Maybe there's a bright future there.”
Between movies like The Wrestler – my personal favorite – The Iron Claw, and the forthcoming picture about Hulk Hogan taking down Gawker, it's safe to say there could be a neo-wrestling boom period over the next few years, ranking right up there with the old Lucha movies of the 1960s and 1970s that featured many of Mexico's top stars at the time… or, you know, something a bit more prestigious like a Hart Foundation movie.
Follow Us
Subscribe