John Cena: 16-time WWE World Champion turned actor (Peacemaker, the Suicide Squad). One of the most decorated pro wrestlers ever, now winding down his in-ring career with one match left.
What this episode covers
John Cena joins Joe Rogan and wrestling superfan Tony Hinchcliffe for a wide-ranging, philosophical conversation that is light on hard facts and heavy on life lessons. Cena recounts learning Mandarin for a decade to crack the Chinese market and the 'Chinese Taipei' apology controversy that nearly got him fired from Peacemaker. He breaks down the brutal physical toll of wrestling, why he never took a single pain pill across roughly ten surgeries, and how WWE's grind parallels a stand-up comic's touring life. The thread running through it all is Cena's optimism-bias philosophy: capitalize on the opportunities life throws at you, get out of your own way, and treat everything as a happy accident. They close on YouTuber IShowSpeed as a model of fearless, courageous opportunity-taking.
Recommended on this episode
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
Chris Bell (director)
“his documentaries are [ __ ] incredible. Bigger, stronger, faster... is such a [ __ ] great documentary”— Joe Rogan
Prescription Thugs
Chris Bell (director)
“that documentary like blew the lid off of like the reality of steroids. Prescription Thugscription is another great one.”— Joe Rogan
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
Trainwreck
Judd Apatow (director)
“Jud Appattow and Amy Schumer gave me a chance on um uh gosh, Train Wreck and it was a very small part”— John Cena
Roller Coaster Tycoon
Chris Sawyer
“I just remember playing Roller Coaster Tycoon on my laptop, fold that [ __ ] up, putting it away”— John Cena
Gone with the Wind
Victor Fleming
“they're not essentially putting Gone with the Wind out in the universe. Like it's like you got you're only as good as your next one”— John Cena
Big reveals from this episode
- Cena's 'Taiwan is a country' teleprompter read in Mandarin sparked a controversy that forced him to apologize to China and anger the US.
- He went to James Gunn and offered to be fired from Peacemaker over the fallout.
- Across roughly 10 surgeries (neck fusion, both triceps, pec reattachment) Cena says he never took a single pain pill.
- Cena admits 'everybody hated me' early on and that he kept his job purely because the crowd noise demanded another match.
- His career-defining rapper gimmick was a happy accident, born from freestyling on the tour bus and a dare from his brother.
- WWE schedule has collapsed from ~220-230 matches a year down to about 70.
- Cena reveals he only recently mended a lifelong broken relationship with his 80-year-old father.
Worth remembering
- Cena studied Mandarin for about 10 years and used to dream in it, but never learned to read the characters.
- He took up Mandarin to help WWE break into the Chinese market after signing up for the company's free second-language program.
- Cena says a cadaver-tendon ACL graft healed roughly six months faster than a patellar-tendon graft.
- A cadaver tendon acts as 'scaffolding' that your own cells repopulate, so you feel better before you actually are better.
- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told Rogan he works 7 days a week, wakes at 4:30am, and is motivated by fear of failure.
- Of WWE's ~200-person NXT development program, Cena estimates maybe one in 6,000 over six years truly makes it.
- Before wrestling, Cena tried to become a cop and considered joining the Marines.
- While working at Gold's Gym Venice, Cena chose to sleep in his 1991 Lincoln Continental in the parking lot.
- Cena did the bit walking out 'naked' with only an index card at the Oscars after Jimmy Kimmel pitched it the night before.
- YouTuber IShowSpeed has over 46 million subscribers and beat a near-Olympic-level sprinter in viral races.