John Cena Loves America Because It's Diverse
John Cena is a man of the people. Even if you don't follow WWE, you'll know him from getting dunked on Parks and Recreation, playing Amy Schumer's boyfriend in Trainwreck, or hosting SNL. But he was opened up to a whole new mass of fans last year when during the middle of the Presidential Election he released a PSA with the Ad Council as a way to redefine what patriotism and Americanism can mean to all of us. Or at least try.
It's a herculean effort, a word that Cena carries well with his ripped physique, easy smile, and more than a generous dose of grace. The video spread like wildfire as many were pleasantly surprised to see a man of his shape and stature make a clear, strong argument for loving all people–even if he thinks we shouldn't have been surprised. He just launched a newly revamped line of active apparel with WWE and JCPenney, so we caught up with him for a few minutes to find out where he learned about the America he sees, his record breaking relationship with Make A Wish, and how we should approach those who live in ways that are different from our own.
Cena has lived a diverse America experience. That's why he made the "We Are America" PSA for the Ad Council's "Love Has No Labels" Campaign, and that's why he loves it here.
The reason we are a successful body of work as a nation is because we are a melting pot. That is what America is. So when you look at the actual levels of diversity that we have in the United States of America, that makes this place so wonderful. There's no shame in appreciating that.
And I love the United States of America, I thoroughly support our military, through broadcasting WWE and visiting our men and women in uniform, and letting them know how grateful I am that they allow me to live in such a wonderful country. A lot of folks do that, but then again sometimes we forget how wonderful this place is and truly how diverse it is.
I'm a guy who lives life to the fullest and lives life the way that I want, and I wouldn't want anyone to tell me how to run my show. So I appreciate that everyone has the strength to do things their way.
This open and inclusive point of view has been with him since he was a kid, and recognizes shared experiences beyond perceived status.
I've certainly always been my own individual, I think you can talk to every human being in the world and they've been bullied or been chastised for their decision-making process or maybe the way they look or their lifestyle or whatnot. But it's just something that even at a young age I always, always stuck to my guns.
As the record holder for the Make A Wish Foundation, he gets as much out of meeting with kids and making dreams come true as the fans whose wishes he's fulfilling.
If you give someone one wish that wish is "I'd like to hang out with John Cena for the day…," I can't even begin to quantify that. That's just amazing to hear. It's extremely humbling.
And then to meet these kids and their families who I can only imagine how tough some of the days, if not all of the days, are. Then to be able to see the joy that you can bring to somebody, and the escape that you can bring them where for a day they're just a normal kid and a normal family having a great time, hanging around and being able to see us perform… There's so many things that I get from those experiences, so very many and it's a special charity to me.
I think the WWE business model was built for Make A Wish because we perform so many times so we are able to grant so many wishes, like meeting their favorite superstar and then watching them perform. As exciting as our events are, and as much as I love them, they're relatively low stress, so the focus becomes about the guest and making the guest experience great. I'm just really fortunate to be able to do it.
If he had to give a piece of advice, it would be to keep the good people around you, drop the rest.
I think, and certainly I believe in this more and more as every day passes, you should surround yourself with good people. A lot of times in life we go through bad relationships, whether it be intimate ones or people that are personally close to you. It makes it very hard when those relationships are deeply, emotionally tied, but you should surround yourself with good people because that makes you feel good. If you're having a down day the good people can bring you up, and if they need some help, you can help as well.
If the ex is a person that brings you down and is a bad person, I say, "No, thank you." I just hope you surround yourself with good people.
This relaunch of Tapout with WWE and JCPenney is more than just an apparel brand-it's another way to serve his fans and his community.
I helped build the brand, and the reason I wanted to is because they took a good look at what I stand for and rebranded Tapout to give consumers what I want.
You have some apparel and athletic wear brands that are super high-end, and super low-end, and we wanted to give our consumer an unbelievably high-end product at great value. That took a lot of help with our partner JCPenney. JCPenney believed in our vision and they chose to put us in stores. It's been a tremendous success and that's because our product speaks for itself.
We at WWE, and I personally, promote Tapout because they made one hell of a line of stuff, but at the end of the day I can scream as much as I want about something, and if it's not any good it won't do any good. We've had tremendous success with the rebranding: we're launching a youth line, we're launching a female line, that's all available on JCP.com. It will be in stores very, very soon.
I love what it stands for because I'm always active so the clothes actually work, it would be comparable to putting on a finely tailored suit rather than a blocky, uncomfortable suit you just feel like you're ready to go and then on top of that it's a great value so you don't have to break the bank to get great looking, great wearing athletic stuff.
Evolution and expansion means you're doing something right.
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