John Cena is responding to the people who judge him for not having children, and he has a clear answer that explains his point.
Speaking to Trevor Noah, he noted that just because others think he’d make a great dad doesn’t mean he owes it to anyone. The WWE legend also got personal about his father, revealing he spent 45 years wishing his dad were someone else
Noah brought it up right away, and Cena met the question with a joke. He fired back that the whole parent-shame angle came out of nowhere, then made it clear the reason he has no kids is simple biology.
“Whoa, man. You came out of the gate with the parent-shame club. Should I be ducking that? Sperm has never fertilized an egg.”
Noah argued that plenty of people wish they had a dad as thoughtful and caring as Cena. It was meant as a compliment, and it set up the real heart of the conversation. Cena leaned right into it and flipped the question around. He asked whether being seen as good at something is actually a reason to commit to it, especially something that can’t be undone.
“Just because someone thinks I would be good at something… is that reason enough to do it? And it is not a commitment where, like, four months in, I’m like, ‘You know, this wasn’t my thing.’”
He said the wisdom people admire in him comes from the freedom he’s had. Time without those obligations, he explained, is what made him who he is.
“The time I’ve had to live life is how I’ve developed the wisdom, is how I’ve developed the nuance. It’s because I’m here, I’m present.”
Cena also gave a shoutout to his wife, Shay Shariatzadeh, saying their marriage is built on trust and independence. While he sat down with Noah, she was off doing her own thing in New York, and he said he doesn’t worry about it for a second.
“My wife is curious and independent, and we love each other and we respect our… She’s doing something in New York. And I have no fear in what she’s doing, and I have full trust in what she’s doing. Which allows me to be here with you guys fully to maybe learn something, to develop a little, maybe another layer of the onion like that.”
He tied it all together by saying his current life shaped the man everyone sees today. Taking on different commitments, he said, would have meant becoming someone else.
“It’s the time without those commitments… that has led me to be who I am. So if I did have those commitments, I wouldn’t be who I am. It’s all hypothetical. Everybody has kids.”
Cena then acknowledged that most people do aspire to have a family, which puts him in a small group. He admitted that choosing a different path makes people look at him sideways.
“Well, that’s not necessarily true, but a majority of the folks do. They aspire to have a family. So because I don’t want to, I’m an oddball.”
He said the reaction can be harsh, but he’s at peace with his decision. All he wants is to stay in his own lane and be left alone about it.
“Like, ‘What the f*** is wrong with you?’ Like… I just want to choose to be over here in my lane in life. And I understand that that is not the majority.”
Cena says the constant questions don’t rattle him, and they actually push him to check in with himself. Every time, he comes up with the same answer.
“So living in that small bracket, you’ve got to answer a lot of questions. And that’s okay, because it also makes me think about, like, ‘Man, am I second-guessing anything?’ And I’m not. I’m not.”
He added that his curiosity about life is as strong as ever, and that he knows exactly what the commitment of fatherhood involves. He isn’t walking away from it blindly: “I’m still, like, so interested in what’s out there. And gosh, I know what the commitment is.”
Then the conversation took an emotional turn when Cena opened up about his own dad. He praised his father for raising five kids and working hard, but admitted he spent decades wanting him to be a different person.
“And, man, even my dad was a great dad. He raised five of us, worked his ass off, yet me growing up, I wanted him to be somebody he wasn’t. And, like, I’m talking grown up, to, like, 45 years old.”
Everything changed at 46, when Cena decided to stop waiting for his father to become someone else. He chose to meet him where he was, and the results speak for themselves.
“And then at 46, I was like, ‘Man, maybe I’ll just try to meet that somewhere he’s at.’ And now we have a much better relationship.”
Cena reflected on what those years must have felt like for his father. He said it was a long wait for a dad hoping for a good relationship with his son, with no guarantee it would ever happen.
“Gosh, what a steep hill to climb for my old man. A 45-year commitment, maybe looking for a good relationship with his son, and just because I’m over here thinking, ‘I want you to be somebody,’ and you’re not that person, and hoping that maybe one day it turns around, and not knowing if it’s going to or not, and it’s really not in your control.”
It’s a rare moment of vulnerability from one of wrestling’s biggest stars, and it paints a picture of a man who has thought hard about the life he’s chosen. Whether people agree with his decision or not, Cena sounds completely at peace with it, and with the father he finally learned to appreciate.
Should John Cena’s choice to skip fatherhood be nobody’s business but his own, or does it surprise you that a man so many people see as a role model decided it wasn’t for him? Let us know what stories you want to see us cover next in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
