John Cena spent years putting WWE ahead of almost everything else, and he now admits he tried to make up for it with his wallet. Looking back, Cena realizes buying gifts wasn’t much of a substitute for actually being there.
Speaking with Rick Ucchino of The Takedown on Sports Illustrated, Cena admitted that his full-time WWE schedule turned him into a workaholic. His way of dealing with the time he was missing with loved ones was to shower them with gifts.
“When I was full-time with WWE, the most important thing was literally covering my tracks for being a workaholic. So, I was a big gift giver, thinking that I could kind of buy through my workaholism. And now the most important thing for me is to be with those and connect with those I love.”
Cena’s priorities have clearly changed. Instead of trying to compensate for being absent, he now puts more value on actually spending time with his family. That explains his holiday routine too. Cena revealed during the same interview that he essentially becomes a “ghost” from work around December 15 until early January, splitting that time between his family in Massachusetts and his wife’s family in Canada.
For someone who spent years living the nonstop WWE schedule, Cena seems to have learned the obvious lesson the hard way — you can buy plenty of gifts, but you can’t buy back the time you weren’t there.
What do you make of John Cena admitting he tried to compensate for being a WWE workaholic by buying gifts? Let us know what you think in the comments.
