John Cena is not acting like retirement left some giant hole in his life. Turns out, he has been thinking about something a lot bigger than WWE — death.
While speaking to NPR, Cena admitted he thinks about mortality often now, and that has made him more grateful for the present instead of desperate to replace the 23-year WWE chapter he just closed.
“Yes. I will die, and I think about that often. And I never — you know what? I always used to say it out loud, like, as a young person, again, having fun with life. Like, ‘Oh, I’m never going to make it till I’m 40, or if I make it till I’m 40, I’ve overstayed my welcome.’ That was just cannon fodder and to do things that were, like, dopamine hits. Like, that is just a way to say that to be like, ‘This is OK to do ’cause I’m not going to make it till 40, right?'”
Cena said that younger version of himself used death as a joke and an excuse to chase quick thrills. Now, he sees it very differently. He knows everyone dies, and instead of letting that scare him, it makes him appreciate the time he has right now. That mindset is also why he says there is no emotional hole after retirement.
“Now my perspective has changed that we all die. We are all going to die. And it gives me gratitude towards the now. It makes me excited for things down the road. It allows me to reflect with great feelings. It’s why I don’t have a void for retirement. I have love and gratitude and thanks. If my day gets a little gritty, I’m alive, you know?”
That ties directly into how Cena looks at the end of his WWE run. He is not trying to replace wrestling with some new obsession or pretend the chapter did not matter. He said he is at peace with it, and that peace lets him move forward with joy instead of panic.
“Instead of a void, it’s more like gratitude. I’m not trying to replace that chapter with anything. And I wouldn’t even plan it the way I planned it if I hadn’t come to peace with it. I’m still filled with joy, love, curiosity. There’s so much to do in the world. There’s so much to do in life.”
Cena also said that when people talk about the worst thing that can happen, the real answer is not being alive at all. He knows life will keep throwing new problems at him as he gets older, but that reality only makes him more aware of what he still has.
“When we start saying, like, what’s the worst that could happen, you could not be alive, you know? And I know life will deal me a whole set of challenges, and the challenges will get different exponentially as the days go on and the birthdays pass.”
The 17-time World Champion stated that people should think about mortality more often, not in a depressing way, but as a fact of life. For him, remembering that time is limited makes everything feel more valuable.
“I think about my mortality often, and I encourage folks to do more of that, and not from a morbid sense — from a factual sense. We all think we got all the time in the world. And I think when you realize you don’t, it helps you appreciate the time you have, at least from my perspective.”
Bottom line, Cena is not crying over the end of his WWE career. He is looking at it like someone who knows he got a hell of a ride and does not need to chase the same feeling forever. Death changed the way he sees life, and that is exactly why retirement feels like gratitude instead of loss.
What do you think about John Cena’s outlook on death and WWE retirement? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comments below.
