John Cena compares himself to a fine vintage classic car.
The 16 time world champion has been one of the top stars of all time in the sport of professional wrestling for almost two decades, but is at a point in his career where he is admittedly slowing down. The leader of the Cenation has spoken at length about wanting to be finished in the ring by 50.
While appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Cena was asked would there finally be a time where fan's really won't be able to see him.
"I'll be 47 in April and the product is filled with superstars who are young, fast, and gifted. I'm just not as fast as I once was. I compare myself to like a fine vintage classic car. So if you want to take it out one day, you got to warm it up for about two and a half hours, then you can take it out and you can hit the last gear, but please don't pin it to red line. I can go for about 30 minutes. Then after you drive for 30 minutes, you got to take it back in the shop and fix all the noises it was making. I'm leaking fluids from places I didn't know I had places. So it's pretty rough around the edges."
Cena was then asked about how he came to be hired by WWE as a professional wrestler. Cena signed with WWE in 2001 before debuting the very next year on SmackDown.
"So I was living in a garage in Venice, California, and I had picked up... professional wrestling as a hobby. I did not know what I was going to do with my life. I tried to be a cop. I failed the CHP exam. I couldn't apply my college degree. I was going to go down to be a Marine. And the weekend I was going to go down, a friend was like, hey, we're training to be wrestlers in Orange County. I didn't even know there was such a thing. So when I saw a ring, I was like, I will figure it out to do this as a hobby. Never anything more than that. I just wanted to live like Superman on the weekends and then I finally get my big contract with WWE. I got a call from Bruce Prichard, head of talent relations at the time. He said, 'we want to sign you to $12,500 a year.' And living in California, I quit my job right away, and I was balling like a newborn baby. I couldn't have been happier. I view it as a chance to better myself, and I'm very grateful for that opportunity because it's brought us here today."
Cena has not competed in WWE since Crown Jewel on November 4th of last year. Solo Sikoa would defeat Cena in singles competition on that night, taking him out of action.
In another recent interview, Cena stated that he doesn't know if he'll be free for WrestleMania 40 weekend. You can read more on that here.
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