John Cena admitted he once secretly pursued a lucrative social networking startup deal behind Vince McMahon’s back, leveraging his own name and intellectual property without first clearing it with his longtime boss. Cena made the confession during a recent appearance on the Wild Card podcast, framing it as a rare moment when he violated the trust of the former WWE Chairman.
Cena said he considered joining an entrepreneurial social networking startup but never told McMahon, despite a relationship in which the two discussed every major career decision. His reasoning, he admitted, was purely financial.
One time, I tried to get involved with an entrepreneurial social network startup and I didn’t tell my boss and we talk about everything,” Cena said. “In potentially being a part of the startup, my name’s John Cena, so I would essentially be leveraging intellectual property. That’s a team decision. I love and trust my boss, he’s far more than my boss.
McMahon’s Response
The twist, according to Cena, was McMahon’s uncharacteristic reaction. Rather than exploding over the breach, McMahon walked him through the potential business and contractual fallout of chasing an outside deal while under WWE contract.
My boss found out and to be honest, he was great,” Cena said. “He walked me through it, like okay, this is the choice you’ve made, let’s walk through all the tentacles of what might happen. In a moment, it was a direct violation of trust to somebody I had worked for years.
Cena credited McMahon’s patience and entrepreneurial perspective for helping him see the bigger picture. After that conversation, the 17-time World Champion withdrew from the venture before it moved forward:
It was a moment where he could’ve just got nuclear, because trust takes years to build and moments to destroy. He didn’t. He had patience, tolerance, and I think possibly as an entrepreneur himself, he tried to put himself in my shoes and walked through it. It took five minutes or less to realize, ‘I’m such an idiot.’ I immediately called the company back and said, ‘I’m out, this isn’t for me.'
John Cena has continued his involvement with WWE after retirement as promised, most recently announcing The John Cena Classic. The tournament aims to give young talents a chance to showcase their abilities on a bigger stage with some unique ideas, such as fan voting. Though WWE is still figuring out the format for it, as Cena mentioned that there is a concern about the whole thing being hijacked by bots and overzealous fans with burner accounts.