In an interview with the Ottawa Sun Newspaper to promote WrestleMania, John Cena compared himself to polarizing NFL star Tim Tebow, addressed why his character generates so much love and hatred from different segments of the WWE Universe, and talked about whether he would ever fully turn heel:
“In a verbal sense and an athletic sense, this is a reactive business,” said Cena. “It’s one of those deals, remember, when Steve Austin was flipping everyone off, doing all of those things considered evil things, he became the ultimate cool guy.
“On the flip side of things, although I can handle business when I need to, I really make conscious choices to do the right thing. There’s still a giant portion of the audience associated to the Attitude era that I believe thinks I am a bad guy.
“But I’m not a bad guy. I generate so much hatred just because of the way I act. I look at Tim Tebow as a good example. People couldn’t stop saying his name. He’s such a standup guy. People don’t believe it because it’s almost too good to be true. And he generates that hatred.
“I have fun with this business. I love every second of it. I love to be right there in the middle of the hunt. At the end of the day, it’s not my job to force people in any direction. I just go out there and see what happens. You can analyze character development all day, but with the current state of affairs, there is no need or rationale for me to deviate from what I’m doing.”
After that telling statement, the article then switches gears to talk about Cena’s now-legendary work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Says Cena:
“Families are getting one wish … I often try to put myself in those shoes and I can’t do it. There are so many things I want to be a part of, but to have a family or child say: ‘I would like to meet John Cena or like to attend a WWE event, that’s my one wish.’ You cannot not be happy about that.”
Lastly Cena talks about the kids who look up to him:
“I don’t think it’s necessarily important for the kids to look up to me … I think it’s important for them to look up to someone. In present day and age, sometimes I am that someone. As long as you’re the someone, you need to make conscious decisions about who’s watching you. I have very good estimation on our audience, especially the ones that follow me. I try to handle myself accordingly.”
