John Cena lived in his automobile earlier than WWE stardom

Fame and fortune weren’t precisely within the playing cards for actor and WWE famous person John Cena early on.

The 46-year-old millionaire moved from West Newbury, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles, California, in 1999, outfitted with an train physiology diploma. Discovering a job within the subject, nonetheless, proved more durable than he’d thought, Cena advised comic Kevin Hart on Peacock speak present “Hart to Coronary heart.”

“I did not transfer out to LA to pursue leisure,” he advised Hart. “[I] got here out right here to use my diploma and actually failed. … I could not get any validation for that piece of paper that I paid for. That four-year certificates from Springfield School saying, ‘We expect you recognize what you are speaking about.'”

After “each avenue of health failed,” and a last-ditch effort to turn out to be a freeway patrol officer fell by, Cena was met with homelessness, sleeping at the back of his 1991 Lincoln Continental and dwelling off free pizza from a neighborhood store.

“They’d a deal the place, for those who may eat their complete pizza, you bought it at no cost,” Cena mentioned, chuckling. “I used to eat there each evening, an entire pizza, so I did not should pay, as a result of I did not have the cash to pay the man.”

The state of affairs was “uncomfortable,” he added, nevertheless it helped him discover out who he was. Cena had the choice to maneuver again house along with his dad and mom, however selected to hold on.

“I am very lucky for my story as a result of it was my option to have onerous occasions,” he mentioned. “My father at all times mentioned, ‘You are my son. I like you. You are at all times welcome again house.’ If I may get to West Newbury, Massachusetts, I’d be fed. I’d have a roof over my head. I’d be capable to regroup.”

“I selected to remain out,” he continued — and his perseverance paid off.

The following yr, Cena enrolled within the Final Professional Wrestling college, Final College, and made his WWE debut shortly after, successful over 15 world championships. He stays one of many highest-paid skilled wrestlers in WWE historical past. 

It is a job Cena did not even know was doable.

“I didn’t know that wrestling was even a profession choice,” he mentioned. “I watched it as a younger man, type of fell out of it as an adolescent, an adolescent, as a result of it is like, ‘Oh, you have gotta examine onerous and perhaps play sports activities and go get an actual job or no matter.'”

Cena can also be well-known for his performing in movies just like the Quick & Livid franchise, and for his philanthropy: He earned a Guinness World Report final yr for probably the most needs granted by the Make-A-Want Basis.

Although his street was bumpy, Cena says he feels fortunate, and he appreciates the journey, even the onerous components. “My complete existence is an accident,” he mentioned. “My complete existence is predicated on a sequence of lucky occasions.”

Disclosure: Peacock and CNBC are owned by the identical mother or father firm, NBCUniversal.

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