John Cena, WWE star and actor, talks to Long Island kids

We met John Cena when he was in Manhattan recently. He was talking about his new book, "Elbow Grease" (Random House Books), and all his other great accomplishments. You may know him as a WWE superstar or a movie actor or as guest host of the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. We know him as a good role model for kids.  

Who was the toughest person you’ve faced in wrestling?

Hands down, Brock Lesnar. Hands down. He is big, bad, mean, fast and everything you would think he is.

Well, at least you beat him.

He beat me. He beat me. But I also beat him. So it’s like we’re kind of even. I hope. 

How many WWE championships did you win?

Great question because of how I’m going to answer it. I’ve won 16. But that also means I’ve lost 16 because I’m not the current champion. The cool thing about being a champion is if you’re not the current champion, the current champion has the championship. You experience the thrill of success, which is awesome, but you also have to come face-to-face with failure because you lost the championship. Now I’ve lost a lot, but instead of being like, "Well, I lost it, this is over," I say, "OK, what did I do wrong, how can I be better and how can I win it again?" So it’s cool that I’ve won it 16 times, which is awesome, but people don’t really realize that I’ve also lost it 16 times. So now I’m trying to spin the wheel to be like, how can I win it again? We’ll see.

You’re just like my dad, because my dad, if he loses something, he’s going to try to get it back. He’s not going to give up.

Yes. And when you win, it’s sometimes tough to realize what you learned. If somebody comes up to you and says you won and you learned this, I know what I learned. I won. I did great. But when you lose, you kind of have to be bad, if you really care about it, and ask why you lost. What happened? What did I do wrong? You know, all I’ve got to do is fix that one thing and next time I’ll be great. Or, I’ve got a lot of work to do, better start now, then I’ll be great. So I think failure is important because you can learn a lot. The book even says if you only stick to stuff you’re good at, you’ll never learn anything. 

Do you like fighting and why?

I don’t like fighting. I believe it’s a total last resort. What we do in WWE is give you guys entertainment. We give you guys a chance to cheer and boo and laugh and maybe get upset. I love wrestling. I love WWE because I get to be an athlete and I get to be a performer and I get to be around people. And it’s totally special.

Can your mom beat you in WWE?

Can my mom beat me? My mom is the strongest person I know. Absolutely the strongest person. And she’s got so much wisdom. The crazy thing about wisdom is you can only get it over time. Someone maybe can throw far or run fast. That’s just how they’re born, and they can work to run faster. Wisdom is just over time. My mom had to put up with five children — all boys — and we were not good kids. She is the strongest person I know. She can beat me at anything. Anything! I have fear in my bones.

Do you play video games?

I have an Atari. I have a Nintendo 8-bit system. I think I have a GameCube as well. I have a Sega Genesis that I play often. I have a Nintendo Switch. 

How did it feel to get slimed at the Kids' Choice Awards?

It’s awesome. Awesome. And the first time, everybody’s like, please don’t slime me. Then they do. It’s Kids' Choice. They always slime you. So you just have to walk in there thinking, I’m going to get slimed.

Who is your hero?

Anyone who enjoys life and does what they love because there are so many people that are like, Oh, work, work, work. Then there are those few people who say, I love my work and I love life. I think those are people that I try to look up to.

What inspired you to have the celebration “You Can’t See Me?”

My little brother dared me to do it. He did this crazy dance where he waved his head in front of his hand. The original one is like this. He kept his hands straight, and I can’t do that. But I can do this. And we were at our house just kind of hanging out, listening to some music. And he started doing this. I was like, This is how you do it. He’s like, You won’t do that on TV. So he dared me not to do it. I said, Go ahead and watch. I’m going to do it.

You did that all because of a dare?

Yeah, and now I’m really invisible! Like I can go, You can’t see me. And people are like, Whoa, where did he go?

Lauren Shea Buckridge, John Ferraro and Laticia Robinson’s students, Grant Avenue Elementary School, Bronx