John Cena Compares Wrestling to Stand-Up: ‘There’s So Many Parallels’

To the extent that John Cena has built an acting career outside of the wrestling ring, it’s been mainly in comedy. More straight-faced actioners like 12 Rounds haven’t done as well for him as the deadpan humor of his characters in the likes of Trainwreck and Coyote vs. ACME. In an interview with Trevor Noah (h/t to Fightful for the transcription) he explains why — stand-up comics and wrestlers have a lot in common.

“Even at the highest level — most of the time; there are very rare cases — you pay your own way, you book your own travel, you organize your own life. You are responsible for your own gear. The act is yours, even though you’re a part of this giant body,” he said.

Cena also noted that both professions have to, effectively, be able to call an audible in the ring, saying, “When the crickets happen, you got to be like, ‘Change it up right now, do this’ or if you have a whole elaborate thing planned and you go out and look at each other and people are going nuts, scratch the plan, do this. So, you have to be quick, you have to pivot…It’s not what you do; you have to do things at the right spot.”

Finally, he pointed out that the road to the top is very similar in both professions. “We’re all gypsies; it’s all road shows. You start small, you start working these POS places that are like underground clubs. In wrestling, it’s like flea markets.”

Check out the whole thing below: