OPINION: John Cena

"A hero is somebody who is selfless, who is generous in spirit, who just tries to give back as much as possible and help people. A hero to me is someone who saves people and who really deeply cares."

– Debi Mazar

John Cena.

Now that's a name that I never thought I'd mention here but well, here I am. For the longest time, I never completely understood what drew people to Cena, why so many people adored him as a wrestler and an actor. I didn’t really think that he was anything special and that he wasn’t really that good as a wrestler (yeah, I was in the “Cena sucks” camp for a while but hey opinions can change as time passes, right?). I wasn’t a fan of his acting either for the longest time. Of course, the first movie I saw Cena in was his film debut The Marine and it wasn’t a movie I liked so looking back I shouldn’t have judged his acting just by his first movie. So yeah, needless to say, I wasn’t a fan of Cena for the longest time and didn’t give him a fair chance both as a wrestler and an actor.

Then I came across the show Peacemaker. I've never seen The Suicide Squad by James Gunn (of Guardians of the Galaxy fame) but have heard about it enough times to know what it's about. Not going to lie, I fell in love with the show after three episodes. It debuted at a time where my mental health deteriorated to the point of losing hope and the will to live, to keep fighting and to keep both my hope and fighting spirit alive after three agonizing years of hardship that included two bouts of homelessness and ill health. It also showed me how wrong I was about John Cena in more ways than one. Then I stumbled upon a video on YouTube of John Cena meeting fans who surprised him from a few years ago. Not going to lie, I cried watching it. Hearing their stories, it made my struggles with mental illness and arthritis seem small.

Then I went on YouTube and found every one of John’s matches that I could find and watched them. I was once again proven how wrong I was about him. It was at that point that I began to understand why people love John so much and why he inspired so many. His message “Never Give Up” was a mantra that I once dedicated myself to and somewhere along the way, I lost sight of what “Never Give Up” truly meant.

Then February 23, 2022 happened. It was just an ordinary day for me. Nothing special about it. I know earlier that morning, I had posted something on Twitter on how I was going to make changes to my life after fighting depression, PTSD and anxiety for so long and even tagged John Cena in a pic (that had a quote from him on it) that I posted on Twitter. I thought nothing of it at the time then something happened that I never thought would happen. At least, not to me.

John Cena followed me on Twitter.

At first, I thought it was a fake account that followed me then I looked at John’s Twitter page and saw that it was truly him. I was shocked, in awe and in total disbelief. I couldn’t believe that a famous pro-wrestler like John Cena would follow someone like me on Twitter. I mean, I’m not anyone special. I’m just a woman who is trying to navigate her way through life and follow her dreams. But I was also honored that John decided to follow me on Twitter and I still feel that way even after over a month later.

I'm glad to have found Peacemaker when I did a month ago.It gave me some much needed laughs and had me shed a few tears at a time where I needed some much needed relief from the stresses of mental illness and arthritis. I’m also glad to have been proven wrong when it came to John Cena and I’m not ashamed to admit that. I’ve been proven wrong time after time and this is one of the rare times where I’m glad to be proven wrong.

If there's one thing I wish I can say to John in person, it's thank you.

Thank you for all that you do for your fans inspiring them to never give up.

Thank you for bringing a character like Christopher Smith/Peacemaker to life.

And most importantly, thank you for making a believer and a fan out of me.