John Cena on his LEGENDARY WWE career and Matchbox: The Movie | Capital

No, I don't need headphones for this tune. Do you remember the words? You can't see me, it's my time. In case you forgot or fell off, I'm still hot. Knock your shell off, money's stacked there. Plus, I've never seen something of that magnitude. You were fangirling when you walked in the studio today. We tried to play it cool, but you knew straight away we weren't going to be cool. Because we are big wrestling fans. So am I. Yeah. We're in good company. Me and my brothers grew up watching WWE. We dreamed of being wrestlers when we were younger. We all had our own name. One was called Dynamite Doms. I was Mighty Machine. I think they're great. Yeah. Yeah. and I had like my dad's cycling gear. Yeah. Yeah, and my mom kind of like sewed my name onto it. That's fantastic. I haven't got a picture, but I can actually show you. Yeah, let's see what you got. How on earth are we going to do this justice over the radio? I'm going to try to describe. It is like a piece of flat plywood that is plastered with hair. Somehow we taped the singlet to. This is great. Do you like it? I do. The headphones are a nice touch. Oh, thank you. Are you intimidated? I am, for all the wrong reasons. I was writing machine. And you still fit into it. Yeah, I still fit into it. And also, I had a move called the squeeze mobile, which I think is the best wrestling move. Okay. Who's up for it? Who wants it? This is where I can lean on my career trajectory and say I'm retired. John's retired, so that means it's me. Sorry, Chris, because I'm not getting involved. You didn't ask me if I want to do it Okay, right, so you get him in Get him on the floor, get him on the floor Right, and then you've got him here With your legs, go And you get him right in between And then you squeeze until they tap out Tap out, tap out What did you think of that? I thought it was well done This is what I thought of that I have been lucky enough To be able to walk into studios and talk to radio personalities and journalists for 25 years that is the first time I have ever seen something of that magnitude a quarter of a century first right there you're on the mighty machines undefeated here in the studio I just want to talk music very quickly so I wasn't aware of your previous rap career but you are a successful recording artist platinum rapper hey Hey, take a look. It's unbelievable. Let's play a little. Have you still got it? Do you remember the words? You've got a brand new film out, Apple TV. It's called Matchbox the Movie, obviously inspired by the Matchbox toy cars. Yes. So extremely nostalgic for people like myself and a lot of people listening right now. Do you think this is why this movie is resonating with so many people? Well, what is nostalgia, right? Nostalgia is we hark back on a simpler time in times of uncertainty and chaos. What I love about Matchbox the Movie is it doesn't try to take the toys and make them the forefront. The toys, Matchbox, are a conduit for nostalgia. I was like, how the hell are they going to do this? skeptical very skeptical and then when i found out because because i played with matchbox cars and those are some of my most vivid memories as a young person so how are they going to take what's in my heart and in my mind and do that justice on the screen i'm like there's no way i wanted to go through the due process because i got to be in barbie and i saw what they did with barbie i saw how it was like wow they how they transformed the ip and made it a thoughtful through line and such riveting stories i'm like okay i'll give it a chance and man i'm so happy i did because i'm I'm really, the movie is excellent and it's a pleasant surprise how they use the brand Yes, and also it feels quality in terms of old school Hollywood action, you know, you've you've thrown everything at it, it's unapologetic in a very practical sense too, we actually destroyed all that stuff. Wow, what about that world record with the, yeah, yeah, cannon roll, yes, that's right, yeah you've done your homework, I appreciate that, unbelievable but was that also enticing, that you knew there'd be real stunts and you'd be doing some yourself, I presume so that was not the enticing part, I didn't want to do the stunts myself, I have had enough matches in my life, I'm retired, uh but our director Sam Hargrave started as a stunt performer and then a coordinator, second unit director now he's a very established director and his lane is practical action, he would definitely want to do it for real and then know he have CGI as a fallback So we do a lot of stuff for real and a lot of, he's really pushy on I want the person to do the action and that's not the norm because there's the whole insurance risks and all that but because of his background and he's brought his whole crew with him on these journeys, he is the best in the world and works for the best in the world. So he knows when something is safe. That doesn't mean it's comfortable for me. I was jumping off a building, he's crapping my pants. Tom Cruise is quaking. He is quaking. No, he is not His position is safe. I am not... I'll jump off a building for Sam but not for anybody else. But you must be so expensive to insure as well. Think about it. Oh, yeah. I'm not paying for the insurance policy. Tell me about the helicopter scene then because you're scared of heights like me as well Oh, yeah. Was that you or was that a stunt double? No, that's me. Yeah, so I will say, to Sam Hargrave's credit, before we even started shooting the movie, he sent me a syllabus of, like, things I expect from John Cena. Gold standard. Wishlist. So he had levels of daredevil-ness that he wanted to push me to. And when you meet Sam, you can't help but really fall into his gravity. He's an inspirational person in my life to this day. I consider him a great friend. So somebody you want to do right by. And when he says, trust me, man, you're going to be safe, even though I don't want to do it, for him, I'll do it. Fair enough. Meet your heroes. That's what we're saying this morning. On that, this is incredible what I read here. You hold a record for having granted the most make-a-wish wishes in history. One of my monikers in WWE is never give up, and that's a model of persistence. This is over 650 Make-A-Wish wishes. Wow. What I'm reading here is said that you've made a commitment to drop everything at any time to fulfill a wish. Logistically, even for you, how do you do that? You have children and families who the children are facing life-threatening illnesses. So the families have a steep hill to climb. A lot of them are just engrossed in treatment, and their days are not normal. They're not the quote-unquote normal day. I get to be a conduit for joy and escape. So if I'm in a WWE arena, even right before that music we just listened to is about to play, and someone says, hey, there's this child from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, they just want to say hello. I have literally, as my music has been playing, hugging people, thanking them. To be like, thanks for being here, but get out there because I'm about to go out there. We're about to have some fun. I cannot conceptualize if someone was given one wish, that wish is like you know what for the day i want to kick it with John Cena and i'll i'll never forget the gravity of my first experience when i found out what that was and like okay they're given this one wish and they make a wish has the resource to make a lot of crazy stuff happen and they want to hang out with me yeah and that's why over the years i just i put it at the priority the top of the priority list make a wish looked after my little brother as well and they made so many amazing days and dreams come true for him so it really does and it's a wonderful amazing It is a situation to give people an escape and a day off that have earned it. And what you would have done what those people will remember for the rest of their life. Thank you so much for saying that. Right, Matchbox the movie, which is on Apple TV right now. Go and see it. It's really good. It's John Cena. Thank you so much.