Transcript of John Cena

Hello everyone, welcome to another episode of Good Hang. We have John Cena with us today, actor, wrestler, humanitarian, good citizen of the world. And John and I are going to talk about a lot of really fun stuff today. We're going to discuss what it's like growing up in the Boston area with 4 brothers. We are going to decide my new wrestling character and, and realize that it's going to be incredibly successful. Um, we're going to talk about Little Brother, the movie that he's in, um, and how much fun he had working on it. And we're going to discuss how dress and suits are important to him. And because of that, I'm gonna, after this intro, go spiff myself up and make sure that I am looking good for the interview. But we always like to start these interviews by checking with someone who knows our guest, who wants to ask us a question to ask our guests and speak well behind their back. And we are talking to our first undisputed champion on this show, WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. Cody is calling in on Zoom from a beautiful lake. And I just like that he's a champ.

I love talking to champs. And let's see what Cody has to say about his buddy, and at times enemy, and always mentor, John Cena. So Cody, are you there? This episode is presented by Allstate. Checking Allstate first could save you hundreds on car insurance. Not checking how long that recipe takes before you start cooking? Well, that's how you learn that simmer for 4 hours is buried halfway down the page. Yeah, checking first is a good idea. So check Allstate first for an auto quote. It could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Potential savings vary, subject to terms, conditions, and availability. Allstate North American Insurance Company and affiliates. Northbrook, Illinois. What do you say? I am the one who was really good. Hey, Cody, hello, it's Amy.

Hey, can you hear me?

We can hear you. How are you? I'm good.

I'm sorry if I was doing like the old people yelling, can you hear me? I don't know how loud I am at the moment. I'm outside.

Congratulations, champ. Nice to meet you.

Yeah, very nice to meet you. I, uh, I have to share this with you. Uh, you might have heard this already, but where I, uh, teach Wrestling. Um, we use Bowling for Votes as a part of the curriculum.

No way! How do you use it?

So it's a way— what I suggest, I always ask, has everyone— anyone ever seen the show? Because I was a big fan of the show. But I always ask if they have, and then they have to go home and watch that night. It's a way for young, uh, prospective wrestlers to understand that social media, if you Scroll through 300 positive things, but then you find that one guy who thought you were fat. There's no point. Go with the— go with everybody else. Go with the people who already had your back, you know? But we use that episode. It's brought up every camp, and, uh, most people know it too, so it's actually a lot of fun.

Oh my God, that's so— that's so nice to hear. I would never think to ask if anything from Parks is used in, in any kind of curriculum.

Oh yeah.

But you're right. I bet you have young people who are trying to figure out how to participate in feedback, which is really hard, especially for a young person, to like not let that feel too personal.

Well, particularly wrestling is brutal. I feel like every funnel is one thing, but I feel like wrestling and Star Wars is the most divisive social I've ever seen. It's You can't just say you like a thing. Like a thing means you dislike something else, and it means war.

Speaking about Star Wars is really interesting. I'm sure you've made this parallel before. All this hero's journey stuff is in the stuff that you all do, the stories that you make in the ring. It is very similar, which is the rise and fall and betrayal and trying to get, you know, like, figure out who you are in real time.

It—

there is a lot of Joseph Campbell parallels.

Yeah, I, uh, I always tell people the hero's journey for, for me as a babyface and Jon as a lifelong babyface, a lot of betrayal, a lot of betrayal. It's, uh, every week is, is new betrayal.

When you know a storyline is happening, when you know, for example, you're gonna get betrayed, let's say by someone like Jon, do you guys look at each other and go Yeah. Or do you look at each other and go, oh, I mean, you guys probably never make that sound, but I make that sound a lot internally throughout the course of the day because a lot of like, oh, oh, you know.

But with John, particularly when John, if you've ever seen it, the moment where he hugs me and his face changes, then He was so excited, uh, and I was more, um, trepidatious in terms of he had never done that, and he had never— it didn't even make sense to do it at this point. He had never gone, gone rogue, gone bad. So I just didn't want to screw that massive moment up, right? He taught me everything I know because I drove him around for 2 years before he got his big tour bus. John was such a fun riding partner. Oh, it's a lot of strict rules. We do this little ritual stop where he had to load up a Styrofoam cooler with an extra 24 beers in the back of the car just in case. I'd never seen anyone in terms of— he was our, our top star and the lead babyface at the time, the lead good guy. And he was—

term babyface, I'm obsessed with.

Okay, yeah, he is, he is the, he is the ultimate. I mean, he was— even after what he did to me, They were still cheering him and booing me. So it was like, all right, okay, thanks guys. Jon is pretty great at the magic, except for one area that is widely known to wrestling fans and wrestlers. Jon will not talk low, or in carny as we would say. Like if I need to tell you Amy ducked the clothesline, I'd say like, dizuk. You know, something— we— this little carny—

it sounds a little like fake language, like a Pig Latin.

It's like a Pig Latin meets Snoop Talk, but John yells everything that's gonna happen in the ring as loud as he can possibly yell it. He calls it, for the first 4 rows, an interactive experience.

God, this is so helpful because one of my questions is like, you know, is figuring out exactly how you all improvise, because you're improvising a lot. Obviously a lot is written and, and, and, you know, beat it out. But you're talk— you know, you're talking about really big physical things that you have to figure out how to signal to each other in safe ways, obviously. Um, that's really funny. That screams it, screams it, screams it.

And then there's a— the last match I had with him at SummerSlam He's about to slam me with his big finishing move, which is the Attitude Adjustment from a table to another table. So it's highly dangerous. It's going to hurt. We're going to do it the safest way we can. But you can hear him yelling at me while I'm on his shoulders that he can't see because my arm is over his eyes. And I never spoke back to John. I never wanted to speak back. He's, you know, a mentor to me and But it was one of those moments where I thought, buddy, I'm the one doing this. I don't give a shit. Just throw me. Like, I'm not worried about your— your screaming at the top of his lungs. I can't see.

I really love your relationship. You guys have a very brotherly relationship.

Oh, good. Yeah. Well, I mean, I can't think of another guy who didn't need to take the time. He definitely didn't need to. He had. He was the busiest guy on the roster. He took the time. He— I was another term. I was— he's not going to agree with this, but I was a job guy.

What's that mean?

I was laying on my back looking up at the lights every night. I was the 3-second tan, as John calls it, you know. And he still wanted to— he had a belief in me.

Oh, wow.

You know, he can speak a little French too.

Yeah, and Mandarin, right?

Ah, the Mandarin.

I can't. It's so annoying. I was just saying, like, it's so embarrassing. I can't speak another language, and I don't need somebody to be coming in here and showing off the two that they can speak.

Yeah.

You know? It's like, keep it to yourself.

Not on your turf, you know?

Exactly.

Not on your turf.

We ask the people we speak to before our guests to give our guests a question. Is there anything big or small, um, dumb or serious, that, um, you think I should ask John about, or you'd want to know about him?

Oh man, what's he gonna do with all this knowledge, right? What's he gonna do with it? We, we don't have a book yet, right? There's no book. Does he plan to write a book? And what is he going to do with all this knowledge? And if he plans to do nothing, what was the point?

Perfect question.

Perfect question. Yeah, I don't know if that's any good, but what's the point, right?

Life's too short.

You're not gonna be speaking Mandarin, you know, ever.

It totally speaks to the bigger thing, which is like, I wanna know like, when do we all get to rest?

Yeah, when do you finally go down, John? When do you rest, you know?

What's the thing that's gonna take you down? What new thing?

Yes, that's the thing. Something he's going to tackle, he won't be able to do.

Actually, that's a really good question, is what can you not do well?

He'll give you some—

some—

excuse my language— he'll give you some BS humble, humble answer. God, he sees so well. He's so well put together. You got— you got your hands full.

No kidding. But, you know, I do really well with these big guys.

Oh, yeah.

I don't know what to tell you, but I'm just— I really know how to handle them.

I'm a huge fan of the show, so I know you do.

Oh, my God. Thank you so much. It means so much that you talked to us today. And I know John will be so thrilled that we talked. And it's really nice to meet you.

Very nice to meet you too. Have the best day. And thank you again. If you need anything and anyone wants to reach out, I got— I could talk about John for days.

Oh, awesome. Thank you so much for your time. Such a pleasure. All right, champ. Talk to you later.

Have a good one.

You too.

Woo-hoo-hoo!

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Woo-hoo-hoo! We enjoy a tasty beverage every once in a while. And I wanted to get you something that was like highly rated, but I didn't want to get you a 100-point wine because with a 100-point wine, when you drink it, you're like, I don't get it. But with something like 98, like, oh man, they got gypped. So hopefully it's a good glass.

Oh my gosh, thank you so much. This is so nice.

A lot of fun conversations happen over wine.

I want to talk to you about wine. I know you love wine. Or you know, and you know a lot about it.

I have had a lot.

You know a lot about it.

I've had a lot of it.

But it is like that thing that you can just keep learning and learning and learning.

As with most things, you can get deeper in the rabbit hole.

John Cena is here. I'm so excited that I changed into— I put a suit jacket on for you. So did I.

I put a suit jacket on for you and a pocket watch for you.

Is that a personal pocket watch?

It is. I even have the—

Does it mean something?

Of course it does. I even have my readers.

Wait, let's put our readers on. Let me see yours.

I will. I will. Do the full presentation again. Starts out as a monocle. Here we are.

Now that falls under some haberdashery.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Thank you.

I like that you— do you like to wear a suit?

I do. I do.

How come?

I think, you know, I've tried to reflect on this. I think it has to do with uniformity. I do. So like there's the uniformity of knowing what you have, but then the freedom to do cool stuff within that.

Yeah.

You know, like, not exactly base suit colors. So there's an aggressive stance with the pinstripe, but it's still going to be like, okay, non-low-cut waistcoat, two-button coat, everything fits.

Do you get them made for you?

And that's another thing, right? So like, I used to hate suits because they used to be so uncomfortable, right? Until people were like, no, no, we make it around you. And I'm like, say what? And then someone made me a suit and I put it on and it felt like a warm-up suit. Yeah.

Are you the same gen as me? Are you Gen X?

Yes, I believe so.

Okay.

Yes.

So I feel like in our lifetime, we've watched clothing get just more and more and more casual.

In our lifetime, I feel we have watched clothing get more efficient.

Yeah.

You know, this one suit is made of stretch fabric so you can run a mile in it and you never have to wash it. Like, it's more of that. Yes.

And this connects to kind of what I wanted to start talking about.

Again, just my lens.

Yeah. But, but, but I think it connects to a bigger thing, which is there's something about the way in which you participate in what would almost be considered, um, at times old-fashioned things, which are professionalism, politeness, uh, like wearing a suit, being like, being able to be dependable. All those things sometimes feel like, sadly, that they feel sometimes old-fashioned. My experience, I've got a chance to work with you and had the pleasure to get to know you a little bit over the last couple of years. And, like, you're just such a professional, Jon. Like, you're such a hard worker. You do what you say you're gonna do. And even the suit, like, feels like a symbol of, like, "I'm taking this seriously," I guess. Where does that come from? Have you always had that? Have you always been that person?

So there's a lot there.

Okay.

There's a whole lot there.

We've got wine, we're fine.

I don't know how simple that— simple, yes. You want to be in shape, go to the gym. Simple. Easy? I don't know.

Right.

Those things aren't easy.

Yeah.

And you equate those things with success. Success is ambiguous. There is no one recipe for success. What I do is what I believe will get me the next opportunity, but I'm also wrong a lot of times. Where do I get those things? Through wisdom and experience. If we were doing this interview in 2005, I would have an oversized sports jersey on. I would have a backwards Michelin Ness hat on. I would have come in with more diamonds than I've ever seen in my life, or I need. I would have been wearing a set of Reebok pumps. Pumps and a set of jorts.

Sure.

And I never would've broken the character of the Doctor of Thugonomics.

Yeah, you would've stayed there.

Because that, at the time, I felt was my path to success. How did I get these things? Good question. So, I don't know how to succeed. I don't. I always try to put odds in my favor, and I appreciate people's opportunity. I'm also not supposed to be here. I'm a kid from West Newbury who didn't train for this. I didn't put in the hours of improv classes like you. It's like a happy accident. All said, life hands people opportunity and hands people some bad cards. If you get an opportunity card, man, try to work to make the most of it.

Yeah.

I am where I'm at because I know how to fail.

Mm.

And I talk to people about this a lot, and I want to try to— I'm trying to expand on this idea to get it out to people.

Yeah.

The things you do in life, I can guarantee you will fail if you are unreliable, unprofessional, uninvested, and uncoachable.

Mm-hmm.

Those 4 things. And I don't mean like work, I mean like life.

It's so, it's so interesting you say that, cuz sometimes when I, when people ask about like succeeding in, in the stuff, kind of stuff that I do, I always say something that it feels like almost simple, but it's like, just be fun to work with. And it falls under that category, which is when people want you around, you get more opportunity. Like the, the, the, the, it's the final product of what's gonna happen in your life, to your point about what you're gonna be successful at. You never know. You don't even know if it's gonna be what you want. It, it always changes.

Sure.

But the experience, the way people feel around you, it, they remember. They remember, I liked working with that person. I had a good time.

Or I liked seeing that person.

Right.

I liked being entertained by that person.

Mm-hmm.

I, I had a good interaction.

Yeah.

That doesn't necessarily guarantee success.

I'm not—

what I'm not saying is if you're coachable, professional, reliable, and passionate, you will succeed because there's still a level of magic dust and ambiguity and luck and things beyond our control. I can't tell you how to succeed. What I can do is if you are unprofessional, uncoachable, uninvested, and unreliable, you will fail 100%. Guaranteed.

I want to talk to you about your thoughts about winning and losing and about collaboration. And I feel like it goes back to probably the fact that you grew up in a family with 4 brothers, 5 boys. Amazing.

Yeah, that is a feat.

Your mom.

Well, I mean, she had a— albeit she had probably a tough 30-year run, I would say.

We got a chance to— So, Jon and I got to work together a few different times in different shows. Different ways. And you told me a story about your brothers and you and crayons.

Yeah.

Can you tell that story?

Yeah, sure. Uh, so the house was wonderful, uh, and not too many safety guards. So, uh, if helicopter parenting is like constantly looking over your kid, my parents were submarine parents. Like, I, I don't know, I'm trying to find the exact opposite.

They were hiding in the basement.

I think, I think the only Safety concern was at night we do like a 10 and 10 inspection. You got 10 fingers, you got 10 toes, go to sleep. That was such a cool thing to have as a young person.

Yeah.

Because we essentially could have an idea and do the idea.

Amazing.

So because there were so many of us and my dad would work and my mom would stay home, we would just do stuff like in a box of 64 crayons. If one kid was behaving and coloring in the lines, 3 other kids grabbed as many as they could and just ran on the walls. And did whatever just to be like, this is great! Because at the time, doing that as a kid, that is great. Yeah. But my poor mom would be like, oh man, Matt, what a great— what the f—

I can't even imagine.

Meanwhile, like, laundry for an army is piling up, and she's like, oh my God, now I got to feed everybody again. I just fed you guys 3 hours ago.

Taking years off her life.

Oh man. But honestly, she She had an uphill climb for 3 decades, and now all of us collectively as a group are like, "Man, we need to make sure she's doing all right always." So, these last, you know, 4-plus decades have been a different chapter in my mom's life. And especially, like, the last 20 between all of us and her have been real special.

I want to ask you about that because I know you've done some very special things for her. But growing up in Boston, in the '80s.

Yep.

Not like, you know, what were you guys— was your family, you know, like, were you known as like the Cena brothers?

Oh my God. Yes.

And they all came walk together.

So this— I grew up in West Newbury. We got to take Boston out of the equation.

Well, we all say Boston.

Yes, because anything around, no one cares.

Right.

So West Newbury is if you keep going northeast of the state of Massachusetts to the New Hampshire line, there are some old maritime towns that are quite beautiful.

Yeah.

And inland, there are some even smaller farming towns. And that's West Newbury, 1,200 people. And in 1985, your neighbor is acres away and you got to ride bikes everywhere. It was like out of a movie. Like, it was like Goonies.

Yeah.

You know, like, it was awesome. So yes, we were the scenas and we could show up and a basketball game would ensue because we've brought the team. It was an incredible place to grow up. And I'm so glad I didn't stay there because it is not a diverse look at the world. But man, what a cool place to grow up, especially because—

Especially because when you're a young boy, like, boys, young boys are sometimes like dogs. You have to kind of, like, run them out. You have to run them. They need, like, a yard, and you should throw the ball in there.

We had acres, and, like, we could go out in the forest and try to burn the forest down. Thank you, West Newbury Fire Department. Or we could have, like, pickup football games that would end in brawl for alls, where people would be like, Parents are just pulling up in their cars and ripping. That's my kid. And it's— but it was great. And it was great.

And did you learn how to—

like, I learned how to lose a fight, which I think is really—

like, any tips?

That's why I'm a diplomat. Like, you get your ass kicked a few times and you're like, yo, that— this sucks.

Yeah.

And, and what do you— and what are some rules to lose a fight? Like, what do you— what did you learn by losing a fight?

Humility. Embarrassment. Physical harm. And another thing is, like, yeah, winning a fight also sucks. It doesn't feel good.

Yeah.

Especially when you're like, man, we just fought over, like, who gets to play Bases Loaded next. Like, what? And that kid's hurt, right? So you get on both sides of that equation.

Yeah. And, uh, I don't think people realize that, you know, and when we grew up, when in my high school, there was a fight every day after school. And it was like, oh, who's gonna fight today after school? And women too.

Yeah, it was common.

It It was very common. And in fact, when I went to college, for a while I would go to parties and I would just kind of stand there.

It's like an episodic 3 o'clock high.

Yes. And people would be like, "What are you worried about?" I'm like, "There's too many people here from different towns. This is gonna go down." The different town thing. Different towns. Oh my goodness. If someone showed up at your party from a different town, forget it. Yeah. But as, you know, and not to say that—

You can show up at a Morris party, but if the Haverhill kids show up. Exactly. Yikes.

Like kids from Woburn show up, like, oh, it's gonna be a bloody mess. But do you have to, like, as a big guy growing up, as a tough guy with brothers, but also you felt like you were bullied a little bit too, right?

I was. I got the shit kicked out of me every day. Every day, 'cause I was a scrawny kid and dressing like MC Hammer and Bell Biv DeVoe. It was like if Bell Biv DeVoe and MC Hammer ran into each other. Yeah. Rayon and airbrush denim.

And you got picked—

High top fade.

Beat up by your brothers or by people at school?

No, by my peers. So it was a multi-layered thing. You know, like a shitty town high school where the junior high is at one place and the high school is at one place. And Merrimack's buses were here, and Groveland's buses were here, and West Newbury's buses were over at the high school. And I'm in junior high, and you have to, like— I see the walk down the sidewalk as if it was yesterday. I'm walking down the sidewalk, and I'm passing the kids who are, like, 15, 16, who can't drive yet and still have to go to the bus. And I'm the one SOB wearing, like, rayon polka dots in an '80s rock, country music, combat boot denim. You know, mullets. Like, you can paint the picture. I stand out like a sore thumb. And I was an easy target. And like a scrawny, skinny kid. So even something as simple as like, boom, down the hill I go.

Right.

Shitty comment. Like, that was on the daily. That was like the daily.

But that's trauma.

So—

That's traumatic, Jon.

I appreciate you saying that.

That is traumatic.

Life deals us all hills to climb.

Yeah.

I doubled down. It was a great experience for me. Here I sit dressed loudly as myself. I don't have a stylist. I prefer to do these things without makeup because I want people to see me as me.

Now I understand this thing.

If I'm creating a character, put as much shit on me as you want. But this is me. And this is how I feel comfortable. What is it? And when those kids— picked on me for how I dressed, I would go straight to Liberty Tree Mall and be like, what is worse than this?

Yeah.

I'm turning it up.

My God, the Liberty Tree Mall.

And then, like— and then I found weights. So it's— I didn't learn to fight. I wasn't like, yo, I got to learn to fight. I'm just going to project the art of, like, the math isn't so much in your favor anymore. And by the time I got over to the new building, I was 15. I'd been working out for 2 and a half years. And I was stronger than everybody. So it was like, "Ah, I may get 'em, but if I catch a stray, I'm gonna get my teeth knocked out." So it hedged, like it worked.

So what's it like to go home to Boston?

It's wonderful, actually.

Yeah. It's wonderful. They must feel like they really— 'Cause the one thing I'll say, or one of the things about Boston that's really lovely is your hometown really embraces you. Like, if they feel like, if they have some pride in you, you really feel it when you go back. Like, people really feel like, "Hey, you know, They, they share. Like, look, you always know from Bostonians how they feel. They tell you to your face, you're good, you're bad, I like you, I don't like you.

It's weird, they do, but they don't. It's— I want to— I'll elaborate on that, but continue.

Yeah, no, do you think, do you think I'm wrong that they're more passive-aggressive?

No, no, they'll tell you how they feel about you, right? They'll never tell you how they feel.

Oh no, feelings!

And that, like, so that's why, uh, that's why recently going home has been and way better. Because my brothers are all hitting that, like, late 40s, approaching the half century now. And they're all— we all have wisdom of, like, "Man, it's kind of a shitty mindset if somebody's like, 'Hey, how's life?'" And you're like, "Ah, it's taking forever." Like that. But that's also West Newbury. And man, as beautiful as the landscape is, sometimes there's a— A lot more anchors than sails over there. Yeah. You know? And I love the pride. You're right. Like, when someone from a community makes it, the community has made it.

That's right.

I like that.

That's right.

'Cause that's a win for everybody. Hopefully, it gets everybody's spirits.

Yeah.

And I don't mind that. It's just sometimes hard to get anything real out of anybody.

Oh, babe, the idea of figuring out your feelings and saying them in real time, that was not what we grew up with.

Yeah.

I mean, I still kind of can't believe sometimes when people are able to locate their feeling and then say it, it's like, how did you do that? Because we just— it's a skill. It's a skill to figure out what you're actually feeling.

Yeah.

Feel it and then express it. That's like a lifetime of work. And when you're around culturally, this thing and this feeling of just like, to your point, there's a lot of like a lot of comedy.

A lot of self-deprecation.

A lot of self-deprecation and a lot of action.

A lot of doom and gloom and pessimism.

A lot of pessimism and a lot of action over words, right? So someone's not going to say necessarily say like, I love you, but they're going to like fix your tire.

Oh, that's so the asshole.

Yeah.

The fuck you broken down for? Ah, dude, fucking idiot. Let me fix your tire.

All right.

Get the fuck out of here.

Fuck off.

Yeah. Like that's literally their way of saying like, oh man. Yeah. Tough day, right?

Yeah.

"Let me help you out here. I hope everything goes better for you." But it's not that.

No, it's not that.

Yeah.

No, no.

It's the asshole who can't even fucking roof a house. "I'll get up and fucking roof it in 2 hours." You told me a story, though, about—

and I want to get to wrestling because I have so many questions about it. And as a person who— the Bostonian in me had an early experience with it, but it's changed so much.

We've kind of lived in the same world, though.

I know. Okay. Your mom, you bought her a house.

My mom earned a castle. But that story is such a good story. So I said, we settled on a house.

Okay. Tell— just tell a little bit of that story, how it went, if you don't mind.

There's never any land for sale in West Newbury.

Right.

And there came a large plot for sale in the height of development. And it was heavily overpriced. I don't know if anyone was following the financial ticker, but something happened in 2008. And that same person—

Everybody made good decisions.

Well, the culmination of all those good decisions happened and they stopped, they stopped pouring the champagne.

Yeah.

The person who was selling the property came back and said, hey, we just want to recoup our engineering costs. Would you still be interested? So a value opportunity came up of like, I don't need this. But I have an idea of what I can do with it.

Oh, wow.

And my brother Dan just so happened to be in really good graces and working for a contractor at the time. And he's one of the most respected individuals in like our small building community. Met with him and I kind of specced out like, what would this idea take in real time? He's like, less than the cost of what they offered you to buy the place for. I'm like, and you can do all this? He's like, I can. It's like, "I'd like you to put your name on this place and make it something you're proud of." He's like, "I still can do that." "Okay, do it." And like a secret meeting like this.

Oh my God. Everyone wearing suits.

A lot of smoke, everybody's scotch. It was 8:00 AM. It was like, "Dan, we're doing this. Don't fucking say a word. The story is I'm moving back home." So building a house takes a long time, and it's a beautiful plot on the hill where, like, Like, from 3 towns over, you can see what's going on. So now we got to clear land, and we're digging trenches, and we're building this nice, beautiful New England home that exposes itself to the river. It's got viewpoints. It's got this crazy copper dome and all this stuff. Everything is settled for, like, creatively, everything's on the first floor. And there are multiple floors, but everything you need to get in and out of the access is on the first floor. And everybody's watching the project, and everybody's like, "When are you coming home?" Everyone, you know, in the family's kind of excited. And meanwhile, I'm still in my residence, happy in Florida. So, it finally gets done 2 years later. And it's around Thanksgiving, which is a great time in New England because everyone, like, comes home for Thanksgiving. And they go to the bars for Thanksgiving and the Thanksgiving football game.

My mom's birthday is close to Thanksgiving. So, we throw a Thanksgiving thing. And it's not for my mom's birthday. Everybody comes over 'cause we're keying the door to the house for the first time. Place still smells new. And, you know, taking everybody for a tour, and I'm bragging about like, ah, this is this, and this is this thing. And I built a bar over the garage because I had one space for me. My mom doesn't like that, but she wanted to come see the whole house. And when everybody gets in the bar room, I give my mom a birthday present, and it's the key to the house. And she, she like lost it. Like, she absolutely— she's like, I can't, I can't. I'm like, no, it's already taken care of. Movers are coming tomorrow. My mom was living in the third floor of like a triple family in an attic in 300 square feet with her stuff packed in. And she was just by herself, packed in, and she was content and happy. That's who my mom is. She's a lunch pail blue— like, she'd go to work. She wouldn't accept it. So then I had to negotiate.

I had to be a diplomat of like, you don't understand, there'll be trucks there tomorrow. Everyone's on board. We're going to move your stuff over. I'll tell you what. It's already here. This isn't for me. Could you please at least give it a try so all this doesn't go to waste? Well, if it's going to go to waste. And that was like 15 years ago. And she's been there ever since. And now it's her place. And we get together there on holidays and it's her place.

And that's what a son should do for his mother.

Well, again, I—

Buy your mother a house!

She earned it. She absolutely earned it.

It's such a beautiful story too, Jon, because you also included everybody in that surprise, you know, like, and you, I just think, I don't know, I just think it's so indicative of how you're always kind of thinking about how can I extend my gratitude? You're such a generous, generous person, and we'll talk about that. But after this, my parents are gonna call me and say, why haven't you bought me a house? 100%. Bill and Eileen are gonna be like, We're against the wall.

We need no space.

We heard John on a podcast and we're wondering why you haven't built us a house.

Meditieren, Yoga, Joggen—

nichts entspannt mich. Echt?

Mich entspannt meine Steuer total.

Steuer?

Wie Finanzamt? Die Steuererklärung?

Ja, ich habe ganz locker über 1000 € zurückbekommen.

Hast du geheime Connections oder Excel-Superkräfte?

Nö, Nur die WISO Steuer App.

Wow, und das ist einfach?

Klar, die macht fast alles automatisch.

Ich fühle mich plötzlich so entspannt. Hol dir dein Geld zurück. Abgabefrist: 31.

Juli.

Was?

Schaffst du ganz entspannt mit WISO Steuer.

Ach ja.

Sergeant— I know you're gonna ask me this. I forget. Maybe like the Worcester Centrum? Worcester Centrum? Or as we would say, "Wusta." The Worcester Centrum. So, it was Hulk Hogan, Sergeant Slaughter, the Iron Sheik.

Yeah.

High '80s, you know, very—

So, here's the cool thing. There were a lot more performers on that card, but you remember Americana, patriotism.

Totally. Yeah, it was USA all the way.

Xenophobic, all that. But that was—

Totally. Really, that was a time. And I remember watching it and being, like, in retrospect now, it was kind of like the closest we could get to Las Vegas or something. It was like how it felt like a high-level, high-energy performance.

That's on the bullseye.

Yeah.

With audiences that were really, really invested.

Yeah.

And can you explain— Wrestling to me feels like a combination of dance choreography, writing and story, and like magic that you will never know the secrets to.

I'll take that.

Okay. Is that fair?

I think that's very fair.

So, when you are performing, and you are in that arena, and the audience gets to interact with you, and you are— How much have you prepared for that day? Because the difference is, like any other performance, there is such skill needed for the physical. I mean, Cirque du Soleil doesn't wing it.

No.

But there is an amount of improv in wrestling that I noticed when I would see it, and also when watching it now, that is— I can't always tell how much is— prepared? How much is actually prepared and rehearsed, I guess?

It depends. It completely depends on the performers. Okay.

Some like to do that, some don't.

Some—

What do you like to do?

I like to be an improvisational performer.

Right.

But that is not— I don't go out and wing it.

Right.

I prepare my ass off.

Right.

So, I start with the creative part. What is the story?

Yeah.

So, if we're fighting over the fact that you stole 10 grand from me, everything I do is going to relate back to your theft. And everything you do is going to defend that you never took it. And the thing that WWE is different than SNL, that is different than sketch, the audience is the act. Not observing the act. The audience is the act. So as a performer, the way I approach it is, "Okay, I have 25 minutes. We have a match together." And we've been telling the story of, "You've stolen something from me." $10,000. For 3 weeks, this is a lot of money.

You needed it for your—

I was gonna pay off my mom's house.

Pay off your mom's house.

And you took that away from me.

And now she can't get in.

And now she's gonna be evicted. Yep. So just by—

And what are you gonna do about it?

You've kicked my mom out of her house.

Yeah. Oh, that's so good.

You did that?

Yeah.

And I almost— this was the last payment.

Yeah.

You know, I've—

and I got the keys and I'm just swinging them right in front of you.

Yeah. So now you, you being a creative mind, we could have that wrestling match right now, right? Give us 25 minutes. I'll take 35.

Okay. I love that. And then you're right. So all the moves are kind of connected to that, right? Like everything goes back to that theme.

And here's where it gets very interesting. If the story dictates. In this match, it dictates. "You've stolen something from me. We're gonna ring the bell. I'm gonna show that I'm more skilled and I've earned this— the right to make this payment. You're gonna cheat, just like you stole, and be like, 'No, I'm better.'" And then there's gonna come a point in the story where the crowd is like, "Would you do something?" It's the typical hulk up. It's called the comeback. So, what I do is— We have our why. What we need to really rehearse is from the comeback to the finish.

Okay.

And that's usually—

Oh, I see what you mean.

That's usually the last—

We need to rehearse the physical part of it.

The third act.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

The third act needs to be ad nauseam. You need to have it.

Right. Because you're doing dangerous things.

You are doing dangerous things, but there's a fundamental trust between performers that you know X skill, "I know X skill." And the conversation we can have before is, "Do you do anything specific that's outside of the fundamentals that I should know about?" And the person who leads gets all that information and stores all these things in their, uh, card catalog. The third act needs to be prepared because it can also change. Basically, you use the first two acts to go out and improvise. And if we get out there in the Worcester Centrum, which I believe to be a rowdy crowd, but slightly different than Boston and Hartford, but they change, and they're like, "We're for you." Right.

We don't want that mom to have her house.

But keep in mind, we need to gear for that moment where they're like, "Jon, do something." So, immediately, a piece of line that I would throw on the water is, "Punch me in the face." And they might cheer.

You would say that to me?

"Punch me in the face"? I would say immediately, "Punch—" Whatever we had planned, if we talked about something, and they came out and were like, "Yeah, Amy!" I'm like, "Punch me in the face now." Or like, "I'll go out—" Because you want to make sure— I will go out and turn my shirt inside out. "Turn your shoulder to the crowd as if I'm confused, and when I come back, hit me in the face." Bam! So, we did two things there. You threw the first punch, which is not fair. It's not virtuous. Not fair. And you did it when I wasn't looking. Right. So, it's these subconscious things of like, "They're for Amy, but this is my momma." Bam! "Oh, geez! Get on me. Come here." And then I would have you just beat the tar out of me. And they might like that. And then I would just have you lean into that. Yeah. Where it becomes like, Oh, man, it's like watching a bad fight. And then I would just listen to be like, "Well, come on, do something. Do something. Nah, screw you. Do something, man." Okay, duck. Here we go. And then we go into— Now we have the— Now the audience is working with us rather than against us.

But there have been instances where the people behind the curtain will tell the ref to tell you, like, "Switch the finish." So we've decided that the other person is going to win. So if you're super prepared, wow, you can change things and change in real time. Now, keep in mind, as I'm saying, when I turn around, punch me in the face, I'm listening to the crowd. I'm hoping you're going to be there. I'm also listening to my ref. So sorry, that is—

I thought that was real. No, it's fake. It's a real ruse.

Anyway, I have the ref being like, you have 17 minutes left. You have 16 minutes left. Mm-mm. So, like, it's all happening in real time. And there are coaches watching you from behind a curtain that will tell the ref what they think you should do. Right. Oh, you're getting notes.

Put your hands up. You're getting notes in real time. In real time. But that's why live TV is so great.

It's great. That's why I wanted to do it forever. And I just physically, I can't do it anymore. But that's why whenever anyone says, like, "What do you like more, wrestling or comedy?" Yeah. That's why I got run out of Hollywood the first time around.

You talked about that. I love what you said, which is like—

Look at what we just talked about.

That's fucking great. Right. Like, hey, the moment. You can feel the excitement.

I want to be here now.

The crowd, the noise.

And then when you get fluent at it, when you're like, "Oh, I kind of understand this. I'll do this." And then the challenge becomes like, "Oh, man, the UK crowd is throwing a beach ball around. How the fuck How am I gonna do that?" the fuck do I work that into the act? Go out and get that thing and pop it. When you come back, I'm gonna give you my finish. Real time. This stuff— I've had people get married. I've had people start fights in stands. And we work it all into the act.

That's amazing. Just 'cause you're prepared. It's the opposite of, like, doing stand-up and not wanting a heckler, basically. You want that feeling that people are listening and participating. Here's the thing.

It's not that we want it. It's just— it is. It is. At stand-up, the kind of protocol is like, "Enjoy the comedy. Don't heckle." Yeah. Here, it's like, "You have paid your money to heckle." Yeah. And there's 12,000 of you. All right, good luck. And you can heckle en masse.

Yeah.

Chants start out that are too hot for TV, that Netflix is turning us off and turning us off. And literally, the audio goes out. Like, it's— just crazy.

And you can't—

the more you try to be like, calm down everybody. Yeah, of course, you don't want to be the calm down character that you're working with.

That would be my character, part of the act. I would be like, you guys, calm down, stop. I'd be like, guys, it's so loud. That would be my thing. Guys, it's so late.

We're in Massachusetts.

I'd be like, it's so late, it's so loud. I mean, why are we fighting? Why are we fighting? This is crazy. That would be my character. I Did you hear that? Did you hear that?

Let's take a nap. Do you hear that off in the distance? It's the money printing machine. Take a nap, take a nap, take a nap. Oh man. Calm down shirts, we sell chamomile tea. Oh, this is amazing.

That's actually great. I can hear the money. I can hear it. I go, shh. And all of my holds, all of my moves are to just be quiet. Just, okay. And I just snap and they go down. Just be quiet. So quiet. Just come on. And then everybody brings their blankets in and they're like, Nobody, calm down.

Wait, what's up, big foam hands?

Wait, calm down, Amy. One, when the entire place is quiet.

CDA. Calm down, Amy.

CDA, it's instead of CBD oil, it's CDA oil.

We'll get you that. We'll get that brand partnership working.

This, this is fucking—

we did this here.

We just did this here.

And here's what's also so crazy about the WWE, you might see that character. They'll be watching me like, hmm.

Yeah, they're onto something. Hmm. Get the CBD going. I love what you said in your transition to acting, is that it was confusing to not have the show, you know, the super long hours, lots of waiting around for your time. Different mindset. Totally. And you spoke about how in the beginning, it was really confusing.

As a young 20-something, I wanted to be there, and I want to go to the bar afterwards.

And then do it in the next town, and then the next town. And get instant feedback. Feedback.

It's the best. And I'm not saying, like, crushing it is awesome. It's the best when you bomb. It's the best. 'Cause then you're whizzing to be like, "I got another performance in 24 hours. What do I do?" Like, it's the best.

Yeah. And you don't get feedback when you're shooting. I mean, you do from the director, but it's different.

It's a different mindset. And it took me appreciation of the mindset to really apply. And people like you to bet on me and know that, like, "Oh, man, I'm getting an opportunity here. What can I do?" Show up early and fucking be prepared. Be ready to go.

I mean, okay, so we worked together in a movie called Sisters. Me and Tina, the great Paula Pell. And it was so fun.

Tons of comedians, great cast. Great cast. We stacked that thing.

It was so fun to work with you. And you and Paula Pell fell in love. You loved each other. Oh, she's great. She's great.

We had a few conversations over wine.

You and Paula had a few wine— What did you guys— Do you guys hung out and drank wine? A lot. I mean, what's so great about Paula? What do you like about her? I like her perspective.

I love her courage. Man, like, I just like that energy. Like, again, I say anchors and sails. She's a sail. You know? Like, always curious, always creative, off the wall. I just know— I know any idea is gonna have, like, that whimsy, that magic in it. Yeah. And I want to be with those people. Yeah. You know?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you really— were you a big comedy fan growing up? 'Cause you've done a lot. What were you watching? What we were all watching? SNL? And what were you watching growing up?

At a young age, I was watching stuff I shouldn't be watching. So, my dad was the only person and my only male in New England that didn't care for sports. Not kidding. Like, we never grew up with the Red Sox, the Celtics, 'cause that stuff all happened when I got to junior high. Right. And I had to fall in a peer group, so I gotta start caring about sports. My dad liked old '80s titty comedies and pro wrestling. Like Benny Hill, he loved. So I'm watching like—

Benny Hill. My— People don't understand how important Benny Hill was. I mean, it is. Unless you're my dad. And now you watch it now and you're like, "Jesus Christ, this is a terrible show." Benny Hill is— Talk about predator.

It just didn't age well.

But at the time, I remember being a little kid being like, I'm like, what is this? A lady standing behind a bunch of melons. Yep. And Benny Hill's like, hee hee hee, like a cartoon character, trying to grab it. And there's a chase, and there's a physical comedy, and it was like, what? What is this? Like, yeah. And, and so in our psyche, Benny Hill.

Yeah, the chase with the music has become a meme. Totally. You don't have to do the Benny Hill style, but you do chase the music, and it's, it's a meme.

Yeah.

And did they watch We watched Kentucky Fried Movie, Animal House, Caddyshack, anything Rodney did. I mean, you name it. I mean, all those comedies. We talked about Mr. Mom. Like, just '80s comedies. My dad would literally fast forward through the romance of the rom-coms. "Gotta get to the jokes!" But they were great.

Yeah, but dude, some of them, you go back and you're like, "Oh my God." Oh my God. Porky's?

Porky's was a— that was on heavy rotation.

And when you were a young woman watching Porky's, it was not good. So— Jon, it really fucked with our heads. I get it. It did, because it was like, "What is going on?" It's like, there was so much, like, you know, I remember watching Weird Science and being like, "Incredible movie." And then a couple years later, I'm like, "Okay, two teenage boys create a sex robot." It's Kelly LeBrock. And they're like, "Come, Sex Robot. Come meet our friends." And I'm like, "That did— That does fuck you up." It does. We saw it. I'm sure this has happened where you look at an '80s movie, you're like, "This is a hilarious comedy." And then you play it and you're like, "Oops." There's a lot of that. But you have a real knack and love, I think, for comedy especially, but you do all different kinds of acting. What do you— What's your relationship to acting right now? Like, you know, you're retired. I'm a retired physical performer.

We'll see. No, no, no, no. Okay. So, I have stated that speaking in absolutes is impossible. Yeah, exactly. I've also used the term, "It would be financial suicide for someone to be like, 'Here's what it's gonna take.'" And I'd be like, You did it. I'm a liar. Financial suicide.

Judge Judy negotiates her contracts.

She slides over a number. That is— she's such a G.

Such a G. And then she goes, and if you don't want me to do it, guess what?

Guess what? Who cares?

I got— I'm good.

I got a, uh, I got a 3:15. It's 3:07.

She's like She slides, she slides, and they look and then they go, welcome back, or whatever. Um, but never performing physically again. Okay, got it, got it.

And there's, there's multi-tiers to that. Uh, I need to stop because physically I want to be— I want to enjoy a long, good life. I don't want to have a bunch of crusty years. And punishing my body, the math isn't in my favor for the good years.

What is the part of your body that barks the most when it's low back?

But so, so I'm a male, or I'm a human at 50, that's everyone. Yeah, aside from that, I did really good. That's great.

Do you do like Pilates and yoga and like stretchy stuff?

Heavy stretchy stuff. Yeah, and I hate it, and I do it a lot, all the time.

Can you touch your toes? I can. Fuck it, maybe you can touch my toes.

Stay in frame. The suit is tough.

Oh my God, John is doing it! He's touching his toes!

I actually can't bend farther than the suit Whoa!

Yeah. That's really good, John. I can go hands flat on the floor.

That's my stretch. Hands flat on the floor? That's my stretch every day in the shower. And if you walk in on me taking a shower, you'll see me in a different POV. Man, I was really— This is just all the funky bits spread open. That is the— every morning, full spread. Start with that full spread.

Man, I was really hoping that you would be not flexible because—

No, because I have to work at it. You have to work at it.

That's incredible.

I want to move around.

Yeah.

So I can talk about it or do it.

Okay.

And it sucks and I hate it and I do it. Oh God. And it's great.

You're good at doing things you don't like to do.

But I like to do them because I like what it yields.

Yeah. And forced austerities are a luxury because life gives you stuff that you really don't want to do that you didn't get to choose. So it's like—

And a lot of times to choose, like, I want to do this, I want to be good at this. All right. It's going to be a lot of things that are going to be tough.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so I'll fucking stretch more.

Jesus. You got to. I know. You got to. I mean, it's just like a crusty rubber band. You got to make sure. Don't let it get too weird. Oh, God. Okay. So physically, I'm good.

So you're physically good and you're feeling good, and your relationship to acting now feels like what? What have you learned about yourself as you've become—

as you've acted more and more? What have I learned?

Yeah. Acting and wrestling are the same. The same. Interesting.

I don't run the company, so I don't control who wins and loses. "Right." "I get a chance to make choices within my story, but I can't change the finish." "Mm-hmm." "I should be prepared. I should hit my time. I shouldn't ask for more than I'm given, and I should be grateful for what I have." If you do good work and you are professional, it increases the math of people calling you back.

Right. And also, I gotta say, Jon, you're such a softie. You were the— like, you're really, really— I talked about it earlier. You're such a generous person. You're the person that's given the most— You know, you've fulfilled more Make-A-Wish wishes than any celebrity, over 650 at this point. You do incredible amounts of charity work. I know that about you. Giving that amount of time to people is expensive. It's a lot of energy. And even that sometimes, I'm sure you walk away feeling like, "I wish I could have given more." How do you kind of go— when you approach people who are sick and ill, because a lot of people are very scared of of reaching out when people are in a tough place. You know what I'm talking about? It's not easy to be around, especially young people who are having, um, perhaps like, or perhaps at close to the end of their lives.

Remember your why. Mm-hmm. Why am I there? Am I there to be scared? Mm-hmm. Right. Am I there to be sad? No. I am there to be the hope. Hope. And that is my why. And now I'm retired. People like Cody, people like Rhea, people like Roman, it's their time to be the hope. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Those experiences renew my faith in humanity. Yeah. They give me gratitude for life. Yeah. I'm so grateful for the people I've met. Yeah. Like, and man, when people are just raw, emotionally excited You see it, it's real.

I like what I'm learning about you, um, John, is like you're chasing— you're, you're chasing emotion. Like you're looking for it. You like want to have real connection.

Don't we all? No, I disagree.

Well, I mean, I guess— I mean, I guess we do, but yes, we do.

There is no 100% certainty in anything. I mean, that's a simple answer.

I guess it's just that people don't make a priority, right? Like, they might want it, but they— but it feels like you prioritize connection.

That's what matters. I'm just saying, like, I get what you're— I'm just trying to do me the best I can.

You won't take a compliment. You won't take a fucking compliment.

I will say, at this moment in life, my connection is pretty low.

I got my keys and I'm swinging them around in the ring, and I'm gonna give you a compliment before the finish. Now everybody calm down and get quiet so I can compliment you.

And now take a nap. CDA. CDA. It's too late.

Okay. And so, the other thing is, you brought up Cody. Yeah. So, we do a thing on the podcast where we talk to someone who knows our guest. I did this for Idris. Oh, yeah, that's right.

It's where I gave you the— It's where the mythology behind that bottle of wine you've pounded during this show— Oh, my God. And forgot that I did your show.

Yes. Yes. Oh, I remember you did it. What was the mythology? What is the—

I told you the next time I see you, bring a bottle of wine.

Oh, I did forget that. I wish you'd let me know when you found that.

That way, I wouldn't have had to carry that in my bag. This is so fancy, this wine.

I can't wait to drink it. Okay, thank you for doing that for Idris. And, um— It's Idris. He's my guy. And, um, Cody talked to us today. I'm so glad you talked to him. Cody Rhodes.

First of all— 'Cause I will say, not a lot of wrestlers on Good Housekeeping. Trying to— you're trying to have a diverse portfolio of people in the entertainment space. Not a lot of WWE Superstars on Good Hang. Think I might be numero uno. Yeah, well, it's okay.

Two today. That's right.

See, there we go.

Chill out. We've reached our quota.

It's a great day. It's a good start. We've increased your population by 100%.

You're right. And I do want to talk to more wrestlers. You don't. And that's why I started the podcast.

You don't, but you will out of guilt. You'd be like, we gotta— could somebody get the number of that guy? Because we'll have— that'll be crazy.

But, you know, I love talking to Kody. And, um, that's good. Well, first of all, I found out that, um, the term babyface, which— yeah, absolutely love. And, uh, heel too. Heel. Would I be considered a babyface?

So this is another thing. It's kind of— it's kind of ambiguous. If you went out and tried to be like you would be a heel. Fuck. I think if you went out and you were yourself— Babyface? Born babyface.

And then, do women get different terms in wrestling? Do they—

No, the terms are universal.

Okay, love that. Okay. And it was really fun to talk about him noticing how much you not only care about your own work and pay attention to the good work of others, but that you're kind of constantly, um, learning new things. I mean, you taught yours— you learned— you know Mandarin? A little bit. You know French? I hear a little bit. Okay, congrats.

Um, so like, that's like, you know math? I know a little bit of math. I don't know all of math. Like, I, I know— I know—

could you speak, um, could you order in a restaurant in both those languages? Yes. Congrats, that's great. Well, Cody was like, what are you— Cody's question is such a brotherly question, which is like, what are you gonna do with all this knowledge? He was like, "Write a book? And if you don't write a book, what's the point of it all?" And then he was like, "What can you not do well?" But Cody was really funny. His question was really this search for knowledge and getting— like, you really want to know things. What do you— what's behind that search? What's behind, like, the drive for those things? Am I honoring life correctly? Yeah, but why do you worry that you're not?

Because look how lucky I am. "Am I doing enough?" Am I doing enough? If I'm not moving forward, I'm not honoring the luck. I talk about, like, earning the sunset. I'm big on, like, honoring the luck. This is not in my control. This is, like, the weird, mystical piece of the universe from who I am when I was born, where I was born, the opportunities I've had that are beyond my control. Just go like hell and try to honor the luck. It's what I do alone to focus, stay committed, do something hard, feel good about myself like it is mine.

But when you go to my wrestling matches, you're going to be encouraged to just take a break and calm down and take a nap. Just— you got it.

You did. You are— you want to talk about it.

Because I do think productivity is a cur— you know, it can be a curse.

Leaving money on the table.

Okay, we got a little quick lightning round. Here we go.

What are you reading right now? Manias, Crisis and Crashes, 8th edition. What's that? It is a history of market manias, crashes and bubbles.

Uh-huh. Okay, great. Because I just want to know about it. You want to know about it? Okay. It's a tough book to read. Yeah.

The South Sea Crisis, the tulip mania bubble. And yes.

Okay. Railroad fever in the 1800s. An album that you're into right now that you've been listening to, old or new?

I'm rocking to some cocktail jazz because I want to try to learn how to play it. But when I'm alone, blues, like a John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf blues.

Okay. Fun movie you've seen recently, or like a comfort movie, like one that's on that if you see it, you're just like, I want to watch it.

Just watched the Lorne Michaels documentary. Oh yeah. Loved it. Loved it. Like, reminds me a lot of what we do. And man, when I walked the hallowed halls of Saturday Night Live, like, as a single-serving guest, the amount of respect I have for everyone, and then him, seeing that, it was awesome.

It was awesome. You know, Jon, the thing about wrestling—

You know you've made it when everyone has an impression of you. Totally. He is. What an amazing person.

When I was wrestling in Canada. Okay, are you watching anything fun?

We just got through Four Seasons. This is gonna be taped, but we're taping it on Will Forte's birthday. Happy birthday, Will. Happy birthday, Will.

Happy birthday in hell, Will. That's Tina Fey's. Tina's The Four Seasons. Great second season.

So we just got through the second season of that. Fantastic. Yeah, so that's that.

And then you're in the new movie, Little Brother, with Eric Andre. Congratulations on that. And what was it like working on that and the experience of working with him?

Eric is an eccentric physical comedian. He is awesome. I gotta say, I've always been impressed by what he can do. Give someone the chance to show what they can do, and you set yourself up to be surprised. He crushed. Not only— I read the script, and it came from him, and I'm like, "Dude, this is your vehicle. I will gladly do this because you're going to shine." There's also parts in there that are really heartfelt. And he crushed those as well. And like, what a moment. I think it's going to be a great movie. It's going to be a great movie for people to see it on Netflix. I'm very happy to be a part of it. I got to do a comedy. Where, you know, with comedies, you're like laughing all the time.

Well, this is my last question, which is like, what— I know you love to laugh and you love comedy. What are you— What's making you laugh right now? Like, what do you—

It could be anything. Yeah.

Like, is it a video, a scene from a— What's something that you like— No, you never know.

I think, okay, X makes me laugh. Yeah, I rule out everything else. A lot of it is me, like, the joke's on me.

Uh-huh, right. Being self—

like, yeah, allowing yourself to be a soundboard for humor not only, like, eases the tension, you never know what it can lead to, right? A lot of it is like the big bullseye in the fuchsia pinstripe, right? So if you open that door, it's kind of cool. And then it gets like, you don't want to be too crazy because sometimes ball busting can be bullying, and you always want to I'm gonna, you know, cool, cool that tea kettle.

But a little bit of teasing is like, or just a love language.

Or that, like, hey, yeah, look at, look at me, I'm such an idiot. Yeah. And then like, hey, let's talk.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, see, you're trying to get connection there. You're back to connection.

Laughter helps connection, doesn't it? If we're laughing about something, we're talking about something. It's so true. So folks are gonna love Little Brother. They're gonna laugh, and they're gonna wake up the next morning and go like, what was your favorite part?

Yeah, yeah, awesome. Well, Cena, I love— it's such a good hang. I love seeing you. You're so fun to talk to and fun to to work with, and, um, such a considerate, nice person. Thanks for doing this pod. Thanks for the kind words. I probably will never wear a tie again for anybody, but you never know. My God, thanks.

Yeah, you look great.

We literally just ran out and got it across the street.

You look great. Thanks. And you just put this together. Like, a lot of those just-put-together looks are really trying hard.

Well, I realized halfway through, I was like, he's gonna show up in a suit. I'm like, we got— and we were like, we gotta get our shit together. We got— let's go! Paper splice. Down the hatches!

It looks great. Thank you. I appreciate it.

Thank you so much for doing it. Thank you. Yeah! Thank you so much, John Cena. It was so fun having you here, and I can't wait to take this tie off and get back to my regular sticking it to the man. But no, it was so fun talking to you, and such a pleasure always to hear your perspective and POV. And for this Polar Plunge, as we wrap up, you know, we talked, John and I talked a lot about comedies, '80s comedies, those, like, big, dumb, funny things that we grew up on. And speaking of big, dumb, and funny, um, I just wanna remind everybody that Wet Hot American Summer, a film I did 25 years ago, is celebrating its 25th year. And there's gonna be a million different ways to go back and watch what is really genuinely a funny, dumb movie with a lot of cast members who are at the beginning of their careers. Um, uh, so— So check that out if you can, and check out John Cena's new movie, Little Brother, and continue to support the arts and wrestling, because if we learned one thing, they are the same thing.

Goodbye!

You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman, and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by The Ringer and Paperkite. For The Ringer, Production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya McMullen, and Alea Xaneres. For Paper Kite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Original music by Amy Miles. I like other one who was really good, hey.