Kevin Hart and Cena speak candidly.
Guest appearing on the newest season of Kevin Hart’s ‘Hart to Heart’ show on Peacock was John Cena. It is a conversational/interview style show and during their chat, Cena and Hart spoke about their relationships with their fathers.
Cena shared that his relationship with his dad is not ideal, similar to what Hart disclosed about his dad. Cena agreed with the ‘in and out’ description of the relationship and added that part of the reason it is like that rests on him.
He went on to share that Cena Sr. was extremely happy when he heard his son signed with WWE and is still proud of that. As Cena was speaking, he mentioned that his first WWE deal was for $12,000.
Cena: So, my dad is a lifelong wrestling fan and I remember — (Kevin Hart jumped in and asked if Cena is close to his father) not as much as I should be. Not as much as I should be, and you?
Hart: We weren’t close but we were okay. I love my dad but we weren’t like close-close. We were okay, but my dad was in and out and that distance is probably the reason for us not being close-close. But his trials, tribulations ultimately became lessons to me and my reasons for not doing certain things came from the bird’s eye view to what was right, what was wrong.
Cena: I think this is why our conversations… (Cena chuckled) We run very parallel paths. I don’t know the circumstances of which your relationship with your dad —
Hart: My dad was a crackhead.
Cena: Mine was not, but when you describe —
Hart: I thought you said there was — I just threw myself out there. I threw myself out there based off you saying we’re on similar paths thinking you would go, mine’s too and now one of us looks like a dickhead and one of us don’t.
Cena: No, no (he smiled).
Hart: Well, kind of how I took it. Maybe I’ll go back and take that out in edit.
Cena: First of all, I’m sorry about that.
Hart: Are you? Are you? Because you set me up. You f*cking set me up good John. You sat there with your beady eyes, you looked me right in mine, you said, ‘I think we’re on very similar paths’ and I said, alright, here it comes, he’s a f*cking crackhead. You go, welp, that’s tough.
Cena: I didn’t say exact. I didn’t say exact. I said very similar.
Hart: Your exact words after I said it was, that’s tough.
Cena: My dad was not a crackhead, but, when you describe the relationship you had with your father, I have a very similar relationship with my dad. In and out and you know, not ideal in my mind but a lot of that is my fault, a lot of that rests on me. But what I will say is he was ecstatic — I don’t know how much he cared when I did graduate college, I don’t know how much he cared about accolades before I was hired by the WWE. My first contract for the WWE was $12,000 a year. I quit my job the day I was signed… My dad thought I was like — I could have told him any other position. He’d be like, yeah, whatever. ‘Dad, I just got a job with the WWE.’ ‘Oh! My son!’ Like the one time he was like, ‘This is unreal. It’s gonna be great, I can’t believe it’ and he’s still to this day, he’s extremely proud of that.
I spent so long just running and I’m grateful for it, just like I spent so long trying to get validation from my dad. My dad was my biggest driving (force) for so long, but then it was counterproductive. I’m never gonna get it and if I do, it’s never gonna be the reward that I want. He’ll say that this is the best I can give and that’s not enough! You can do the same with money. Make hay while the sun shines in our business because if you get hurt, you don’t get paid. I have a wealth of wisdom in the WWE and I have a wealth of resource because of my investment. But man was I short on love, man was I short on self worth. My physical health, my strength was showcased on TV but damn, I wasn’t really taking care of myself. So I learned kind of at a tipping point to spread the wealth and if one bucket gets too low, where am I in excess? Where am I going too hard? Am I chasing too much money? That seems like so anti-what everybody’s heard but like, man, what are you chasing?
In early 2022, Cena Sr. reacted to comments that his son made pertaining to WWE releases and to read Cena Sr.’s remarks, head over to this link.
The 16-time World Champion appeared at WWE’s Money in the Bank Premium Live Event and teased the idea of London hosting WrestleMania.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Hart to Heart with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
