DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — He’s recovering from shoulder surgery, hoping to be back in the ring sooner rather than later, but that didn’t keep WWE champion John Cena from making an appearance here at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday.
Cena, a 15-time champion, was at the season-opening event for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to serve as honorary pace car driver. It wasn’t exactly his first appearance at a NASCAR event.
In 2007, he took part in the reality series “Fast Cars and Superstars,” a celebrity race pairing celebrities with members of the Gillette Young Guns NASCAR program. Since then, he’s kept up with the sport and those who participate.
“It was awesome,” Cena said. “I had kind of been in the distance with NASCAR but when you … first of all, you get to know some of the drivers, you want to root for your driver. Carl (Edwards) taught me how to drive so that was a cool connection. We shared a lot of similarities. What NASCAR does is very similar to what WWE does; I just began to watch a lot more.
“The NASCAR season is long; the WWE is endless and we’re often going at the same time. But obviously you catch up on the headlines and can keep up on the stories. I try to keep in touch as much as I can.”
Cena branched out into other areas of the entertainment industry while remaining a top draw in the ring. In addition to movie roles, his most recent effort will see him start in the reality series “American Grit” which debuts April 14 on FOX.
“I hate using a buzzword like revolutionary but I’ve seen some of the cuts and it really is amazing,” he said. “Because this is an instance where we have some really gifted folks from the United States military and they are lending their services to motivate civilians to compete for not only a prize but truly mold civilians into better human beings. It was a pleasure to be a part of it; it’s really, really cool.”
His NASCAR interest has allowed him to get to know a number of competitors in the garage. Sunday, he took time to catch up with as many as time allowed.
“I know Joey (Logano), Kyle (Busch), Carl has done Raw,” he said. “We’ve had a good amount of NASCAR drivers do Raw so it will be good to see all those guys again. I always like to catch up on life with the guys; I still trade stories with some of the guys. … You talk about their life and how things are going, they ask about yours. It’s cool to catch up.”
While NASCAR’s biggest event was preparing to unfold Sunday, wrestling’s big event, Wrestlemania, gets underway April 3 in Dallas. While he’ll be in attendance, the shoulder injury makes it unlikely he’ll be competing.
“I would really, really love to somehow be a part of our annual gala over there,” he said. “The odds are against me, but I’ll be there in person. I’ll be there for our Hall of Fame. Hopefully I’ll be floating around the event trying to cause trouble if I can’t be a part of it.”
Cena knows his career in the ring is out there. But just how far? He says he isn’t sure.
“I’ll be 39 in April and I made a pact with myself in my 20s. I’ve seen all sorts of things in our industry and as long as I can keep up from an athletic aspect with the youngest, best we’ve got, I’m in,” he said. “And I don’t think I’ve lost that step yet.”
It isn’t any harder today, going against younger competition, he said. “It’s just a different chess game. That’s all. It’s just moving the pieces a different way.”