John Cena Recalls Violating Vince McMahon’s Trust By Getting Involved With An ‘Entrepreneurial Social Network Startup’

John Cena recalls a time that he violated the trust of Vince McMahon.

Cena worked directly with McMahon for the majority of his time in WWE, creating a relationship that is still strong to this day. As is the case with every bond, there were bumps in the road.

Speaking with Wild Card for a new interview, Cena recalled pursuing a social network startup without telling Vince McMahon about it.

“One time, I tried to get involved with an entrepreneurial social network startup and I didn’t tell my boss and we talk about everything. This wasn’t like, man, we’re going to do this together. In potentially being a part of the startup, my name’s John Cena, so I would essentially be leveraging intellectual property. That’s a team decision. I love and trust my boss, he’s far more than my boss.”

After a conversation with McMahon, Cena pulled out of the deal.

“I was just trying to get more money, simply. I have my own philosophy on social networks, some very limited in my use by design. So it’s not something I’m interested in. Not too fond of limited access stuff. This was a curated idea that seemed nice but I looked at the projections. My boss found out and to be honest, he was great. He walked me through it, like okay, this is the choice you’ve made, let’s walk through all the tentacles of what might happen. In a moment, it was a direct violation of trust to somebody I had worked for years. He invested years in trusting me too. It was a moment where he could’ve just got nuclear, because trust takes years to build and moments to destroy. He didn’t. He had patience, tolerance, and I think possibly as an entrepreneur himself, he tried to put himself in my shoes and walked through it. It took five minutes or less to realize, ‘I’m such an idiot.’  I immediately called the company back and said, ‘I’m out, this isn’t for me.’”

Elsewhere in a separate interview, Austin Theory revealed that Cena pushed for him to turn face after their WrestleMania 39 match. Check out his full comments here.

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