John Cena is grateful for all the success he is enjoying in Hollywood, but the 16-time WWE World Champion misses running the ropes.

Cena was once the unquestionable face of WWE but began appearing less for the promotion in 2016. In the years since then, Cena's time on WWE programming has become less and less frequent, with John competing for just one time in 2022. Cena's most recent match for WWE came at last month's WrestleMania 39, where he lost in a controversial fashion to U.S. Champion Austin Theory.

While Cena's time in the ring is winding up, his career on the silver screen is continuing to go from strength to strength. Later this month, the Peacemaker star will return as Jakob Toretto in the latest installment in the Fast and Furious franchise 'Fast X.' Speaking on Busted Open Radio this week, Cena admitted that he does miss the fun of being a full-time WWE Superstar.

"Man, I wish I was still there every day. I just can't. My body can't do it anymore and I don't want to give the consumer a bad product. That's a thing that I learned from those veterans at that time.

"Guys like Eddie just would risk so much. He's like, 'I'm never gonna give the consumer a bad product. I don't care how I feel. I don't care how I feel physically, I don't care what baggage I have mentally. When I'm on, they paid good money and I'm gonna go out there and give everything I have and sometimes find it when it's not there.'"


Even with Cena transitioning into a part-time role, WWE has continued on without the 16-time WWE World Champion. After 2015, WWE made an effort to push Roman Reigns as the face of the company, to mixed at best results. Speaking about Reigns, Cena didn't put much stock in the idea that he 'passed the torch' to either man, at least not by himself.

"You don't do it by yourself, which is why I don't think anyone takes, like you don't pass it to anybody. You just hope to put energy out there and anyone with potential can get it. It was said that I passed the torch to Roman years ago, and he absolutely is the face of the franchise. In my mind, he's the greatest of all time. But I tried to do what I could and when I did it, it wasn't the miracle. It didn't happen. He got it on his own terms."

Reigns has proven himself to be WWE's top star since becoming the Tribal Chief, with Cena being one of the many to 'acknowledge' him. At Summerslam 2021, Cena's efforts to become a 17-time WWE World Champion were thwarted by the Head of the Table.