John Cena recalled a moment early in his career when he attempted to join a social network startup without informing Vince McMahon — and how McMahon’s patient response made him pull out of the deal within minutes, speaking on the Wild Card podcast.
“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. 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,” Cena said.
He said McMahon found out and walked him through the implications rather than reacting angrily. “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. It was a direct violation of trust to somebody I had worked for years.”
Cena called himself out for the decision. “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.'”