John Cena says he pulled out of startup deal following Vince McMahon advice
John Cena recently recalled an incident where he pulled out of a startup deal following advice from Vince McMahon.
Cena has always been known for his close relationship with Vince McMahon. From Cena’s debut until McMahon’s time on the roster, the duo maintained a close bond that saw Cena enjoy a top main-roster run. While McMahon is no longer a part of WWE, Cena has often expressed how close the two still are.
Early in his career, Cena also pursued a social network deal without informing McMahon, which he believed was a “direct violation of trust.” However, Cena and McMahon later spoke about it, and following advice from his former boss, Cena pulled out of the deal.
Speaking to Wild Card for a new interview, Cena recalled the entire incident. “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,” Cena said.
Cena further explained that despite the violation of trust, McMahon walked him through the social network startup 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,” Cena further added.
“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.’”
Shounak Chakrabarti is an experienced sports journalist with a lifelong passion for athletics and storytelling. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Journalism from the University of Leeds and joined F4WOnline in 2025.
Shounak takes particular interest in soccer, closely following top clubs like Real Madrid and Arsenal. Beyond sports, he enjoys fiction writing, photography, gaming, and cinema.