John Cena Talks WWE Heel Turn, ‘Trainwreck,’ ‘Ricky Stanicky’ & More w/ Rich

John Cena spent his full Rich Eisen Show appearance covering most of his career, including a piece of personal medical history Cena said he hopes the audience will not feel embarrassed asking their eye doctor about.

The conversation opened on character. Rich complimented Cena for being the same person off camera and on, then connected that authenticity to the heel turn that divided his fanbase late in his WWE career.

"I tried to do it in the most realistic manner," Cena said. He kept his uniform. He kept his music. He used his own frustration with years of fan polarization as the connective tissue for the new villain version of himself. The fans, in the end, asked for the old Cena back. He always likes a creative challenge anyway, so he took the turn, took the tap-out moment that closed his career, and accepted that both decisions would draw mixed reactions.

The forward-looking piece of the WWE conversation was the John Cena Classic, an event Cena pitched himself. He explained the origin. The Saturday Night's Main Event card that closed with Gunther also opened with a series of marquee matches Cena designed to give established stars the spotlight while pairing them against the future of the business. Solo Sikoa. Giovanni Evans. Odyssey Jones. All debuts engineered with intent.

The Classic builds on the same idea. The tournament will include a fan vote. The wrinkle is that a performer who comes up short in their match can still be crowned champion if the audience supports them enough. Cena said that twist will spark conversation.

Then the medical part. Cena spent a meaningful portion of the interview talking, with self-deprecation, about Demodex blepharitis, or DB. He calls them eye mites. His symptoms had been red, itchy, crusty eyes with declining vision. He had self-diagnosed it as "old age" until he stopped being able to read pages cleanly or drive safely at night. The doctor diagnosed him with both a low prescription need and DB.

"Thank goodness for the partnerships I have," Cena said. He is now a Tarsus partner. The product is the first FDA-approved DB treatment. Cena said six weeks of twice-daily drops eliminated his symptoms. He framed the partnership the same way he framed his earlier sunscreen advocacy after having several pre-cancerous spots removed, and his openness about a hair transplant.

"I'm very open about the things that I've had," Cena said. The honesty, in his view, is the point. Twenty-five million Americans have DB.

The movie career portion was the longest, and the part Cena clearly enjoyed most. The Trainwreck origin story, which Cena has told before on the show, produced one ad-libbed Mark Wahlberg line that ended up casting him in Daddy's Home and Daddy's Home 2.

"You never know who's going to see what you're going to do and how it's going to resonate," Cena said.

Rich pulled the conversation toward Ricky Stanicky next. Cena, working with Peter Farrelly and William H. Macy, played a character whose energy Cena himself said the cameras did not entirely sanitize for the Rich Eisen Show.

"You watched the movie," Cena said. "I don't know if you want to be doing that. We care about you."

Cena was asked when he realized acting could become his second act. His answer was structural. The other career, wrestling, is time-specific by definition.

"Time is undefeated," Cena said. "Everybody has their tenure. As long as they have me, I'll be in the WWE."

The acting career, he said, gets the same effort he poured into the gym and into wrestling. First to show up. Last to leave. He praised Sam Hargrave, who directed his upcoming Matchbox movie, for pushing him to physical limits he had vowed never to repeat after past stunt work. The hanging-off-a-helicopter sequences in Budapest, he said, were back.

The promotion run was straightforward. Little Brother on Netflix arrives June 26. Coyote vs. Acme in theaters August 28. Matchbox October 9.

The personal request, from Cena, was the part he wanted the audience to take seriously.

"Go check out your eyes," Cena said. "Or go to xdemvy.com."

Rich, who had not heard of DB before the interview, made sure to spell it for the room.

Cena, having delivered the entire arc, exited the way he typically does. Politely. Thoroughly. With one more reminder.

"Thank you for watching."