John Cena was once the face of WWE. However, that phase of his career is all but over. The Cenation Leader is now on his way to create a new legacy for himself. Having achieved all there is in pro-wrestling, the former WWE star is now making big strides in Hollywood. He has featured in several big banner movies, such as F9 and The Suicide Squad, just to name a few. However, his acting career almost derailed once due to political reasons because of which the actor turned wrestler had to apologize to China.
Also read: Everything You Need To Know About John Cena’s wife, Shay Shariatzadeh
Cena is a star and carries himself as such. Despite his rowdy beginning in the WWE, he has managed to strike a chord with the audience due to his poise and charisma. The former WWE Champion knows exactly what to say to elicit a positive reaction from the crowd. On this one particular occasion, however, he managed to do exactly the opposite, sort of.
Why did John Cena apologize to China?
Back in 2021, John Cena was promoting his movie F9. During an interview with Taiwanese broadcaster TVBS, he managed to court controversy by calling Taiwan a country. He said:
“Taiwan is the first country to watch Fast and Furious 9.”
This was met with outrage by Chinese nationalists, who demanded that he apologize for his comment.
Despite having its own government and army, Taiwan is not viewed as a country but a breakaway province. China views Taiwan as part of their own territory. Tensions between the two run deep, and John Cena found himself in the middle of it over what he believed was a harmless statement.
China is the world’s second-largest film market. With the film on the verge of a release, Cena responded with a video on Weibo, a Chinese social network. He spoke in Mandarin and apologized for his mistake.
“Now I have to say one thing which is very, very, very important: I love and respect China and Chinese people,” Cena said. “I’m very sorry for my mistakes. Sorry. Sorry. I’m really sorry. You have to understand that I love and respect China and Chinese people.”
Interestingly, Cena did not mention the reason for his apology or even Taiwan in his statement, which led to some calling his apology hollow, claiming he only wanted to ensure that the Chinese forgive him while also maintaining political correctness with Taiwan and the West.
Unfortunately for Cena, that is not what happened. He also caught flak in his home country for not having a spine to stand by what he said.
Overall, it was an incident, he was more than willing to put behind as quickly as possible.
Is John Cena still in WWE?
John Cena may have moved over to Hollywood, but he still returns to the promotion every once in a while. He recently made an appearance on the final SmackDown of 2022. He partnered with Kevin Owens to take on familiar foe Roman Reigns and his stablemate Sami Zayn.
Cena and Owens picked up the win after the Prizefighter hit a stunner on his former best friend.
Owens will challenge Reigns for the Undisputed Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble. Cena on the other hand, has not been seen on WWE television since. However, it is believed that he will be there at WrestleMania this year after missing the last two editions of WWE’s biggest show.
There were rumors linking him with a potential match against Logan Paul. However, now it is being reported that he may actually be in line to face long time fan Austin Theory.
Regardless of his opponent, however, fans will be happy just to hear his theme at the Grandest Stage of all once more.
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