He’s become the foundation’s most in-demand celebrity, and he never refuses anyone.
John Cena, the multitalented and massively famous wrestler, may hold several titles, but this one may be the greatest yet—and it has nothing to do with wrestling.
The actor and WWE wrestler just broke the Guinness World Record for the most Make-A-Wish Foundation wishes granted. According to Guinness World Records, Cena has granted 650 wishes as of July 19. The most any other celebrity was granted was 200.
In 2002, the 16-time world champion became a wish-granter for the first time. He’s since become the foundation’s most requested celebrity, and he never refuses anyone.
“I just drop everything. I don’t care what I’m doing,” he said in a WWE-produced video after granting his 500th wish. “I can’t say enough how cool it is to see the kids so happy, and their families so happy, I truly want to show them that it’s their day.”
Cena willingly poses for photos, lets youngsters play with his championship belt, and even occasionally takes them under the ropes. He clearly understands the importance of creating a memorable experience and goes above and above.
“I try to put myself in that perspective of if I had one thing to wish for, where would I fall on that list… So for me to be the name of like, ‘I would like to hang out with this person for the day,’ that’s a pretty strong statement… It really is pretty magical when they get a really intimate experience with the individual and then they get to go see them be a superhero.”
Cena continually uses his popularity to help others. Earlier in June, when he learned that a mother in Ukraine had persuaded her 19-year-old nonverbal son with Down syndrome that they were leaving the country to meet him—an attempt to protect her child from the strains of war—Cena boarded a plane to fulfill that fictitious promise.
.@JohnCena meets Misha, a teen who fled Ukraine after his home was destroyed.
— WWE (@WWE) June 7, 2022
To motivate Misha on their journey to safety, his mother told him they were on their way to find Cena. pic.twitter.com/0Aeab4GkPZ
Misha’s mother told him they were on their way to find Cena to encourage him on their trip to safety.
They spent the entire day together near Amsterdam “building blocks and eating cake.”
He previously matched pop trio BTS’s $1 million gift to the Black Lives Matter campaign in 2020. In 2012, he was the face of WWE’s Be-A-Star anti-bullying program.
Not to mention his beautiful picture book series, “Elbow Grease,” which educates kids about tenacity and believing in themselves, all while featuring “high-octane graphics” of the cutest little monster truck you’ve ever seen.
You can buy such books on Amazon, but nothing beats hearing Cena read his own book aloud.
It’s easy to be suspicious about celebrities’ seeming good deeds, perceiving charity acts as virtue signaling, a ruse for a better public image, or even covering up something criminal. But it’s even more difficult to think that Cena’s unwavering sympathy is anything less than sincere. This is an excellent example of how status can be utilized to distribute blessings. For a guy whose most famous finishing move is raising a guy above his shoulders before slamming them onto the mat, he still exemplifies the finest of humanity.