When life gets John Cena down, the WWE star has a perfect — if unexpected — remedy: laughter.
“I think humor’s a wonderful thing for all occasions,” the Bumblebee star, 41, exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this month while discussing his partnership with Hefty trash bags.
That includes the actor’s low moments — and he’s had some in recent months since his split with fiancée Nikki Bella. “It certainly helps in moments of despair and sadness because it just … brings light to a situation,” he said. “I find strength in many any other avenues but I never … short myself when it comes to humor. I guess I’m always OK for a good laugh, even if I’m really being uppity and I don’t want to laugh, I can’t … ever be the guy where this isn’t the time or place for a joke.”
The Daddy’s Home 2 star, who credited the funny people around him for his learned comedic timing, concluded: “Humor’s a wonderful thing ’cause it makes us all smile and that’s a start to feeling good. … It starts with a smile.”
He even uses humor to talk about his partnership with Hefty, joking that he’s come to rely heavily on the trash bags for his semi-annual purge at his own home. “I use the products very, very often,” he admitted. “My parents are pack rats and that’s kind of how I grew up. Then, it just started to be a borderline hoarder amount of things.” Making sure that he doesn’t follow in his parents’ footsteps, the actor said he cleans out his belongings at least twice a year. “I’ll just kind of take inventory of what I have and make sure if I’m not using something that it goes to a proper home.”
Cena and Bella shared a home together in Tampa, Florida, and as Total Bellas fans saw in January, the reality TV star was in tears when she moved her belongings out of their house.
The pair split in April 2018 one year after getting engaged at Wrestlemania. “While this decision was a difficult one, we continue to have a great deal of love and respect for one another,” the former couple told Us in a statement at the time. “We ask that you respect our privacy during this time in our lives.”
Shortly after their breakup, Cena tweeted a message of hope. “Hardship, loss, and humility are extremely difficult waters to navigate, but perseverance thru them builds a strength to withstand anything life throws your way,” he wrote on April 16.
The Blockers star later revealed that he had been blindsided by the breakup during an appearance on the Today show in May. “I had my heart broken out of nowhere, or for me it was out of nowhere. And anyone who has experienced that knows that it comes with a series of bad feelings,” he said.
Us exclusively revealed that the couple had a brief reconciliation in May, but the WWE diva, 35, said the pair were “just friends” in a YouTube video posted to her and sister Brie Bella’s channel in July.
She explained their status to Us later that month, saying, “After I called off the engagement, we tried to work on our relationship to get back to where it was in order to move forward with our wedding. After much time and soul-searching alone, and together, we have decided to officially part ways. I had a beautiful and loving six-year relationship with a wonderful man. I have the utmost respect for John, but I know this is what’s best for me.”
Cena got through the ordeal by practicing what he now preaches: The wrestler cracked a joke about the pair’s breakup during his return to WWE SmackDown on January 1.
“Some man’s gonna walk down here and try to tell me that I’m an old, broken-down, part-timing Hollywood wannabe that should just get a haircut and leave WWE faster than Nikki Bella left me,” he told the crowd. “So that cat’s out of the bag.”
He’s also learned to let go when things don’t work out. “I think all of us go through life in a scale of trying to be too perfect,” he told Us earlier this month. “So, I think if you understand that failure is an option and failure is a great thing because you can learn from it, once again, it allows you to take more chances.”
With reporting by Travis Cronin
