Actor and retired WWE wrestler John Cena has been open that he became interested in lifting weights because of the bullying he endured during his childhood.
In an August 2026 interview on comedian and former talk show host Conan O’Brien‘s podcast Conan Needs a Friend, Cena confirmed that he was around 13 years old when the bullying occurred and, in response, he decided to “build up [his] body by lifting weights.”
He then explained he was bullied because he had different interests and style than his classmates in his hometown of West Newbury, Massachusetts. According to Cena, West Newbury is “a farm town” with a largely white population. In addition, he said many West Newbury residents were only interested in music from the rock genre during the ’80s.
“I put my hair up in like a high top fade. I really fell in love with the rap music before it became hip-hop,” said Cena during the podcast episode. “In like the mid ’80s is kind of when rap became public and mainstream with like Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith.”
Cena, now 49, said that he identified with some of the rap song’s lyrics.
“It was just very commercialized, and with that became more exposure, music, television, and all that stuff. So in West Newbury, I’m, you know 12, 13 years old and going through a stage of rebellion in my life, and this music definitely spoke to me. I certainly couldn’t put myself in the shoes of the artists, but what I got from it was like the voice of rebellion, and I embraced it. Like airbrushed overalls, MC Hammer pants,” said the Peacemaker star.
In addition, Cena said he was rather skinny at this point in his life.
“I just didn’t look like everyone else. And I was an easy target. I was skinny and scrawny. I had grown in height but not in stature. And I just hadn’t filled out my frame yet. And I was an easy target,” said Cena in the August 2026 interview.
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