{"id":6767,"date":"2015-12-25T03:06:47","date_gmt":"2015-12-25T09:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=6767"},"modified":"2015-12-25T03:14:40","modified_gmt":"2015-12-25T09:14:40","slug":"6767","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2015\/12\/25\/6767\/","title":{"rendered":"N.Y. Times on wrestlers in Hollywood &#8211; Cena talks playing &#8220;John Cena&#8221; &#038; WWE future, Edge on TV role post-WWE, Tina Fey captures wrestling&#8217;s key issue"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-2876901295\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>In a long-form newspaper article set to print on December 27, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/12\/27\/movies\/pro-wrestlers-put-a-headlock-on-hollywood.html?_r=0\" target=\"_blank\">the New York Times examined\u00a0one of entertainment&#8217;s\u00a0biggest stories of 2015<\/a> &#8211; the rise of pro wrestlers in major movie\u00a0or TV roles.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Rock&#8221; Dwayne Johnson carved the path and has become one of Hollywood&#8217;s biggest stars in the process. But,\u00a0it&#8217;s not just The Rock who is pulling in all of the big\u00a0roles.\u00a0Everyone is still looking up at Rock, but\u00a0Dave Bautista&#8217;s career-making\u00a0role in &#8220;Guardians of the Galaxy&#8221; in 2014 helped create a new path\u00a0for pro\u00a0wrestlers in Hollywood in 2015.<\/p>\n<p>However, Bautista was only briefly mentioned by the Times, noting that he played a super-villain in the new James Bond movie &#8220;Spectre.&#8221; Bautista was included in a list with\u00a0Kevin Nash&#8217;s supporting role in &#8220;Magic Mike XXL.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Times mainly focused on top WWE star John Cena, who broke away from &#8220;predictable&#8221; action movie roles to try his hand at comedy. Now, Cena is talking as if he has separated\u00a0himself from the leading man &#8220;John Cena&#8221; that he has played on WWE TV for over a decade.<\/p>\n<p id=\"story-continues-2\" class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"264\" data-total-count=\"720\">\u201cYou\u2019ve got to remember that I\u2019m a recurring character on a weekly episodic television show,\u201d Cena said before addressing why he took the comedy roles. \u201cRight away I said, \u2018Yes,\u2019 because the do-gooder John Cena is not a guy that\u2019s going to sell you heroin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"264\" data-total-count=\"720\">Cena also commented on why he decided to break away from the action hero roles that WWE&#8217;s movie arm plugged him into. (In a story about pro wrestlers making a splash in Hollywood, the only mention of WWE Studios was Cena&#8217;s past action movies, capturing Studios&#8217;s uphill battle for industry respect.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"264\" data-total-count=\"720\">\u201cDoing action wasn\u2019t a real good fit for me because it\u2019s the opposite of how I work,\u201d Cena said. \u201cIt was extremely choreographed and extremely scripted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"264\" data-total-count=\"720\">The irony of the last sentence seemed to be lost on Cena, who trumpeted his work on WWE TV\u00a0as doing improv in the ring or on the mic. It&#8217;s a freedom only top stars like Cena receive, though.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3897871225\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"264\" data-total-count=\"720\">Although Cena sounds like he is trying to separate himself\u00a0from the high-profile TV character that shares his own name, Cena says he is not looking to leave WWE. Instead, he believes he is helping WWE and Vince McMahon by branching out to mainstream\u00a0movie roles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"264\" data-total-count=\"720\">\u201cI have a very good mutual understanding with my boss that I don\u2019t ever want to leave; I really like it in the ring,\u201d Cena said. \u201cI try to pick opportunities that don\u2019t take me away from WWE for too long. I try to do opportunities that can really help expand our audience and bring new eyes to our product.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"264\" data-total-count=\"720\">Cena has also appeared regularly on NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Today&#8221; show also trying to attract viewers to WWE. But,\u00a0in\u00a0a year when WWE Raw slumped to historically low TV ratings, it has been an uphill battle trying to attract people to WWE TV.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"264\" data-total-count=\"720\">Interestingly, it was Cena&#8217;s co-worker in &#8220;Sisters,&#8221; Tina Fey, who pointed to one of\u00a0wrestling&#8217;s\u00a0key issues in the mainstream when talking to the Times for the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"264\" data-total-count=\"720\">\u201cWrestling was always campy, but I definitely think that Dwayne Johnson broke out of that, and no one really thinks of him as just a wrestler anymore. John is on the same path if he wants to be,&#8221; Fey said, offering an outsider&#8217;s perspective on pro wrestling.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"264\" data-total-count=\"720\">In the television world, Edge (Adam Copeland) found success on Syfy&#8217;s just-completed &#8220;Haven&#8221; show. Copeland also talked\u00a0to the Times for the story. And, as has been the case since retiring from WWE, Copeland sounded like he&#8217;s glad he was able to disinvest himself from &#8220;Edge.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"264\" data-total-count=\"720\">&#8220;From the time I can remember, I wanted to be a wrestler.\u00a0Acting was never an aspiration of mine,&#8221; Copeland said. But, &#8220;I&#8217;m still laughing at the end of a 14-hour day.\u00a0Before, at the end of a 14-hour day, I\u2019m driving to the next town after having just fallen off a ladder. Now I get to go back to a trailer where there\u2019s a meal waiting for me? Yeah, I can handle that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"264\" data-total-count=\"720\">Now the question is what roles will pro wrestlers find themselves in 2016. Bautista has more roles lined up, Rock has a packed schedule taking over the entertainment industry, WWE Studios will continue to pump out movies trying to build a reputation, and it remains to be seen\u00a0how Cena balances WWE, movies, and now TV.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1664973883\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-3551333916\"><div id=\"pwtor-3842111622\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>In a long-form newspaper article set to print on December 27, the New York Times examined\u00a0one of entertainment&#8217;s\u00a0biggest stories of 2015 &#8211; the rise of pro wrestlers in major movie\u00a0or TV roles. &#8220;The Rock&#8221; Dwayne <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2015\/12\/25\/6767\/\" title=\"N.Y. Times on wrestlers in Hollywood &#8211; Cena talks playing &#8220;John Cena&#8221; &#038; WWE future, Edge on TV role post-WWE, Tina Fey captures wrestling&#8217;s key issue\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1412,287,286,1411,116,554,294,528,1413,71,330],"class_list":["post-6767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news_wwe","tag-adam-copeland","tag-batista","tag-dave-bautista","tag-edge","tag-john-cena","tag-kevin-nash","tag-the-rock","tag-the-rock-dwayne-johnson","tag-tina-fey","tag-wwe","tag-wwe-studios"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2015\/11\/CenaPhotoWK_3x2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6767"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6771,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6767\/revisions\/6771"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}