WWE is touting John Cena's Make-A-Wish record of more than 650 wishes granted, far more than any other celebrity in the charity's history.
Using his celebrity status to truly make a difference, John Cena has granted more than 650 wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. This month, WWE has been celebrating "Cena Month," and a new post on Twitter touts the pro wrestling legend's accomplishment of setting the incredible record. As noted by WWE, Cena's record of 650+ is more than any other celebrity in history. Fellow WWE legend Hulk Hogan and NASCAR's Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon have granted more than 200 wishes, but no one besides Cena has ever made it past the 300 mark.
“My first Make-A-Wish, I was kind of shuffled — it wasn’t for me, I think the person wanted to meet another superstar,” Cena previously said of his first wish granted in 2002, via People. “But the WWE does a great job of like, ‘Hey, there’s a Make-A-Wish kid in this room. Can you come say hello?’ So, a bunch of people are shuttled in to say hello to a young fan of WWE. So, we’re shuttled in and said my hellos and took my pictures and then left. And they’re like, ‘Thank you, Make-A-Wish thanks you.’ I was like, ‘What is Make-A-Wish?’”
Once he learned about the charity and its purpose, Cena immediately took a vow to always be there for Make-A-Wish anytime they had someone who wanted to meet him. As Cena was still a rookie in the business at that time, probably had no idea at the time he would one day set the record with more than 650 wishes granted — and still going strong. But for two straight decades, Cena has maintained his promise.
“I said, ‘If you ever need me for this ever, I don’t care what I’m doing, I will drop what I’m doing and be involved because I think that’s the coolest thing,’” Cena said. “We’ve all experienced that joy of giving a gift for the holidays where you just nail it — that’s the same gift I get in giving back to people’s lives, in being able to give them wonderful emotional moments.”
Related: Young Boy Fighting Cancer Gets a John Cena Birthday Surprise
Earlier this month, John Cena went viral for surprising another young fan in a time of need. The Peacemaker star was made aware of the story of a fan from Ukraine, a nonverbal teenager with Down syndrome, who was forced to flee his home to seek refuge in Amsterdam. As showcased in a video posted to YouTube by WWE, Cena flew out to meet with his young fan and his mother as soon as he learned about their situation.
“When I read about Misha’s story, it reached out to me — not just Misha’s story, but the story of Misha’s mom as well,” Cena explains in the clip. “Having three days off from work right at the time when I read this story, and being an hour away by air, it turned immediately into, ‘We’re going.' And that means spending an afternoon building blocks and eating cake. That’s a special afternoon when it comes to the new friends I was able to meet.”
He added, "Misha's ability to embrace persistence, that's extraordinary. Those words, 'never give up.' We've all thought about those in our lives. They're very powerful, and Misha's a great example, and Misha's mom, they're two great examples of how persistence can lead to joy. Even through the toughest of times. How special is today? Pretty darn special."
You can watch that video below.
Jeremy Dick has been a writer and editor since 2014. He is a self-professed horror expert, pop culture enthusiast, and Bob Saget fanatic.