- Hey, I'm John Cena, HBO's "Peacemaker,"
and these are some moments from my life.
[bright rhythmic music]
This is an action shot from a WWE event, WrestleMania.
When I see images, I kinda go back to how I felt;
right now I'm probably feeling exhausted and satisfied
because I know we're almost done with our performance
and it's going pretty good, or at least I think it is.
I always judge by like, the faces of the audience
as you look at the front row and certainly as we go back;
engagement and interest, especially in our referee,
Mike Chioda's face.
It's good to see a photo like that of such an impactful
event and know that your audience was engaged,
because as a live performer,
what we do is for the benefit of the audience.
So when I see that shot,
the first thing I look at is the audience,
and it's good to see them engage.
I'd like to know what's going through the mind
of Dwayne John- no, I wouldn't like to know
what's going through the mind of Dwayne Johnson,
'cause he doesn't look pleased.
[bright rhythmic music]
So this is me in a different uniform,
and this is me in a different uniform.
And long ago in a galaxy far, far away,
there was no Peacemaker uniform and I dressed and acted
like many of the other WWE performers
until I got a chance to do this.
Now, this is a bit of a confusing photo,
because it looks like I'm talking about something serious
while dressed probably not as serious
as the subject matter I'm talking.
And kind of like right now, like will years from now,
will I look back on this moment and be like,
"Man, I was talking about deep philosophical things
dressed as a man who will kill to get peace."
Time will tell, but as I reflect back on this,
this is probably because I'm still wearing sports jerseys
and a Master Lock around my neck.
This is probably at the start of me
defining myself as the hip hop presence
in world wrestling entertainment, WWE.
[bright music]
Certain images spark emotions and this one, man,
I feel joy, a whole lot of joy.
This was a celebration that the Make-A-Wish Foundation
put together, supposedly for me, to let the world know
that I had just granted a 500th wish.
But what I remember about this celebration
is we got to grant a bunch more wishes that day.
It was before a WWE event and we got to bring in
a bunch of Make-A-Wish families to a place
where we could all eat and have fun and play games,
and then we had a WWE event that night;
it was like a wish on top of a wish
or just an added piece of depth to the day.
And in an amazing gesture, WWE donated $1 million
to the Make-A-Wish Foundation
and WWE and Make-A-Wish had been in a partnership now
for almost 40 years, I believe.
I've been able to share a piece of that partnership
for almost 20 of those 40 and we've had some great moments.
And my involvement with Make-A-Wish doesn't happen
without WWE and me being at the end of the wish,
me being able to see the joy and the happiness
that these families and children have
when they get their wish granted, man,
it is really pure joy; you can't have a bad day
when you're involved with something like this.
And this day certainly was no different,
it's a wonderful day in my life and it's a chance to,
you know, the WWE donated resources to Make-a-Wish
to make more wishes.
That was the day we made more wishes
and that evening I got to perform
for every single family there and that was really special.
[bright rhythmic music]
Here, you're lucky enough to be invited into the home
of Christopher Smith; that's right,
this is where Peacemaker lives.
It looks like he's had a rough day,
'cause he's covered in dirt and blood and [beep]
and who else knows what.
That is the brainchild behind "Peacemaker," James Gunn,
and that is him telling me that I'm not any good
and that I'll never work in this town again.
And that I should move from here,
the world in which people understand stuff,
to over here, place where I belong,
where no one understands me because I'm not any good.
James used a lot of talking with his hands
when telling me I sucked, because he had the mask,
you couldn't read his entire face.
I know true emotion starts with the eyes,
and he stared daggers through me
through the most of the production,
but he also accentuated his point with his hands.
Most of the time, he simply needed two fingers
to let me know his thoughts of my performance.
This was a bonding moment between the two of us,
as you can see, me, I'm looking concerned;
I'm like, "By not work in this town again, what do you-
[chuckling nervously] spare me the medical terms pal.
Tell me, give it to me straight."
So he did and we continued to film for 120 days after that.
[bright rhythmic music]
Once again, John Cena, HBO's "Peacemaker,"
and I just hope you learned a little bit about me,
because I'm an onion and I tried to peel back some layers
for you today; if I failed miserably, tune in next time.
[bright rhythmic music] [chime dinging]