John Cena Defends His Friendship With Vince McMahon

John Cena says he has “no guilt nor shame” over his friendship with Vince McMahon.

During a new interview with The Guardian, Cena was once again asked about his relationship with the former WWE Chairman. Cena made it clear that he remains comfortable with their friendship despite the controversy surrounding McMahon.

“I have no guilt nor shame about my friendship and my relationship with Vince McMahon,” Cena said. “You’re obviously going to put this in [your] article.”

Cena added that he believes it is possible to care about someone without believing they are perfect.

“It’s OK to love somebody when they’re not perfect.”

Earlier this year, Cena discussed a time when he believes he violated McMahon’s trust by becoming involved with what he described as an “entrepreneurial social network startup.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Cena addressed the ownership surrounding the “John Cena” character and intellectual property. While Cena noted that John Cena is also simply who he is as a person, he believes WWE and TKO have earned their stake after investing heavily in the character throughout his career.

“John Cena is who I am as a human being,” Cena said, “and there is a company – WWE/TKO – that has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the intellectual property of the character John Cena.”

Cena believes that investment gives the company a legitimate claim to the character.

“And rightfully so; they have earned their share of ownership of that.”

The 17-time WWE World Champion was also asked about the sacrifices he made on his way to becoming one of WWE’s biggest stars. Cena rejected the word “sacrifice,” instead describing the decisions he made throughout his career as choices.

“I prefer to use the word choice,” Cena said. “When we say yes to something, we say no to everything else.”