John Cena reveals he defended his older brother from homophobic bullies at school

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John Cena has opened up about his childhood, particularly defending his older brother.

Cena, 46, appeared in the newest episode of Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, the place he defined that he and his 4 brothers grew up in a small Massachusetts city. In that atmosphere, his older brother Steve struggled due to his curiosity in computer systems and his sexual orientation.

“Life was tough for my brother in high school. Not only was he an introvert and interested in computers, he’s also gay. And being gay in the Eighties in a small town in Massachusetts, man, that’s an uphill climb,” Cena mentioned.

He added that Steve didn’t come out as homosexual whereas he was in excessive school, however was judged throughout that interval for being a “true nerd”.

“He just had a lot of character traits that weren’t in the ‘cool kid’ group, and he’s also holding this secret that he can’t tell or talk to anybody about,” Cena defined.

“I really feel for what it must have been like for him growing up,” he added.

Despite being a number of years youthful than Steve, the actor defined that he at all times felt very protecting of his older brother. “That sort of behaviour started, like, at 10 years old for me,” he mentioned.

“I don’t think I understood what was going on. Kids are harsh and they form cliques real fast.”

Because his household lived “acres away” from others the brothers usually caught collectively. “There was enough of us to have a basketball team, which means we could do whatever we wanted. We want to play football or baseball, there’s enough of us. We didn’t feel we needed anyone else,” Cena mentioned.

Then when the actor was round 10 to 12 years outdated he recalled changing into a part of different “social circles” and needed to face as much as any bullies he got here throughout.

“I took on the role of, ‘Hey, if you say something to the younger brothers, I will do my best to throw myself in harm’s way,’” he mentioned.

He added that it wasn’t even simply his brothers who have been getting picked on in school, he was additionally coping with his bullies. “I got made fun of for the way I dressed, the music I listened to, the people I associated with, my older brother,” he defined.

At age 12, Cena determined to begin understanding with weights, he mentioned, “Because I was getting my a** kicked.”

By the time Cena was 15 years outdated, he defined that by his routine of “constant strength training and eating right”, he turned greater than his bullies who have been older than him.

“I walked into physical education class with now seniors who were pushing me down the hill,” he mentioned. “I remember specifically one kid who literally spearheaded the anti-John movement, I closed my locker door and he’s next to me and we were looking at each other like, ‘Is it gonna go down?’”

Instead of combating, Cena defined how he acquired the scenario to die down by itself.

“And for some reason – at 15 – I summoned up the situational awareness to be like, ‘Hey man, we’re good, don’t worry about it,’” he mentioned. “And that was it. Not only did he never pick on me again, I never really got f’ed with again in high school.”