John Cena made ridiculously low amount for first acting role outside of WWE
John Cena will retire from wrestling at the end of 2025 - having carved out an acting career alongside his WWE legacy.
Tom Jenkins
WWE legend John Cena has managed to transition himself into a genuine member of Hollywood in the last decade - but had to work his way up the ladder.
Cena is estimated to be worth approximately $60 million, a significant departure from his early WWE career when his first contract earned him a yearly salary of just $12,000.
The 47-year-old embarked on a rapid rise up the WWE ladder, and was the face of the company throughout much of the 2010s and late 2000s.
He began his acting career relatively early, starring as the lead character in The Marine, which was executively produced by WWE Studios.
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But while he earned $280,000 for that film, he was subjected to a considerable pay cut for one of his next films - albeit in a much more reduced role.
After moving away from WWE Studios projects, Cena played the eponymous film character's father in Fred: The Movie, which has an IMDB rating of just 2.1. He wore his WWE attire for the role, before telling Fred to use 'ruthless aggression' - the infamous catchphrase he used during his early wrestling career.
According to Money Nation, Cena earned just $25,000 for playing that role, before then earning the same amount for featuring in its sequel.
He would subsequently make his breakthrough into mainstream Hollywood when he portrayed the love interest of Amy Schumer's character in Trainwreck. His salary for the 2015 film was reported to be a cool $2.5 million.
Cena has continued to progress through the industry, and played the lead character in the hit Marvel series Peacemaker. He also starred in The Suicide Squad, and made a cameo appearance in Barbie last year.
Cena announced his WWE retirement on Saturday at the Money in the Bank event, confirming that he would step away from in-ring competition at the end of 2025.
Speaking about how he plans to work that final year, Cena explained: "Hopefully, if everything goes according to plan, we're going straight through from January to December.
"We're going to try and do a long list of dates. Right now, tentatively, it's hovering in the mid-30s to 40s. That will be the end of my in-ring competition.
"Part of what I proposed [after retirement], and what they [TKO] accepted, was me remaining in the WWE family in some capacity for an extended time. WWE is my home, and I love it."