John Cena Discusses His Motivation For Learning To Speak Mandarin

John Cena's prowess with Mandarin has been something he's both been praised and criticized for, but either way, it resulted in many viral memes. According to Cena on "Impaulsive," he learned Mandarin for more than just personal development. He doesn't consider himself fluent in the language despite having taken classes for the past 10 to 12 years. When it came to how it was possible, Cena revealed it was through a free WWE program. "They will assist in paying for your secondary education and they will give you a free language program. So, my time off, I took advantage of the program and had a tutor come over."

He continued, explaining that his original intent was not to just set a standard among the WWE roster but to try and bridge the gap between the promotion and China. "WWE has never been able to penetrate China. They just don't understand it. They think it's a kung-fu exposition, they don't know if it's real." Cena explained that he believed that being a top WWE star with relevancy in China would ultimately expand their audience and roster. "With relevancy, we could get some homegrown talent. I was literally trying to use myself as a vehicle to get us over there."

Sadly, according to Cena, he failed to make an impact in China. "The crazy thing is it didn't work. This was eight years of labor, failing." However, in typical Cena fashion, he's never stopped learning the language and has dealt with his efforts not coming to fruition. "It was one of those things where you just work really hard and it just doesn't matriculate."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Impaulsive" and provide Wrestling Inc. with a h/t for the transcription.