John Cena doesn't get the credit he deserves for becoming a business icon.
Much of it has to do with a mainstream sports world that might not consider pro wrestling a sport, but the WWE has become a business with a worldwide impact.
Cena is a force. His Facebook fan page has more than 43 million likes, the most for any U.S. athlete. He has 9.1 million followers on Twitter and 5.9 million followers on Instagram.
Long ago, he crossed over into the mainstream, easily identified by his "You Can't See Me" and "Hustle, Loyalty, Respect" catchphrases.
He has appeared on 5 million boxes of Fruity Pebbles. He has been seen as the face of Hefty trash bags. He has been heard as the familiar voice of a pistachio-loving elephant in a recent commercial for the Wonderful Company. Later this year, he will be named a brand ambassador for Crocs' "Come As You Are Campaign." Earlier this week, he was promoting the rebranding of the Tapout line with JCPenney in New York City.
Cena's rise to the top of relevance is something he doesn't dwell on much.
After graduating Springfield College in Massachusetts in 1999, Cena had $500 in his pocket and went out to California to pursue his passion for bodybuilding. His father said he couldn't make it two weeks before growing broke.
Cena briefly worked moving fitness equipment for a company, but he found his home at the famous Gold's Gym in Venice Beach, where Arnold Schwarzenegger could be found in his bodybuilding prime.
Cena started working in the store area of the gym at $6 an hour.
"If you wanted to know about nutrition, protein or apparel, I was your guy," he said.
He made enough to turn his dad's prediction into a bad one. However, it wasn't easy.
"In the beginning, I was living out of the back of my Lincoln Continental," Cena said. "I was struggling, but I wasn't ever sad. I was in the place where fitness had become famous, and I actually loved what I did."
Cena received his first opportunity to wrestle when a bodybuilder at Gold's asked if he wanted to try wrestling at a flea market. Three years later, in June 2002, Cena was in the WWE as a full-time wrestler.
In nearly 15 years with the company, Cena is a 15-time world champion (second most in the history of WWE) as well as multiple reigns as United States champion and tag team champion.
As Cena's rise continued, the WWE soon realized he could be a big star. Not only was he talented in the ring, but he had the required gift of speech that made so many of the great wrestlers relevant.
In October 2004, the WWE filed for the first of five trademarks to his name, which the organization does with all its stars and is simply part of the deal.
"I see it as a joint venture," Cena said. "They give me a platform to showcase my brand in nearly 200 countries across the universe. We've become a global cultural phenomenon where people all over the world receive our product and are instantaneously aware of our story lines."
Cena said the ownership of his name is by no means a "complete forfeiture" of his rights.
"There's actually a ton of room for individuality and for personally pushing for expansion of what I can be," Cena said. "Dwayne (The Rock) was a pioneer in that space."
Messing with Cena's reach isn't a good idea. Beer brand Pabst Blue Ribbon found that out after the company told Cena to cease and desist over Twitter for his Memorial Day shirt that looked very much like their logo.
"We were well within our rights in terms of parody necessary, but we quickly turned around and changed the design within hours," Cena said. "It was pretty much social media suicide for them. What's funny is the brewery ultimately realized our power and actively reached out to establish an open relationship."
Part of Cena's success on social media is his ability to drown out the hate.
"I run a successful individual brand," Cena said. "A lot of people chant for me and a lot of people chant against me, but you can't argue with the analytics and the relevance that I have."
There are two areas of Cena's life where he is not interested in growing the business side.
Cena doesn't care for selling his autograph.
"I'm a football helmet collector, so I get that side of the business," said Cena, who estimated he has signed about 750,000 free autographs over the past 15 years. "But I see it as a service we provide to fans to thank them for being there."
The other area is meaningful meet and greets. Any free time he has, he fulfills wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
In 2015, the organization that fulfills the wishes of sick children announced Cena had fulfilled his 500th wish, the record for any celebrity.
"I didn't need that announced for myself," Cena said. "I don't care about the number. It made sense because it helps them get the word out about what we do."
Recently, Cena did a photo shoot in one city, flew to another to do a show and arrived two hours, 15 minutes before air. He still met with a family before the lights came on to fulfill a Make-A-Wish.
His legacy doing this will be just as strong as his business legacy, which is remarkable to even consider.