John Cena has recounted a time he nearly breached Vince McMahon's trust by secretly pursuing involvement in a social network startup. The WWE star said the attempt was driven by a desire for more money but ended after McMahon confronted him about it.
Cena described the incident in an interview with Wild Card. He said he did not inform McMahon because the plan was not a joint venture and involved leveraging his name and intellectual property.
"One time, I tried to get involved with an entrepreneurial social network startup and I didn’t tell my boss and we talk about everything," Cena said. He added that McMahon learned of the idea and handled the matter calmly.
"It was a moment where he could’ve just got nuclear, because trust takes years to build and moments to destroy. He didn’t," Cena said. McMahon walked through the potential consequences, leading Cena to withdraw from the deal within minutes.
"It took five minutes or less to realize, ‘I’m such an idiot.’ I immediately called the company back and said, ‘I’m out, this isn’t for me,’" he recalled.