John Cena Just Broke The World Record For Most Wishes Granted With Make-A-Wish Foundation
The WWE champion is adding another trophy to his collection after granting hundreds of wishes for critically ill children around the world.
John Cena has a whopping 16 WWE World Title wins, but those victories are just a drop in the bucket compared to his latest title. The WWE champion-turned-actor has just shattered the Guinness World Record for most wishes granted through the Make-A-Wish Foundation with 650 wishes fulfilled.
Cena granted his first wish back in 2002. Now, 20 years later, he’s the most requested celebrity in the Make-A-Wish program and has been a part of 650 granted wishes. He hasn’t unseated anyone, though: Cena broke his own wish-granting record of 600 set back in 2018. According to Guinness World Records, no other celebrity has granted more than 200 wishes since Make-A-Wish was founded 42 years ago.
When Cena was honored in 2015 for 500 wishes granted, he opened up to AP about how important Make-A-Wish is to him and how he will “just drop anything” to help be a part of a child’s special day. “If I can offer a fantastic experience, I’ll be the first in line to do my part.”
He also really thinks on the fact that out of anyone in the world, these children have picked him: “I try to put myself in that perspective of if I had one thing to wish for, where would I fall on that list... So for me to be the name of like, ‘I would like to hang out with this person for the day,’ that’s a pretty strong statement... It really is pretty magical when they get a really intimate experience with the individual and then they get to go see them be a superhero [in a WWE performance].”
The 45-year-old has always used his celebrity to emphasize the importance of kindness on top of his Make-A-Wish work. He was the face of the WWE’s Be-A-Star anti-bullying campaign in 2012. He donated $1 million to Black Lives Matter in the wake of George Floyd’s death in 2020. In June of this year, the wrestler made his way to the Netherlands to meet with a Ukrainian teenager with Down’s syndrome who used Cena as a source of strength and inspiration as he was fleeing his country amid the Russian invasion.
He surprised Misha Rohozhyn, who is also nonverbal, with a WWE championship belt and matching t-shirt and hat. “This was a wonderful adventure in which I got to meet a wonderful new friend, thank you for giving me strength,” Cena told the teen as they compared muscles.
Even though Cena’s known for match-finishing moves like the Stepover Toehold Facelock in the ring, his new world record shows how much strength outside of the ring can literally do a world of good.
