John Cena reveals he defended his older brother from homophobic bullies at school

‘Being gay in the Eighties in a small town in Massachusetts, man, that’s an uphill climb,’ Cena said

John Cena has opened up about his childhood, specifically defending his older brother.

Cena, 46, appeared in the most recent episode of Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, where he explained that he and his four brothers grew up in a small Massachusetts town. In that environment, his older brother Steve struggled because of his interest in computers and his sexual orientation.

“Life was tough for my brother in high school. Not only was he an introvert and interested in computers, he’s also gay. And being gay in the Eighties in a small town in Massachusetts, man, that’s an uphill climb,” Cena said.

He added that Steve did not come out as gay while he was in high school, but was judged during that period for being a “true nerd”.

“He just had a lot of character traits that weren’t in the ‘cool kid’ group, and he’s also holding this secret that he can’t tell or talk to anybody about,” Cena explained.

“I really feel for what it must have been like for him growing up,” he added.

Despite being a few years younger than Steve, the actor explained that he always felt very protective of his older brother. “That sort of behaviour started, like, at 10 years old for me,” he said.

“I don’t think I understood what was going on. Kids are harsh and they form cliques real fast.”

Because his family lived “acres away” from others the brothers normally stuck together. “There was enough of us to have a basketball team, which means we could do whatever we wanted. We want to play football or baseball, there’s enough of us. We didn’t feel we needed anyone else,” Cena said.

Then when the actor was around 10 to 12 years old he recalled becoming part of other “social circles” and wanted to stand up to any bullies he came across.

“I took on the role of, ‘Hey, if you say something to the younger brothers, I will do my best to throw myself in harm’s way,’” he said.

He added that it wasn’t even just his brothers who were getting picked on in school, he was also dealing with his bullies. “I got made fun of for the way I dressed, the music I listened to, the people I associated with, my older brother,” he explained.

At age 12, Cena decided to start working out with weights, he said, “Because I was getting my a** kicked.”

By the time Cena was 15 years old, he explained that through his regimen of “constant strength training and eating right”, he became bigger than his bullies who were older than him.

“I walked into physical education class with now seniors who were pushing me down the hill,” he said. “I remember specifically one kid who literally spearheaded the anti-John movement, I closed my locker door and he’s next to me and we were looking at each other like, ‘Is it gonna go down?’”

Instead of fighting, Cena explained how he got the situation to die down on its own.

“And for some reason – at 15 – I summoned up the situational awareness to be like, ‘Hey man, we’re good, don’t worry about it,’” he said. “And that was it. Not only did he never pick on me again, I never really got f’ed with again in high school.”