![John Cena made ridiculously low amount for first acting role outside of WWE](https://images.ladbible.com/resize?type=webp&quality=70&width=3840&fit=contain&gravity=auto&url=https://images.ladbiblegroup.com/v3/assets/blta90d05ad41a54a71/blta7fc47461d363c4b/668a99661fdd21a9c01741cf/John-Cena-WWE-acting-Hollywood.webp)
WWE legend John Cena has managed to transition himself into a genuine member of Hollywood in the last decade - but had to work his way up the ladder.
Cena is estimated to be worth approximately $60 million, a significant departure from his early WWE career when his first contract earned him a yearly salary of just $12,000.
The 47-year-old embarked on a rapid rise up the WWE ladder, and was the face of the company throughout much of the 2010s and late 2000s.
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He began his acting career relatively early, starring as the lead character in The Marine, which was executively produced by WWE Studios.
But while he earned $280,000 for that film, he was subjected to a considerable pay cut for one of his next films - albeit in a much more reduced role.
After moving away from WWE Studios projects, Cena played the eponymous film character's father in Fred: The Movie, which has an IMDB rating of just 2.1. He wore his WWE attire for the role, before telling Fred to use 'ruthless aggression' - the infamous catchphrase he used during his early wrestling career.
According to Money Nation, Cena earned just $25,000 for playing that role, before then earning the same amount for featuring in its sequel.
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He would subsequently make his breakthrough into mainstream Hollywood when he portrayed the love interest of Amy Schumer's character in Trainwreck. His salary for the 2015 film was reported to be a cool $2.5 million.
Cena has continued to progress through the industry, and played the lead character in the hit Marvel series Peacemaker. He also starred in The Suicide Squad, and made a cameo appearance in Barbie last year.
Cena announced his WWE retirement on Saturday at the Money in the Bank event, confirming that he would step away from in-ring competition at the end of 2025.
![John Cena announced his retirement from WWE at the Money in the Bank event -](https://images.ladbible.com/resize?type=webp&quality=70&width=3840&fit=contain&gravity=auto&url=https://images.ladbiblegroup.com/v3/assets/blta90d05ad41a54a71/blt4331aa1e6dd26095/668a97232e3a2b7faf3c97be/John-Cena-WWE-MITB-retirement.jpg)
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Speaking about how he plans to work that final year, Cena explained: "Hopefully, if everything goes according to plan, we're going straight through from January to December.
"We're going to try and do a long list of dates. Right now, tentatively, it's hovering in the mid-30s to 40s. That will be the end of my in-ring competition.
"Part of what I proposed [after retirement], and what they [TKO] accepted, was me remaining in the WWE family in some capacity for an extended time. WWE is my home, and I love it."