John Cena has been a professional wrestler with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) since 2002.
Now, at 42, Cena told NBC's "Sunday Today" that he has no plans to retire from the franchise.
"I will never walk away from the WWE," Cena told Willie Geist on NBC's "Sunday Today."
But that doesn't mean Cena hasn't thought about his future beyond wrestling — he said he has considered when and if the time would ever come for him to stop competing.
"When do I walk away with a sense of mental and physical sanity?" Cena told "Sunday Today." "I'm right at that precipice."
"I feel great, I'm in the best shape of my life," he added. "It's not that I couldn't continue, but I think from this point on I run the risk of tipping that balance the wrong way."
But even after Cena hangs up his wrestling belts he said he plans to continue to perform "in any capacity" possible with the WWE.
At the peak of Cena's wrestling career, the grueling WWE schedule meant he would have to train constantly to stay in shape to perform in more than 250 shows a year.
In 2018, Cena was ranked the highest-paid wrestler in the WWE by Forbes, earning an estimated $10 million during the 2017 calendar year. He's won 16 WWE World Championship belts, and is tied for the most decorated wrestler of all time in the WWE.
These days, Cena's body "can't handle the schedule anymore," he told "Sunday Today."
"You really have to prepare to get ready to perform, and then recover after a performance," he said. In a 2018 Vanity Fair interview, Cena shared that he lifts four times a week, and his routine includes bench presses, pull-ups, dead lifts, cleans, snatches, overhead presses and more.
When Cena turned 40, he decided that he would cut back on WWE performances, but he made a promise to himself with regards to his in-ring career.
"As I can keep up with the current product, I will perform," he told "Sunday Today."
Cena also said he hasn't taken a vacation during his entire career. He's only stepped aside to pursue other acting jobs, he said.
"I haven't taken a vacation even," Cena told The Ellen DeGeneres Show in an interview Sept. 30. The longest time that he ever took away from his work was two days, he added. But on those couple days off he found himself "jonesing to go back to work."
This dedication is rooted in his love of wrestling and performing. "I love what I do," Cena told DeGeneres. "I just know that it's going to end at some point, so I kind of want to enjoy it all. And I've spent a lot of time wanting to continue to work."
Although he's not saying goodbye to wrestling just yet, Cena has a few other projects in the works. Most recently, Cena announced that he'll be in the upcoming Fast and Furious 9 movie and has his second children's book coming out. He's also trying to figure out how to relax, he told DeGeneres.
"As of late, I've been able to kind of undo that hardwiring and enjoy the now, and take some time off and take a breath," he added. "And actually live for a little bit."
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