You may never probably get to see Real Madrid attacker Rodrygo and WWE superstar-turned-Hollywood actor John Cena play a 1-2 pass between them to create a goal. But there is certainly a connection brewing between the famous WWE wrestler and Real Madrid, evident from the former sharing a pic of Rodrygo doing the WWE Champion’s trademark “You can’t see me” celebration after scoring against Rayo Vallecano this weekend.
La Liga giants Real Madrid drew 3-3 with Rayo Vallecano in a thrilling league encounter that saw the 35-time League Champions come back from being 0-2 down to go 3-2 up, thanks to Rodrygo’s left-foot shot from outside the box, which was helped on by a deflection from a Rayo defender. After the goal, a jubilant Rodrygo, who scored after 13 matches, did the “you can’t see me” hand gesture, which is so famously associated with the 16-time WWE Champion John Cena. So what’s the connection?
Well, Cena has been rumoured to be taking an interest in football, and he is yet to pick a favourite club. Still, he has been seen in the Real Madrid camp a couple of times now, including at the Gewiss Stadium for the Galacticos’ midweek Champions League away game against Atalanta last week. Sporting the home jersey of the Los Blancos, Cena was seen beaming with joy as Madrid put on a professional performance en route to a 3-2 win.
Following Rodrygo’s actions in the weekend, Cena was quick to share the Brazilian forward’s picture on his Instagram handle. In fact, this is not the first time Cena has shared a pic of a Real Madrid player doing his “you can’t see me” celebration. In 2021, he shared the picture of Madrid left-winger Vinicius Jr. recreating his iconic hand gesture after scoring against Granada.
Incidentally, his Real Madrid connection goes far deeper than this. In 2017, when asked about his favourite football player in a BBC chat show, John Cena said, “If I had to name some famous footballers, I would start and end with Cristiano Ronaldo. That’s it.”
Who knows? Maybe Rodrygo himself is a fan of the wrestling legend who has won almost every title in WWE, including tag-team titles, US Championships and many others. Cena was the poster boy of WWE for a number of years, entertaining and inspiring kids and adults alike with his fitness, athleticism, work ethic, integrity and professionalism.
Real Madrid, in turn, could have had the same effect on Cena courtesy of their flamboyance, panache, skill, determination and grit, not to mention the ever-increasing trophy count. Madrid is the defending La Liga and Champions League winner, and the only team to win the Champions League 3 times in a row, achieving the feat in 2016-18. They have also won the Champions League a record 15 times.
We have to wait and watch if Cena eventually does publicly admit that he is a Real Madrid fan. He does seem to take time out of his busy schedule for the Spanish Champions. Maybe we will get to see the WWE star at the Santiago Bernabeu in the near future.
