John Cena's struggle: Why WWE's biggest star can't take time off

When John Cena stood in the ring one night after losing the WWE Championship at SummerSlam, his torn triceps injury was expected to keep him away from the ring for at least four months and, perhaps, as many as six. But when the record 11-time WWE Champion steps back into the squared circle, he will do so far ahead of schedule, returning at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view on Oct. 27, after only two and a half months on the shelf.
The polarizing veteran hardly ever takes time away from the spotlight, but when he does, Cena seems to return sooner and sooner than expected. In an exclusive conversation, WWE.com asked the Massachusetts native why he pushes himself, what he’s feeling when he watches Raw from the couch and how he takes his mind off performing in front of millions of people in each week.
Watch Cena announce his injury | Hell in a Cell match preview
WWE.COM: This is much sooner than many WWE fans were expecting to see you back. The timetable indicated you’d be away from the ring for four to six months. It’s been two. Is it hard for you to stay away?
JOHN CENA: Of course, I think if any active Superstar tells you differently, they should rethink their profession. For most people, being injured and having surgery is a very difficult experience. They may spend a little bit of time loafing around or feeling sorry for themselves. I get to work right away. I just, literally, follow the rules. I go to physical therapy like I should. It becomes my job. When my job isn’t performing in a WWE ring, my job is to get back performing in that ring. When I’m hurt, all I have to do all day is get strong and get better. I’m a very dedicated physical therapy patient and that helps a lot.
WWE.COM: Is there something special about your body that you’re able to recover from your injuries so quickly? You always seem to return much sooner than expected.
CENA: Please don’t spread the rumor that I’m some kind of real-life X-Man or something like that. The reason that surgeons give those timetables is because they obviously want to err on the side of caution. They don’t want the operation going badly. They basically take all the operations they’ve done and come up with a medium timeframe to recover. That’s why it was four to six months.
Source: wwe.com