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As many WWE fans are well aware, John Cena started undergoing a hair transplant procedure late last year after being mocked by fans for having a bald spot during the Royal Rumble. We know this because the 17-time world champion admitted as much during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show following this past April’s WrestleMania.
“I had it in November,” John Cena revealed with more than a little bit of sarcasm thrown in for good measure. “That’s when I came like half a skin head up here. You guys, by the way, thank you for being so aware of my needs and emotions because you guys ripped me to shreds for a genetic problem that I can’t control.”
Cena added, “I listen to you idiots, I do. You have to take the ones from the side and plug them in on top. It just takes a while to come in. It’s coming in. Hopefully, in a couple of months it looks better.”
Fast forward to this past weekend’s WWE SummerSlam and by most accounts, it does, indeed, look better. And according to John Cena, it has changed his life.
New hair, don’t care
“As I was trying to hide my hair loss, the audience was bringing it to light,” Cena said this week’s cover story for People. “I saw their signs that said ‘The bald John Cena.’ They pushed me into going to see what my options were. I now have a routine: red-light therapy, minoxidil, vitamins, shampoo, conditioner — and I also got a hair transplant last November. I hate the fact that if there wasn’t so much shame around it, I’d have gotten it done 10 years ago. I thought I was alone, but seven or eight out of 10 [men] suffer from thinning or baldness.”
Cena says he now loves talking about his hair transformation. “If somebody’s going to sweat me for that, I don’t think there’s any shame in that. It completely changed the course of my life,” he said.
He says another benefit of his new hair is that it “can identify a part that can get me more work, do the thing I love to do.” One of those new jobs is the lead role in the Marvel series Peacemaker, which he also says “changed” his life. “It’s a great show that’s more than just action. It’s a love story. It’s a workplace comedy. We’re the long shots, the lovable losers,” he told People.