John Cena Got a Hair Transplant

John Cena is getting ready to retire from the world of WWE. His final wrestling match will take place this December, bringing to an end one of the most illustrious careers in the field. Cena is a rarity in his industry in that he’s successfully made the jump to acting. Think of him as the stepping stone in between Dwayne Johnson and Dave Bautista — he’s not the record-breaking megastar or the brooding character actor, but he’s talented, a great comedian, and has more than proven his prowess in a ton of roles.

As he prepares for this transition period in his life, he’s on the promotional trail, which means landing the cover of PEOPLE to ‘get raw’ about his world outside of the ring. It’s a pretty standard puff piece. Don’t expect any tough questions on the sh*tty business ethics of WWE or Vince McMahon (and Cena’s continuing friendship with the accused rapist and sex trafficker). This is all designed to show off Cena as a good dude who works hard, loves his wife, and has risen to the top of the ranks after battling school bullying and Hollywood.

But he does get candid about one thing: his recent hair transplant. To the surprise of no one who has seen Cena in anything over the past five years, he’s undergone a lot of work to reverse his follicular challenges.

‘“As I was trying to hide my hair loss, the audience was bringing it to light,” he says. “I saw their signs that said ‘The bald John Cena,’” he says. “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.”

He loves his new look. “They don’t do anything except move your hair, one by one, from one area to another,” he says.

He pauses to remark how “fired up” he gets about the topic. “If somebody’s going to sweat me for that, I don’t think there’s any shame in that,” he says. “It completely changed the course of my life.”’

I’m all in favour of cis men receiving gender affirming care. Everyone should have that right. Baldness is certainly something we mock and don’t take seriously, and I know more than a few guys who have been really screwed over by it. How wonderful that there are so many options available for those who want to tell nature to piss off. Let’s see more famous men open up about this. I think most people would be surprised to discover how prevalent cosmetic surgeries and augmentations are among male celebrities. They’re getting it just as frequently as the women!

Cena had previously talked about feeling attacked by WWE fans who mocked his bald spot. In April, he talked about the hair transplant on The Pat McAfee Show, saying to the crowd behind him:

‘“And 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. This isn’t cool. You guys aren’t cool to me. Why do you think I did it? I’m in the Rumble trying to win and [they say], ‘How’s the bald spot?’ Like, that’s not fair. I can’t control that.”

Trash-talking is par for the course in wrestling, but yeah, if everyone was mocking me for the thing that made me super self-conscious, I’d let the bullies win and call up the doctor too. To Cena’s credit, his hair looks great, and also, he’d probably look great bald if he wanted it. We know which one Hollywood prefers.