The Tonight Show Champion, John Cena's Matchbox Week in New York
A premiere at AMC Lincoln Square, then a custom title belt for Jimmy Fallon, as the retired wrestler sells a movie about toy cars
"Introducing, hailing from parts unknown, weight currently unknown." The voice is unmistakable. The ring is a talk show set. The champion is Jimmy Fallon. On Tuesday night, John Cena made his 17th appearance on The Tonight Show and brought the host a present he will not soon forget.
It was the second big night of a busy New York week for Cena. On Monday he walked the carpet at AMC Lincoln Square for the New York premiere of Matchbox: The Movie, his new action movie for Apple. On Tuesday he took the movie to late night, and he did not arrive empty-handed.
A Belt With the Host's Name on It
Cena pointed out on air that the visit was his 17th on the show, a number he tied to his 17 world championships in WWE, according to BroadwayWorld's account of the episode. To mark it, he produced a custom WWE title belt made for Fallon, with the host's name on it, and fastened it around his waist.
Then he showed Fallon how a champion carries one, draped over a shoulder when sitting down. He also picked up a microphone and became a ring announcer, giving the host a full arena introduction as the show's universal champion.
Fallon did not try to play it cool. "This is perfect," he said, as reported by Mandatory in a story syndicated by Yahoo. "Are you kidding me? This is so perfect." Then he added, "My name is on this belt. I'm not taking it off."
My name is on this belt. I'm not taking it off.
The rest of the conversation turned to the movie. BroadwayWorld reports that Cena talked about doing his own stunts for Matchbox and about his fear of heights, a detail that made the stunt talk a little more interesting. He also went back to his childhood and the toy cars that started it all.
Toy Cars and Old Friends
Matchbox: The Movie is built on the Mattel toy line, and the plot leans on the idea of grown men who never quite stopped playing. Deadline describes a group of childhood friends whose lives are upended when their long-absent former leader, an undercover CIA agent named Sean, comes back to their small town and drags them into an international chase to save the world. Cena plays Sean.
The cast around him includes Jessica Biel, Sam Richardson, Arturo Castro and Teyonah Parris, along with Danai Gurira, Corey Stoll, Bill Camp and Golshifteh Farahani. Sam Hargrave directed from a script by David Coggeshall. The film starts streaming on Apple TV on Friday, October 9.
Deadline's premiere gallery shows the Monday carpet on the Upper West Side, where the cast posed for photographers. PWInsider, which tracks Cena closely, called the Lincoln Square screening the film's world premiere.
Cena had been doubtful about the idea himself. He said so during a visit to NBC's Today show, in comments transcribed by PWInsider.
"I was similarly apprehensive when they dropped Matchbox: The Movie in front of me," Cena said. He went on to explain what won him over. "The Matchbox cars are used as a conduit for nostalgia."
After the Ring
All of this comes less than a year after Cena's wrestling career ended. 411mania notes that he wrestled his retirement match last December. He has spent the months since doing what he has been doing for years in parallel, making movies and showing up on talk shows with a big grin and a bigger bit.
The belt for Fallon was a smart piece of showmanship because it worked on both levels. Wrestling fans got the callback to the 17 titles. Everyone else got a grown man in a suit announcing a late-night host like a heavyweight. It is the kind of moment New York television does best, the one that ends up in everyone's feed the next morning.
The city has a long history of athletes crossing into late night. Just this fall, the Knicks captain Jalen Brunson hosted Saturday Night Live and brought his champions along. Cena's week was smaller in scale and just as cheerful. A premiere on Monday. A title belt on Tuesday. A movie about toy cars on Friday.
There was even an echo of this on a Queens stage only days earlier, when Ringo Starr opened his Forest Hills show with a Carl Perkins number called Matchbox. Different song, same word, same city. This week, it belonged to Cena.
