John Cena recently spoke with Sports Illustrated and said while he’s focused on non-WWE opportunities right now, he’s always thinking about WWE and ideas surrounding his next return to the WWE storylines are always percolating.

“Whatever the next step is, that’s essentially what I’m contemplating,” Cena said. “How do I fit in? Where do I fit in? And it makes it extra peculiar now that all these outside opportunities are coming in, but it couldn’t have happened at a better time.”

He continued, “There are tremendous opportunities that are being presented that I certainly want to take advantage of, but I could spend all my time talking about WWE. I truly love the company, I love the brand. I just constantly take assessment of myself. I remember, if you jump in the way back machine to 2009, then again in 2012 and again in 2015, people are constantly asking, ‘Well, when are you done?’ That’s a conversation I’ll have with myself when I am a step slower and I feel I can’t keep up.”

SI pointed to how WWE is on the brink of a competitive situation with AEW, and how they will need Cena if they want to meet the needs of the vast pro wrestling fan base. Cena said he’s not sure what his role is with WWE, but he wants to be confident in whatever he does. He said he’s also open to coaching at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.

“I have a good perspective of the product,” Cena said. “The product is very performance-based. I’ve never been the most orthodox performer. I’ve been able to take an honest assessment of myself, and there is nothing wrong with admitting, ‘Hey, I’m not sure I can perform at the level I used to.’ I want to be confident in every performance.

“I’m not sure what my role is, but I know WWE is my family and, as long as they’ll have me, I’ll never leave. Heck, I’ll go coach in Orlando [at the WWE Performance Center]. It would be so shameful for that experience and performance wisdom to go to no one. Whether I had the opportunity to do Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? Or Fast and the Furious, or if I had none of that going on and I just had idle time, I would be having the same conversation with myself. I need to define what my new role is. That’s the conversation I’m having with myself at 42 after performing for 16 years straight.”

Regarding his new “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” game show on Nickelodeon, SI noted how the show blends two of Cena’s driving passions – entertainment and advocating for kids. Cena talked about how young people bring him a certain energy.

“Young people surround me with a certain energy and certain way of thinking that only young people have,” Cena said. “There is a certain genuineness about kids, and they just have a certain way about them that is pure and honest. The show is geared around the kids, and they get the liberty to show themselves as people. They’re all vibrant personalities, they all have wisdom beyond their years, and they’re all exceptionally smart. And the show’s live audience, that’s something I really gravitated to after I spent the majority of my time performing in front of live audiences every night. You couldn’t help but be enamored by the reaction of young people in the audience. I enjoy it, and it keeps me a kid. I never want to lose that innocence and honesty.”