WWE Champ Earns New Title After Buying Food for Widowed Veteran: ‘Kindest Man’
Movieguide® Contributor
John Cena made a widowed veteran’s day when he bought the man’s groceries, earning Cena the title of “the kindest man.”
It was just an ordinary day of grocery shopping for Floridian Charles “Bud” Phillips…until John Cena stepped into the checkout line.
“My dad was behind him in the checkout line,” said Stefanie Phillips, the Vietnam vet’s daughter. “They were chatting, and John thanked my dad for his service [after] seeing his SeaBees hat. John secretly paid for all of his groceries.”
“My dad didn’t even know until he was being checked out and the cashier said, ‘John paid for your groceries.’ The bill was around $100,” Stefanie said.
The act of kindness meant a lot to Phillips, who snapped a selfie with Cena.
“My dad is a retired Vietnam veteran [and] a widow. We lost my mom five years ago unexpectedly [after] they were married almost 50 years. So, as you can imagine, not too much these days make him smile as big as he did in that picture,” she shared.
“That’s what is so special about this moment. A simple act of kindness brightened his day. Along with his family seeing that smile on his face!” Stefanie said.
A lot of people who saw the photo of Charles in his SeaBees hat on Reddit reached out to the Phillips family. Many of them had relatives who served in the same unit as Phillips. Some of his former comrades have reconnected with him and swapped pictures.
Cena’s kindness extends to other areas, too. In 2022, he broke the record for granting the most wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Over a span of ten years, he granted the wishes of 650 sick children who requested to meet him.
“If you ever need me for this ever, I don’t care what I’m doing, I will drop what I’m doing and be involved because I think that’s the coolest thing,” Cena said of his long partnership with Make-A-Wish. “I just drop everything…”
READ MORE: JOHN CENA SETS RECORD FOR MOST WISHES GRANTED THROUGH MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION
Of buying the veteran’s groceries, WWE news noted, “Once again, Cena leads by example, reminding the WWE Universe that there’s no bad time for a selfless act.”