John Cena shocked the WWE Universe when he returned to challenge Romain Reigns for the Universal Title. Part of Cena's return included the debut of Super Mario Bros. 3 merchandise and special NFTs. However, the Peacemaker star admitted the NFT collection was ultimately a "catastrophic failure."
A fan at Florida Supercon asked Cena why his Super Mario Bros. 3 hat and t-shirt cost $1,000. To his credit, Cena answered honestly with, "WWE wanted to put together a once-in-a-lifetime fan experience." He added that the kit included a hat, t-shirt, WWE belt, two wristbands, a towel, an autographed picture, an autographed canvas picture and an NFT. When it came time to decide a face value for the products, it came up to be around $500-600 retail price. However, once the cost of the NFT was factored in, the price soared to $1,000.
"So I talk a lot about failure," Cena continued. "This idea failed. So why is it a thousand bucks? Because myself and the folks at WWE thought a thousand dollars was a fair price, but we were wrong. We were absolutely wrong."
According to Cena, WWE would only sell 37 of the 500 kits. "It was a catastrophic failure," Cena reiterated. "I design all my stuff. The shirt and hat you're wearing, what I'm wearing. I was super proud of this one." He then stood up to show the back of his Super Mario Bros. 3 t-shirt, which got an applause from the convention audience. While Cena said he put his heart and soul into the design and did a lot of market research, he also added that "it sucked."
WWE announced its first NFT in April for WrestleMania. Featuring the Undertaker, it came with four tiers (Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze) and opening bids starting at $10,000, $5,000, $1,000 and $100, respectively.
"WWE's first-ever NFT collection presents an opportunity to own a digital piece of history featuring The Undertaker, one of the most iconic Superstars in sports entertainment," said Nick Khan, WWE President & Chief Revenue Officer. "This will also allow WWE to deepen our connection with the WWE Universe during our biggest event, WrestleMania."
John Cena faced Roman Reigns at SummerSlam for the WWE Universal championship. Reigns exited the bout retaining his title, thus ending "The Summer of Cena." The 17 time champion can currently be seen in The Suicide Squad in theaters, and headlines the upcoming Peacemaker HBO Max spinoff series that is expected to debut in early 2022.
Source: YouTube