Everyone loves John Cena weighing in on the aero helmet debate
Nothing to see here...
In a move that could prove the current generation of aero TT helmets are so ugly that they’ve attracted attention from outside the often-siloed (or genearlly ignored by pop culture) world of cycling, John Cena just weighed in on Giro’s latest esthetic abomination.
The iconic wrestler-turned-actor, who recently appeared at the Grammy Awards wearing a litte less than a skinsuit, posted a photo of the new Giro helmet to his Instagram page. There’s no explanation, as Cena’s profile explains his social posting strategy is: “These images will be posted without explanation, for your interpretation. Enjoy.” So we’re left guessing what exactly he thinks of the new helmet.
Different people see different shapes in the extreme aero design. I think it looks like the shark from the Jaws movie poster combined with Katy Perry’s infamous Left Shark dancer. Other people see other shapes. Perhaps Cena is alluding to his, uh, minimalist Oscar’s appearance that left the audience wondering what exactly they saw, too.
Or maybe Cena just thinks it’s an improvement over his Peacemaker dome from Suicide Squad and his TV show, Peacemaker.
But cycling fans were quick to pick up on the reference. The hilarious Cycling out of Context account quickly reposted Cena’s post.  Visma Leaseabike has yet to respond. Presumably they’re busy writing up a contract offer for Cena to return to the peloton.
Terreno Adriatico organizers loved it too. Showing that race organizers don’t have to be tone deaf and awful on social media.
I can't see who posted the helmet for some reason ? https://t.co/HeL5Q2s8pz
— Tirreno Adriatico (@TirrenAdriatico) March 13, 2024
Who knew the Italian’s were such big wrestling fans?
If Cena does return to cycling with the advantage of that Giro helmet he may actually be too fast to see. But, if he’s wearing that ugly helmet, no will want to see it anyway.
A return to the peloton?
this isn’t the first time the former WWE wrestler’s crossed paths with the peloton. Cena starred as a peak-Omerta doped up cyclist in Andy Samberg’s 2017 cycling send-up Tour de Pharmacy. Cena’s character, Gustav Ditters, had a few unfair advantages in the film. But he didn’t have the benefit of modern aero tech. Maybe Cena’s hinting he wants to return to two wheels to take back a few Strava KOM’s?
