John Cena's Daytona 500 Appearance Cements His Good-Guy Image

As if you needed another reason to love—or hate—John Cena, here comes NASCAR driver Carl Edwards to invite him to be the honorary starter of this year's Daytona 500 on Feb. 26. 

While WWE fans like to rag on Cena for his cheesy comedy, lame ability in the ring and "aw shucks" attitude about anything going on around him, it is hard not to cheer for him when he isn't on Raw, SmackDown or a pay-per-view.

Just watch the video of Edwards inviting him to do the Daytona 500, and you can see Cena in all of his cheesy goodness to know why a large section of the audience boos him when he walks out. 

He is, for lack of a better term, a dork. But he is a dork who truly wants to make WWE look good with everything that he does. 

There is no wrestler in the company today that does more to promote the sport or act as a goodwill ambassador than Cena. His work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation has been well-documented.

By being the main celebrity attraction at the biggest NASCAR race of the year, Cena has clearly established himself as one of the real good guys in sports and entertainment. 

We all hear these horror stories about athletes getting into trouble with drugs and/or alcohol, extramarital affairs, etc., so when an athlete comes along who presents himself in a professional manner on television and is a stand-up person off-camera, it is incredibly refreshing. 

His act on WWE television can wear thin—I will readily admit to being tired of many things that his character does. But it is important to remember everything that he does for the company. 

Wrestling fans have been trying to find a reason to see Cena turn heel ever since 2005, but it is because of things like being invited to start the Daytona 500, working with Make-A-Wish and acting as a role model for young kids that the company can't—or won't—turn him. 

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