WWE icon John Cena has revealed what helped ‘coach’ him through his earlier skin cancer diagnosis and treatment.

The 47-year-old actor and wrestler, who will face Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania, revealed in a new commercial to promote sunscreen use with Neutrogena that he had previously been diagnosed and treated for skin cancer.

Cena told PEOPLE that as a child, he ‘never’ wore sunscreen, noting that because he was ‘born in ’77,’ preserving your skin ‘was kind of all new stuff.’

When he grew up, he relocated to Florida and stated that he ‘neglected’ his skin, ending up in the sun but ‘stubbornly’ not applying sunscreen.

“I would rather not establish a routine, and I assumed the problem would never affect me. He said, “I had a lot of exposure with little protection, and it caught up with me.”

A dermatologist’s skin examination later detected ‘a malignant lesion’ on his ‘right pec.’

Fortunately, the lesion was able to be removed, and Cena recalls that his ‘wonderful’ dermatologist ‘held [him] by the hand and let [him] know that [he] wasn’t alone,’ which helped him absorb the ‘overwhelming’ statistics surrounding the condition.

While Cena did ‘learn about’ the figures, he believes that ‘the greatest method to drive home a concept is human-to-human interaction.’

He now speaks out about his two experiences, urging people to get tested if they see anything and to take sun protection seriously.

“And I, as a human, can tell you: Man, that phone call’s not what you want to get because it is unpredictable and you don’t know how bad it’s going to be,” added the actor.

Cena had to have another area removed about a year later, and he confesses it’s not always easy to stop thinking about ‘the worst-case scenario.’

However, with his dermatologist ‘coaching’ him through it and committing to take sun protection more seriously, he is now in a ‘wonderful space.’

He made the decision: “I am truly grateful to have avoided those two significant risks, but I carry them as a reminder that I must take the extra few moments each day to ensure my own safety.”

Cena has spent the last two weeks traveling Europe and the United Kingdom with WWE in preparation for his farewell WrestleMania performance against current WWE champion Cody Rhodes.

Turning ‘heel’ for the first time in his career (a wrestling word for a bad person), he has sent shockwaves through the professional wrestling world as he attempts to capture a historic 17th title before retiring at the end of the year.

He will continue to work for WWE as an ambassador and out-of-ring star, focusing on his acting career.