Actor John Cena recently lent his talents to a marketing campaign for Supercell's mobile game "Brawl Stars," which debuted a partnership with Nickelodeon's "SpongeBob SquarePants" in celebration of the cartoon's 25th anniversary.

While it was an odd choice to promote the Paramount-Supercell partnership, Cena explained to Variety how his passion for mobile gaming and history with WWE make him a good fit to spearhead the promotion for the "SpongeBob" tie-in. "Honestly, I don't think it's odd at all. I think I've heard a statistic that SpongeBob is talked about on social media about every four seconds," Cena said. "So that's even beyond the WWE level. It's just one of those characters that appeals to multiple generations. So even though I've never been involved in the 'SpongeBob' world, and SpongeBob has never won a steel cage match, I think the personalities and the shows have lasted so long. They're all very, very big, they're very overwhelming, they appeal to everyone. It's humor that kids can understand, that adults can understand, it's a multi-generational brand. So in that sense, we're on similar tracks. I think there's a lot more similarities than you might think."

Frank Keienburg, general manager of the Brawl Stars brand at Supercell, says their choice was based on “an opportunity to tap into the nostalgia and celebrate the enduring appeal of these two beloved icons.”

"'SpongeBob Squarepants' has a history of breaking the fourth wall and incorporating celebrities into the franchise's history," Keienburg said. "For our part, we wanted to add another unexpected layer to our partnership while bringing on board someone who has been a longtime fan of Supercell games and is beloved by our fans. Many of our players have grown up watching 'SpongeBob' and following John's journey as a WWE wrestler and actor and we love his energy."