John Cena admitted he was a hypocrite for feuding with fellow wrestling star Dwayne Johnson after he walked in The Rock’s footsteps on a path to stardom in Hollywood.
“If you’ve been following what I’ve tried to do, especially as of late, publicly and personally to Dwayne Johnson, I’ve stated that although I thought I was trying to do what’s best for business, I went about it the wrong way,” Cena said during a World Wrestling Entertainment Fastlane press conference on Saturday, October 7.
Like Johnson, 51, Cena, 46, also won numerous WWE titles before parlaying his success into an acting career. Both have been featured in the Fast & Furious franchise. Cena appeared in Fast X and F9: The Fast Saga. Johnson also starred in Fast X, The Fate of the Furious, Furious 7, Fast & Furious 6, and Fast Five, as well as the 2019 spinoff, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw.
“I didn’t do it the respectful way, so I had to eat a little bit of crow. I had to say, ‘I’m sorry and I was wrong,’ because I am sorry and I was wrong, and that’s a very humbling experience,” Cena added. “Dwayne is a hell of a guy… I became who I despised. I see that perspective and I understand it. It was a great learning experience from my mistake with feuding with The Rock.”
Cena explained in a 2008 interview with The Sun why he criticized Johnson.
“I hear it every day with young talent, with mid card talent, with people aspiring to make it in this business; I hear ‘I’ve wanted to do this my whole life. Rock falls into that category,” the wrestler/actor said. “He, at one point, loved wrestling and wanted to do this all of his life. Explain to me why he can’t come back for a 15th Anniversary show or why he can’t make an appearance at Wrestlemania. Simply put it’s because he wants to be an actor.”
“Just don’t f–k me around and tell me that you love this when you are just doing this to do something else,” Cena continued. “That’s the only thing that gets me really pissed off.”
During Saturday’s press conference, Cena explained that the reason he can’t act and wrestle at the same time is due to the risk of injury.
“I’ve made it perfectly clear you can’t do both because of the liability insurance,” he shared while explaining why he will leave the WWE again after the SAG-AFTRA strike lifts. “If I were to try to juggle both that would be incredibly selfish because I’d put a lot of people in the movie business out of work if something happened to me.”
The two stars have managed to find a few opportunities to jump back in the ring. Johnson and Cena faced off in the ring at WrestleMania 28 in 2012, with the Rock winning the match. Johnson also defeated Cena at Wrestlemania 29 in 2013 to maintain his WWE championship.
They publicly showed their beef was over three years later in 2015, when they teamed up to defeat Bray Wyatt and Erick Rowan at Wrestlemania 32.
Looking back at his long feud with the Black Adam star, Cena has regrets.
“I violated his trust and I made allegations about his perspective that I knew nothing about. And deep down, I was a fan. I wanted The Rock back [in WWE],” he said. “I wanted to do anything to get The Rock back, but I did it the wrong way.”
