John Cena Opens up About Feud With Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson: ‘I Went About It the Wrong Way’
The wrestling star had previously said that he was ‘short-sighted and selfish’ to call out The Rock for leaving the WWE in order to become a movie actor.
John Cena owned up to not handling his feud with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson better in a press conference for the WWE’s Fastlane on Saturday, October 7. John, 46, explained that he “see[s] and understand[s]” why some people would consider it hypocritical that he began his own acting career after criticizing The Rock, 51. “I’ve stated that although I thought I was trying to do what’s best for business, I went about it the wrong way,” he said, per Variety.
Ultimately, John said that he mainly started feuding with Dwayne, because he was “a fan” and “wanted The Rock back” in the WWE. He admitted that amid the feud he “became who I despised,” and he now has perspective to see how he was wrong. “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,” he said. “It was a great learning experience from my mistake with feuding with The Rock.”
John had begun his feud with Dwayne back in 2011. At the time, The Rock was beginning to pivot to becoming an actor, and he wouldn’t be able to participate in the wrestling world. The Suicide Squad actor admitted that he’d been “short-sighted and selfish” on the Happy Sad Confused podcast in May. Of course, John eventually also made a turn to acting and couldn’t participate in the WWE himself. He’s since returned amid the SAG-AFTRA strike.
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The Fast X star also said that Hollywood plans to take him away from the WWE once the strike ends. He explained how it’s difficult to balance both an acting career and a wrestling one. “I made it perfectly clear you can’t do both because of the liability insurance,” he said. “If I were trying to juggle both that’s very selfish because I’d put a whole lot of people in the movie business out of work if something happened to me.”
Ultimately, John did say that he hoped to reach a resolution that “everyone is happy with,” but for now, he was happy to return to the WWE for the Fastlane event.