John Cena opens up about WWE feud with Dwayne Johnson, says it was 'short-sighted and selfish'

2023-05-21 04:55

'I got selfish, and me living WWE at the point and not having any concept of growth or someone else’s perspective,' recalled John Cena

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: John Cena laments the feud with Dwayne Johnson from their time in the WWE. Their conflict in 2011 and 2013 has become one of the most widely discussed feuds in wrestling history as Cena and Johnson exchanged heated personal comments.

John Cena admits that he made a significant mistake when he engaged in a feud with Johnson upon returning to WWE after nearly a decade-long absence, during which he had pursued a full-time acting career in Hollywood. Currently, both Cena and Johnson have smoothly transitioned into successful acting careers in Hollywood.

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'I got selfish'

Cena is starring in the soon-to-be-released action-adventure movie 'Red One' with Chris Evans and Johnson starring in the recently-released 'Fast X' as Dom Toretto's brother. Alongside these two Dave Bautista, who bid goodbye to the Marvel Cinematic Universe after nine years this month, is another wrestler who landed in Hollywood.

“I got selfish, and me living WWE at the point and not having any concept of growth or someone else’s perspective, I took Dwayne’s comments as not genuine,” Cena said on 'Happy Sad Confused' podcast. “My view was, if you love something, be there every day. What a hypocrite I am, because I still love WWE and I can’t go all the time. And I just didn’t see that, I was so selfish," he added.

Their rivalry culminated in two widely watched WrestleMania matches in 2012 and 2013, with Cena winning the re-match while Johnson won the first match. Although there is no doubt that the rivalry between the two made for great television, Variety noted. Regarding how things transpired, Cena has some reservations.

'That’s so short-sighted and selfish'

“I wanted a main event marquee match because it would better what I thought was the business. And that’s so short-sighted and selfish,” he said before adding “It worked, but it worked at the cost of two people who communicated and almost put it in jeopardy. And there was a moment where there was a lot of bad vibes between us, and rightfully so.”

While talking about a classic Wrestlemania match, Cena said "Instead of going like, 'Hey man, I'd like to try to do this thing to hook you back in and maybe we can collaborate and really make it big,' I was just like, 'Eff this, I'm calling this dude out. This is a moment. You gave me an opening. I'm going to kick the door in'. "I understand why he got upset." The feud ultimately came to an end.