John Cena says he was “short-sighted and selfish” during his feud with The Rock
John Cena has admitted he was “short-sighted and selfish” when he publicly feuded with Dwayne Johnson.
The actors had a long-standing rivalry while working as professional wrestlers, but remained friends behind the scenes.
However, the pair’s friendship hit a rough patch in 2012 after Johnson – who appeared as “The Rock” – made a series of comments about the deal.
While Cena has been public about Johnson, who had just begun his move to Hollywood, Johnson said, “That’s what happens when idiots have confidence.”
Appears on the Happy, sad, confused Podcast Cena, 46, recalled, “I got selfish and I — I live WWE on point and have no concept of growth or anyone else’s perspective — I didn’t think Dwayne’s comments were genuine.”
Rather than contact Johnson personally, Cena decided to air his grievances publicly, stating, “Rather than say, ‘Hey man, I’d like to try and put you back on and maybe we can work together and really make it work.’ “Great,” I just said, “Eff, I’m going to call this guy out.” This is a moment. you gave me a chance I’ll kick down the door.’”
Cena, 46, said he “understands why he was upset,” adding, “I just got selfish and wanted a main event festival because I think it would improve business.” That was short-sighted and selfish. It worked!
Cena (pictured) and Johnson competed in WWE
(WWE)
“But it worked at the expense of two people communicating with each other and almost compromising it. There was a moment when there was a lot of bad vibes between us and rightly so.”
The peacemaker Star said that while he and The Rock had been great on-screen rivals, it had come “at the expense of our friendship,” adding that it’s “in really good shape now.”
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I speak about the rivalry during a recent appearance at The Late Show with KimmelJohnson voiced his own thoughts on the feud.
“We had a great rivalry,” explained the 51-year-old. “In the world of wrestling, it’s fictionalized, it’s a show, but here’s the thing. Our rivalry was so real. We had real problems with each other.”
