With the stage set for John Cena and The Rock to clash at WrestleMania for the first time in 2012, things quickly became personal between the two in-ring icons.
Over the course of their feud, Cena appeared to break kayfabe, repeatedly pointing out that his rival had abandoned WWE to pursue a Hollywood career and even revealing that he'd written parts of an in-ring promo on his arm (among other incidents). Ironically, Cena has also since left WWE for big screen stardom, finding a similar level of success as Dwayne Johnson.
During an interview with the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the former WWE Champion was asked to reflect on the feud and whether they've managed to resolve past issues.
"I would like to think, in my perspective, that we always have been good, except for one little patch where I really messed up. I got selfish and me, living WWE at that point, did not have any concept of growth or someone else's perspective," he recalls. "I took Dwayne’s comments as not genuine, and my view was, if you love something, then be there every day."
"What a hypocrite I am. Because I still love WWE, and I can’t go all the time. I just didn’t see that. I was so selfish. I had his number and we could have talked about it. Instead of going, '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 like, 'F this,' and was calling this dude out."
After praising the doors Johnson opened for him and his fellow Superstars, Cena admitted there were once "a lot of bad vibes between us," and added, "It was almost at the cost of our friendship, which I would like to say now is in a really good place."
Cena even apologised to The Rock's mom and the whole interview is well worth checking out as he provides additional insights into why he felt the way he did...and why, in hindsight, he was wrong.
As for a possible third match, the leader of the Cenation joked: "I’m so old. I haven’t won a match in like five years. No one notices, thank you, but if you check the stats, I’m on a bit of a slump. He’s not exactly an easy opponent. I need to get somebody really easy to get another win on the board before I go knocking on The Rock’s door again."
If recent rumours are to be believed, Cena and Johnson will soon share the screen again...albeit as part of the Fast & Furious franchise this time!