John Cena says he regrets former beef with WWE legend Dwayne Johnson

CNN
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John Cena has admitted that he feels “short-sighted and selfish” for starting a feud with Dwayne Johnson a decade ago when they were pitted against each other as major WWE stars.

On Thursday’s episode of the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, Cena said he would “like to think” about the pair — who have both become huge Hollywood stars, sharing screen credit in this year’s “Fast X” — “Always been good, except for one little patch where I really messed up.

Cena was referring to the time in 2011 when Johnson – already a bankable movie star at the time – returned to WWE after quitting nearly a decade earlier. At that point, Cena took this as a provocation and opportunity to “call him out” for coming back, and challenged him to fight.

The “Trainwreck” actor explained that he “got selfish, and I’m living WWE at this point and having no concept of growth or anyone else’s point of view” that started the feud.

“My thought was, if you love something, be there every day. How hypocritical of me, because I still love WWE and I can’t go on all the time. And I just didn’t see it, I Was very selfish.

The muscled duo’s feud culminated in two buzzy WrestleMania matches in April 2013, including “WrestleMania 29” – both of which drew in high viewership.

“I wanted a main event marquee match because it (would) be better (for) what I thought the business was. And it’s very short-sighted and selfish,” Cena reflected.

“It worked,” he said, “but it worked at the expense of two people who communicated and nearly endangered it.”

In the years since then, he and Johnson have kept their past beef firmly in the past. Cena cameoed as himself in Johnson’s 2019 film “Fighting With My Family,” while Johnson appeared in an uncredited cameo as Hobbs in this summer’s “Fast X,” in which Cena co-starred.

Regarding their feud, Cena said on Thursday “It was almost at the expense of our friendship, which I have to say is in a really good place now.”