(CNN) — John Cena has admitted that he feels “shortsighted and selfish” for starting a feud with Dwayne Johnson a decade ago, when they clashed as WWE superstars.
On Thursday’s episode of the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, Cena said he “would like to think” that the couple — both of whom have become huge Hollywood stars, sharing screen credits in this year’s “Fast X” — ” It’s always been good, except for one little patch where I really messed up.”
Cena was referring to the moment in 2011 when Johnson, already a movie star, returned to WWE after leaving nearly a decade earlier. At that time, Cena took it as a provocation and an opportunity to “call him out” for coming back, and challenge him to fight.
The “Trainwreck” actor explained that “selfish.” “The fact that I lived in WWE at the time and had no concept of someone else’s growth or perspective” sparked the feud, he said.
“My opinion was that if you love something, you have to be there every day. What a hypocrite I am, because I still love WWE and I can’t always go. And I just didn’t see it, I was so selfish,” he added.
The muscular pair’s encounter culminated in two highly publicized WrestleMania matches—including “WrestleMania 29” in April 2013—both with huge viewership numbers.
“I wanted a stellar match because it would be better for what I thought the business was. And that’s so shortsighted and selfish,” Cena reflected.
“It worked,” he added, “but it worked at the cost of two people who reached out and almost put him in jeopardy.”
In the time since, he and Johnson have put their feuds firmly in the past. Cena made a cameo as himself in Johnson’s 2019 film “Fighting with My Family,” while Johnson appears in an uncredited cameo as Hobbs in this summer’s “Fast X,” which co-stars Cena.
Of their dispute, Cena said Thursday that “it was almost at the cost of our friendship, which I would like to say is in a really good place now.”
