Whenever something happens in the
WWE, it’s safe to assume it’s not real.
That’s because, as everyone above the
age of 12 knows, pro wrestling is sports
entertainment — it’s scripted. However,
just because it’s the most action-packed
soap opera on television, doesn’t
necessarily mean real emotions don’t get
involved between the athletes who
entertain the masses.
According to a new interview in Muscle
And Fitness magazine , Dwayne “The
Rock” Johnson really, truly, 100 percent
in real life was beefing with John Cena in
the run-ups to WrestleMania 28 and 29,
the same year he was show-beefing with
him in the ring.
“John had said some things in an
interview that I took exception to,” The
Rock said in the interview. “He felt they
were okay, I felt that they weren’t okay.”
Essentially, Cena had called out The Rock
— most likely in kayfabe, the industry
term meaning keeping in character
outside of the ring — for abandoning the
WWE to become a Hollywood actor
instead.
Of course, Dwayne Johnson, being the,
um, Hollywood actor who occasionally
returns to the WWE to play The Rock,
used that real-life animosity to further
his in-ring feud with Cena. In Hollywood,
it’s called method acting.
“It got really uncomfortable for a lot of
people. And it gets uncomfortable for the
fans — that they sense something. But
then when it gets uncomfortable for the
wrestlers and to the executives and the
company, then it’s something special,”
Johnson/The Rock/the Marlon Brando of
the squared circle said.
The Rock even admitted the duo’s real-
life rivalry got so intense that they
almost engaged in fisticuffs backstage,
which he said ended up fueling an
unlikely bond between the two former
frenemies.
“[T]hrough all that edge and attitude and
bite that we had and nearly coming to
blows backstage and one night in the
ring — literally we were nose-to-nose, it
was any second. And through that in a
crazy, weird completely unexplained
way, we became great buds,” The Rock
said.
Alas, that means even if you listen
closely, you probably won’t hear The
Rock’s voice joining the cacophony
of “Cena sucks!” chants. Today, he’s got
nothing but love for the man he used to
hate.