John Cena would absolutely make a movie with The Rock — but he’s done trying to force Dwayne Johnson into anything.
Cena opened up about his relationship with his former WWE rival during an appearance on Happy Sad Confused, and while the two still talk, Cena made it clear he has zero interest in turning every conversation into some Hollywood sales pitch.
The topic came up when Cena was asked whether he and Johnson had ever discussed doing a buddy movie together. Cena admitted they’ve talked about creative business before and noted that Johnson was once attached to produce a project involving him. These days, though, the conversations are a lot more personal. Cena said Johnson is actually present when they talk, and that’s exactly why he refuses to hijack those moments by throwing a movie idea in his face.
“We talk about life, man. Like when I see him, it is literally a genuine—it’s not the ‘How you doing?’ It’s like, let’s take a second and like, ‘Hey man, this time you said hi to my wife, I really need you to know that meant a lot.’ And then we’ll have a conversation about that.”
“He’s very giving with his time and very sincere and very present, and I don’t want to bog him down with like, ‘And yo, man, I got this pitch.’”
Cena also knows just how insane The Rock’s schedule is. So when Johnson gives him real time, Cena isn’t interested in being another person trying to squeeze something out of him.
“My perspective is that individual doesn’t seem like he gets a lot of time to himself. And when he’s giving enough of his time to be present with me, the last thing I want to do is hand him a pitch deck.”
That doesn’t mean Cena wants nothing to do with sharing the big screen with Johnson. Quite the opposite. If somebody in Hollywood comes up with the right idea and gets both men on board, Cena is ready.
“If folks that make movies, there’s a lot of folks out there that are in charge of like orchestrating those things, if they see Dwayne’s body of work and my body of work and they’re like, ‘They’d be great together,’ if that opportunity comes, I’m all in.”
Then Cena got to the real reason he refuses to push the situation — he already learned that lesson the hard way during their WWE rivalry. Cena has previously admitted that he helped turn his feud with The Rock into real-life drama, and he has been very open about regretting how aggressively he handled that situation. He also revealed that one of the first things he did after losing to Johnson at WrestleMania 28 was apologize to The Rock’s mother. Cena clearly has no interest in repeating any of that.
“To say I wouldn’t want to share the screen with Dwayne Johnson is a bold-faced lie. I learned from the way I operated our first run-in in the WWE that to beat my chest and say like—to go him into that opportunity—that was so wrong of me.”
That WWE experience appears to have completely changed Cena’s approach. He’d love to make something with Johnson, but he refuses to chase him down, pressure him or act like it needs to happen just because fans would eat it up.
“So there’s no way I’m going to—I would love to do it, but I’m not going to advocate for it when it’s beyond my control and I don’t want to force his hand into a decision he doesn’t want to make.”
It’s a pretty wild turnaround considering where things once stood between the two. Their WrestleMania feud got seriously personal, but The Rock has since made it clear that the two men buried the hatchet, and Cena’s latest comments sound like somebody who has no interest in reopening old wounds.
Cena isn’t saying no to a movie with The Rock. He’s saying the exact opposite. He wants it — he just refuses to be the guy pounding on Dwayne Johnson’s door trying to make it happen. If Hollywood puts the right project together, Cena is ready to roll. Until then, the pitch deck is staying buried.
Would you want to see John Cena and The Rock finally team up for a movie, and what kind of project would actually fit both of them? Drop your thoughts and feedback in the comments.
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