John Cena Reveals He Knew He Was Losing to The Rock a Year Before WrestleMania 28

John Cena has finally confirmed what many fans never expected—he walked into WrestleMania 28 already knowing he was going to lose to The Rock.

In a rare moment of reflection during a Vanity Fair interview, Cena revealed that the outcome of one of the biggest matches in WWE history was known to him a full year in advance.

Watching back clips from the monumental showdown, Cena dropped the bombshell while explaining the emotional weight of that night.

“You would think that like, man, going to the actual stage is gonna be the worst part. That was the easy part. I knew I was losing the year before the fight… All of those promos you see, all those speeches, every single one of them, I knew that I was gonna finish second place.”

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Even with the loss looming over him, Cena leaned into the pain and used it to tell a more powerful story. He stayed in the ring after the match ended, not as a dramatic gesture—but to live with the defeat in real time.

“I wanted to stay out there and soak in the embarrassment that I had let the entire fan base down. That way it would help further my storyline.”

The emotional fallout from the match wasn’t just fictional. Cena admitted that the real-life heat between him and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was very real—something Cena blamed on himself for stirring up unnecessary tension before the match.

“Dwayne had always been cordial to me and always helped me out and I did something foolish and started to go into business for myself and drum up rumors about things I knew nothing about… it’s very much a professional faux pas.”

After the match, Cena said he immediately apologized to The Rock’s mother—and then to The Rock himself in the locker room.

“That was the first moment of me being like, ‘Man, this was great. If we had worked together, I don’t know how great it could have been. Like, it could have been so much better.’ He was empathetic. He was gracious.”

In the end, Cena’s loss wasn’t just a storyline decision—it was a humbling moment wrapped in personal growth, professional regret, and long-term respect.

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