“Continue Trending”: Before Fans Labelled The Rock Egoistic, John Cena Buried “Self-Centered” Dwayne Johnson in 2012

In his storied WWE career, Dwayne Johnson had many defining rivalries. The Rock stepped up in the ring against the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, and Triple H among others. However, one of his more personal feuds took place after his active in-ring career was over and that came up against John Cena. DJ returned to WWE in 2011 and set up a match with WWE’s Franchise Player at WrestleMania 28. During the year-long buildup to their match, the two mega stars were involved in some really intense and heated promos that blurred the lines between reality and kayfabe.

During the buildup, Cena brought up DJ leaving WWE for a career in Hollywood. The Rock responded with jabs of his own over Cena’s character in WWE. It seemed like a standard build until a February 27, 2012, RAW episode. As DJ was going over their big match at WrestleMania, Cena made his way to the ring. The Peacemaker star unleashed a brutal tirade of insults and called out the Brahma Bull for being “self-centered.“

John Cena went after The Rock in a fiery promo

In 2011, Dwayne Johnson returned to WWE as a guest host for WrestleMania 27. He would later interfere in the main event match costing Cena the WWE Championship against The Miz. This led to a match between two generational stars being booked for WrestleMania 28, with a year to buildup. With two of the best speakers in WWE history, the fans were in for a treat when it came to promos.

On the February 27, 2012 edition of RAW, Cena confronted The Rock. The Brahma Bull had referred to him as Kung Pao chicken during his promo. The Doctor of Thuganomics said while he was a fan of The Rock he didn’t like Dwayne Johnson. He also called out The Great One for writing his promo lines on his wrist, in an unscripted moment.

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The 16x- WWE world champion also called DJ a “self-centered, egotistical, see-through son of a b*tch*”. In the video, The Rock can be seen angrily pacing back and forth as he listens to Cena’s insults. This promo and a few others really turned this feud into a real personal rivalry. It made for some must-see WWE TV during that time.

There may be more fiction than reality to Cena’s comments about The Rock being self-centered and egotistical but recently the fans echoed these sentiments about Johnson. Reportedly, DJ refused a cameo in Shazam: Fury of Gods, and this didn’t go down well with DC fans calling him out for his ego. The fans were also not impressed by him after another report of declining a cameo in the upcoming Flash movie.

As for the heated Cena-Rock rivalry it led to two matches with each star getting a win. Since then the animosity between the two has ended and they have become good friends. In fact, John Cena once credited his former rival for his Hollywood success. Both stars have become more respectful of each other’s legacy and what they have given to the pro wrestling industry and beyond.

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