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Originally Posted by Sports Illustrated
There is undeniable connective tissue between Cena and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and The Rock’s appearance hosting SNL in 2000 helped catapult his acting career. Cena was extremely vocal for years about The Rock’s decision to pursue Hollywood and leave WWE behind, yet he has followed a similar path in his own career. Looking back, Cena admitted that he now has a different perspective on The Rock’s success and his decision to leave WWE.
“It was stupid of me,” admitted Cena. “It genuinely was. That was my perspective at the time. When you’re involved in the daily grind of WWE, and that’s something I never will let go of—I promise you that. I just love it, and I don’t think I need to say that, ever again, or have somebody question my allegiance to a brand, not the sport of professional wrestling, so to say, but a brand. I love the WWE. For me to not be able to see Dwayne’s vision on what he wanted to do personally, and how his personal success could affect a growing global brand, that was just ignorant on my part.
“We have our blinders on, sometimes, in these daily situations of life, and, to me, my thing was, ‘Hey man, as a fan, I loved you performing in this venue all the time, you left us high and dry, why aren’t you back here? It’s obvious you’re still healthy and obvious you’re still capable.’ On the other side of the fence, I didn’t see the man who is so driven to crush the stereotype of ‘pro wrestlers are just pro wrestlers, and they can do nothing more, period.’ Here we are, when Rock left in 2002, it didn’t happen overnight for him, and through fifteen years of hard work, he is the number one box office draw in the world. There is not more of a foot in the ground that you can stake your claim in and say, ‘WWE superstars are so much more than WWE superstars, and here’s proof.’ I was foolish and ignorant to not see that, because I just wanted him, selfishly, on Monday Night Raw and on Smackdown Live.”
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