John Cena and The Rock are two marquee names in the world of Hollywood today. But the roots of both superstars are exactly the same. They gained prominence in Vince McMahon’s global juggernaut, WWE. The two men went on to become the faces of their respective generations. This also led to a time when both were embroiled in a heated rivalry in 2011, that culminated in a ‘Once in a Lifetime’ match.
How did that moment come about after the two men reportedly had genuine heat for each other? Moreover, was it that big that Cena drew a comparison between himself and The Rock to NBA legends?
John Cena calls himself and The Rock “Jordan” and “James” in their prime
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The historic rivalry between two of the biggest WWE superstars mesmerized the WWE Universe in 2011. Fans never thought of witnessing the dream match between The Rock and John Cena ever. But they did as the two mega stars collided inside the squared circle.
Not only was the match that magnanimous, but so was the build-up to it. Cena recently reflected on an iconic moment from one of their back-and-forth segments. The Rock and John Cena went on a tirade to destroy each other verbally. However, Cena seemingly gained the upper hand when he called out The People’s Champion for writing his promo notes on his wrist.
Moreover, this led to Cena calling it a “Michael Jordan Lebron James” moment, during his recent interview on the Notsam Wrestling show.
The Champ stated, “I like to think … that I gave every chance to speak my best … the thing with our matchup and I think that the thing that some people might not have seen … is … it is supposed to be Michael Jordan and Lebron James, both in their prime … to do that in this scenario … you don’t have to elevate The Rock … he is and always will be in his own universe … I don’t have to give any more steam to that rocket … to make the billing, you need to elevate John.”
Cena’s claim could be true to a major extent, as it was two all-time greats going head-to-head for the first time in WWE history.
What was the ice-break moment for John Cena and The Rock?
As mentioned, John Cena and The Rock had reported real-life beef with each other for years. This even led to some genuine emotions that came out during the heated feud between both megastars.
Cena said, “Of course there were ramifications and it led to some genuine emotions by the both of us.”
But Cena also revealed that the tension came down between himself and The Rock right as their dream match came to a close. The match took place in the main event of WrestleMania 28.
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John Cena ended up losing the match but managed to redeem himself with a victory over The Rock the following year at WrestleMania 29. By that time tensions between the two stars Cena revealed, “the moment the ice began to melt was right after …and the first thing I did was to apologize to his mom.”
They are currently the shining stars of Hollywood, but their iconic rivalry would forever be etched in the history books of WWE.
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Whose side were you on during that time? John Cena or The Rock?
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