Dwayne Johnson and John Cena kept things heated for their build up to the WrestleMania 28 main event

Dwayne Johnson and John Cena’s rivalry started way back in 2011 when The Rock returned to WWE after a seven-year hiatus to host WrestleMania 27. Johnson made fun of Cena and his catchphrase “You Can’t See Me” during the event. Cena also later responded with hurtful remarks, which led to the duo booking a headline match at WrestleMania 28 almost a year before the event. During this period, Cena also started a rivalry with CM Punk.

 Dwayne Johnson tackling John Cena at WrestleMania 27 (via WWE)
John Cena and CM Punk were slated to contest in the Undisputed WWE Championship Match at SummerSlam that year. During the contract signing for the match, Punk introduced a video where Dwayne Johnson was seen dissing John Cena.

Dwayne Johnson Heated Up His Rivalry With John Cena Before Their WrestleMania Match

John Cena and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson at WrestleMania 29 (via WWE)
After Dwayne Johnson made fun of him and his catchphrase, John Cena came out with a rap calling out The Rock for abandoning WWE for movies. This began the epic feud between the two wrestlers. They had their first face-to-face interaction at the WrestleMania 27 “Go Home” Raw where Cena gave The Rock an Attitude Adjustment (via WWE).

Johnson would return his due in the WrestleMania main event, when he interfered in the match between The Miz and Cena, costing the latter his WWE Championship. The two stars would later once again step into the ring to do something unprecedented – to set up a headline match between them at WrestleMania 28. The one-year build-up for the match seemed like a bad idea at the time, but they managed to keep the steam between them.

Johnson made appearances throughout the year and one such appearance was during the signing of a match contract between John Cena and CM Punk for SummerSlam 2011. Punk brought a video message along with him for the signing from The Rock to Cena. In the video, The Rock makes fun of John Cena’s entry into the ring, even using the term “bloated transvestite Wonder Woman” in a derogatory manner to insult him. Dwayne Johnson shared in the video (via WWE):

“Here’s why John Cena is angry. It’s the same process every single night. You’re in your locker room, John. You’re putting on your little tough guy sneakers, you’re sliding on your tough guy jean shorts that nobody wanted since 1992. You’re putting on your red tough guy wristbands and it’s written there [in a mocking voice] ‘You Can’t See Me’. You’re looking like a bloated transvestite Wonder Woman, ready to fight crime.”

Johnson went on to say that whenever Cena makes an entry, people will always be booing him and yelling, “Cena sucks!”. He also added as an insult that men all over the world, even from Cena’s hometown Boston, don’t respect him as a wrestler. In the main event of WrestleMania 28, The Rock defeated John Cena. But they set up another main event at WrestleMania 29, where Cena beat Dwayne Johnson to claim his eleventh Championship title.

John Cena And CM Punk Develop A Historic Feud During This Time

John Cena and CM Punk in the five-star rated Money in the Bank match of 2011 (via WWE)
On the episode of Raw on June 13, 2011, CM Punk pinned down John Cena for a victory. Punk later revealed that his WWE contract will expire on July 17 at the Money in the Bank competition. He vowed in front of his fans to leave the competition with the WWE championship. However, before the match, he was suspended from televised WWE events for his scathing remarks against Vince McMahon.

He was later reinstated upon Cena’s insistence and the duo would go on to face each other at the Money in the Bank match. In a match that became the first five-star-rated WWE match since 1997, Punk defeated Cena to become WWE Champion on what was supposed to be his last night with WWE. However, Punk would return to the company and lose the title to Rey Mysterio, only for him to later lose it to John Cena.

Cena and Punk both made claims to the WWE Championship and they were given the SummerSlam match in August 2011. Punk defeated Cena at the SummerSlam once again, but lost the title to Alberto Del Rio a few minutes later. Punk’s rivalry with Cena would last until 2013, amidst which they would also fight in a match to decide who gets to fight Dwayne Johnson in the main event at WrestleMania 29.

John Cena has currently hinted at his return to the upcoming WrestleMania and fans expect the rivalry between Cena and Johnson may come into play at the event.