John Cena Weighs in on Feud Between The Rock and Vin Diesel

To this day, audiences don't know if the years-long feud between Vin Diesel and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in the Fast and the Furious was real or a brilliant ploy to sell tickets, but the answer likely falls somewhere in the middle. And this week, John Cena—who starred in the ninth and tenth installments, F9 and Fast X—gave some insight during an appearance on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast.

During the wide-ranging conversation, the Ricky Stanicky star was asked about the "alpha male energy," on set, particularly when the guest stars in some of the later films physically dwarfed the franchise's longtime lead, Diesel.

"Dwayne's a big boy," Cena quipped. "There’s certainly rumors about that. I can’t deny that. You have two very alpha, driven people. You get two, there can only be one."

When asked if that dynamic affected how he came into the franchise, Cena indicted that he had nothing but respect for the food chain, so to speak, due to his early wrestling experiences.

“Man, you gotta remember I got dropped into a locker room where ... generational vets,” he recalled. “‘What’d your dad do?’ ‘Wrestle.’ ‘What’d your granddad do?’ ‘Wrestle.’ I’ve been in that environment; know the room and just kind of adapt to what’s going on."

"I’m being invited into someone’s home, into someone’s family," Cena continued. "And regardless of how they look physically in comparison to another human being, this is one IP that has had nine installments and it’s an action movie—that’s rarefied air. At the very least, there has to be respect for that."

"And I think when you look at it through that perspective ... I also know, I am a guest," he added. "I’m not trying to get in the sandbox. That’s not my thing. I’m grateful for what you’ve given me, I just want to be be the best firetruck I can."

The beef between Diesel and Johnson started back in 2016 when the WWE star alluded to having worked with "candy asses," which fans quickly deduced was referring to Diesel. After 2019's Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, Johnson didn't return for F9 in 2021. However, after Diesel reached out with an olive branch in a November 2021 Instagram post (which The Rock initially seemed to reject) he did end up making a surprise cameo in a Fast X mid-credits scene.

Looking forward into the franchise, Johnson is expected to reprise his role as Luke Hobbs in both the untitled 11th installment in the franchise, as well as another upcoming spinoff, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Reyes, alongside Jason Momoa. It seems as though for now, anyway, any real or fabricated feud has been put to rest.