'There Can Only Be One Alpha': John Cena Comments on 'Rumors' About Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel's 'Fast & Furious' Beef
John Cena opened up about the ongoing feud between Dwayne Johnson and his Fast & Furious costar Vin Diesel.
The tiff, which had been a topic of much speculation and gossip, finally reached its conclusion last year when Johnson returned as Luke Hobbs in the mid-credits scene of Fast X. This unexpected reconciliation paved the way for Johnson to reprise his role more prominently in the upcoming 11th installment of the film series.
The 46-year-old wrestler recently appeared on the “Armchair Expert” podcast with Dax Shepard, who asked about the F&F duo and referred to them as a "rough pairing."
“There’s certainly rumors about that. I can’t deny that,” Cena said. “You have two very alpha, driven people. You get two, there can only be one.”
The wrestler-turned-action movie star, who joined the Fast & Furious family in 2021 as Jakob Toretto, shared his perspective on entering a franchise dominated by established figures like Johnson and Diesel.
The WWE veteran drew parallels between his experiences in the wrestling world and his approach to being a team player in the film series.
“Man, you gotta remember I got dropped into a locker room where [we have] generational vets,” Cena said. “‘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. 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,” he added. “At the very least, there has to be respect for that.”
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Cena referred to himself as a "guest" in the Fast & Furious franchise despite appearing in two of the ten films so far.
“I’m not trying to get the sandbox," he said, referencing the alpha mentality on set. "That’s not my thing. I’m grateful for what you’ve given me, I just want to be the best firetruck I can.”
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The feud went viral as early as August 2016 after Johnson called an unidentified costar “chicken s---” and “candy a--” on Instagram.
Word soon got out that Johnson was referring to Diesel, who later told Men’s Health in 2021 that the tension on set was due to "tough love."
“It was a tough character to embody, the Hobbs character,” Diesel said at the time. “My approach at the time was a lot of tough love to assist in getting that performance where it needed to be."