Former WWE writer, Freddie Prinze Jr. was associated with WWE at the time when John Cena and Dwayne Johnson’s rivalry was at its peak. The Star Wars Rebel actor was the one who unleashed the notorious feud between the two icons of the wrestling world in a round-table discussion of his one-hour episode back in the day.
Prinze, however, ended up on Cena’s radar. The Boston Legal actor also confessed on his podcast that Cena disliked him, referring to him as an intimidating individual. John Cena openly challenged Freddie Prinze Jr. in an acting class to fight him until Vince McMahon intervened. Prinze anyways didn’t intend to fight the incredible Hulk.
John Cena Purposefully Disrespected Freddie Prinze Jr.
John Cena may stand proud as a 16-time WWE Champion and three-time World Heavyweight Champion, but back in the wrestling days, he publicly flaunted his tag of a Bad Boy. From making negative comments about WWE icon Dwayne Johnson to his dislike for wrestlers like Kenny Dykstra and Chris Masters, Cena is known for his acrimonious relationships in the wrestling fraternity.
One of the top names on his hate list was former WWE writer (2008-2012), Freddie Prinze Jr. During an episode of his podcast, Wrestling With Freddie, the Summer Catch actor revealed that the wrestler crashed an acting class where Freddie was leading Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins to perform a scene from Bad Boys. Prinze recalled:
“And in the middle of this class, this scene, John just swings open the door, grabs a folding chair that we were all sitting in, sets it down in between Hawkins and Ryder, and sits in it and just looks at me like ‘What are you gonna do?’
And in my head I’m just like ‘What the?! Why would you make this about you man, like why wouldn’t you wait until after this, like why would you interrupt this?’ And I get answers to this in a moment, but I don’t say anything, I just go ‘Hey man, you wanna talk to me outside?'”
Prinze had no intention of fighting the big dude so he got him outside. Cena then said, “Look, maybe I’m a Neanderthal but I just don’t see how any of this s*** works.” After some verbal jabs back and forth, Cena flexed his muscles and left. The former chairman of WWE, Vince McMahon responded to the altercation, “I’m the only one who can fire you.” Cena did not interrupt Prinze’s acting class thereon.
Prinze described that Cena didn’t like him because he was an actor, and purposefully disrespected him by calling his name wrong, referring to him as Ashton Kutcher. Later, John Cena himself entered Hollywood, following in the footsteps of Dwayne Johnson.
John Cena Referred To WWE Veterans As Lazy
John Cena has come a long way since his early wrestling days. The Suicide Squad actor, undoubtedly, butted heads with a lot of people in the WWE fraternity. For instance, Ryback once claimed that Cena had been a “piece of s***” to him ever since day one. Not only this, but Chavo Guerrero also talked down John Cena back in the day.
John Cena admitted last year on the Envelope podcast, that in his younger days in WWE, he thought “veterans were lazy”. The conversation came up when the wrestler was talking about how “movie veterans and directors give him tips” to improvise his acting. He said:
“Again I’m so sorry I draw all things back to WWE. But I plan a lot of stuff that I do. Anyone who works with me it’s, I used to think WWE veterans were lazy. When they said I’ll see you out there we’ll just figure it out there.
They weren’t lazy, they were sharp, and they understood that it’s a moving beast out there and your timing has to be better than your flawless choreography.”
He added,
“It’s how sharp you do something it’s exactly when you do it. But you have to know your story, okay the story of this match is, I’m gonna beat the h*ll out of you, you’re not gonna do anything.
I’m going to win because we’re trying to make you look strong. I can do that in 25 minutes, I can do that in 3 minutes.”
The Trainwreck actor revealed that he understood the importance after he became a WWE veteran, giving tips to many young generation wrestlers. Cena has also expressed his guilt for bad-mouthing WWE legend, Dwayne Johnson.
Cena revealed that he regrets making negative comments about his longtime rival. He admitted:
“It was stupid of me, for me to not be able to see Dwayne’s vision on what he wanted to do personally, that was just ignorant on my part.”
Recent reports suggest that John Cena might return for the 2023 King and Queen of the Ring, set to take place in Saudi Arabia on May 27, 2023. As for the ever-controversial Vince McMahon, the majority shareholder of WWE, he returned as the executive chairman of a WWE-UFC merger following his “hush money” scandal.
Source: Inside The Ropes
