Though it's been over 11 years since John Cena and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson threw down in the middle of the ring for “Greatness vs. Redemption” at WrestleMania 29, the match has lived in the hearts, minds, and memories of WWE fans the world over not just for the individual efforts of the performers at MetLife Stadium but for the feud that preceded it, including one infamous segment where the latter famously wrote cliff notes for his promo on his arm and the former called him out on it in a major way.

Though fans have since dissected that moment at length, with multiple Youtube videos and even more articles about the goings on, fans haven't heard a full-on dissection of the incident from either of the principles involved… until now.

That's right, discussing one of the more memorable moments in a career loaded with memorable moments, Cena described his feud with the Rock in an appearance on Not Sam Wrestling like watching Michael Jordan and LeBron James going at it in their primes.

“I’d like to think that I gave every chance to speak my best. The thing with our matchup, and the thing that some people might not have seen, was, it is supposed to be Michael Jordan, LeBron James, both in their prime,” John Cena said. “To do that, in this scenario, you do not 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 the billing, you need to elevate John. I was punching from underneath, but still punching, and just looking for whatever. Once again, Dwayne was doing so many things, like he always does, he splits atoms and makes it work. All I was doing was WWE, that’s it, and laser-focused and realizing this is the opportunity of a lifetime and realizing that this isn’t Mike Tyson vs. Muhammad Ali, this Tyson vs. Peter McNeeley, and this isn’t going to draw money. So, eff it, here we go. Of course, there were ramifications, and it led to some genuine emotions between the two of us.”

Genuine emotions were led, with the duo reportedly were not on good terms for quite some time after their program, only reconciling in the years since Cena started his own Hollywood career. Still, that doesn't tell the full story, which Cena expanded on to an incredible degree a few moments later.

John Cena took advantage of The Rock's generosity with “cheap shots.”

Heading into WrestleMania 29, The Rock and John Cena were on the same page in terms of their intentions, getting butts in seats and filling out the massive MetLife Stadium. How Cena chose to handle it, taking cheap shots at his foe, including the on-the-fly decision to point out the notes on his hand, however, were examples of Cena going off script in order to take some shots at his foe.

Though at the time, Cena felt he was in the right, claiming authenticity over all else, in hindsight, that mindset was a mistake.

“When it all began to melt away was when we decided the path of the match the day before,” Cena said. “Dwayne could see, not only how easy I was to work with, but how adamant I was. ‘These are great ideas, let’s do whatever. I want to make sure you’re comfortable. I can do this, but what do you think?’ Afterward, not in the performance, not being too smart or winking at the camera, being fully invested in the whole body of work, losing with humility and embarrassment, and staying there and being degraded and humiliated in front of a stadium to give Rock his moment. The moment the ice began to melt was right after, when the first thing I did was apologize to his mom and said, ‘Being in the business, I hope now you can understand that I just want to sell tickets. Sorry if I made you feel a certain way, it was not my intention.

From my perspective, it was like a surprise party. If I told you the gig, maybe it would have ruined some stuff.’ She gave me a great hug, told me ‘thank you,’ and then next thing I did was say the exact same thing to Dwayne. He couldn’t have been more gracious. I know the build wasn’t easy on him. He has the world in the palm of his hand. To come back and be kicked in the nuts by some cheap shot king who is trying to make a name for himself, that sucks. He’s trying to give to the business. I get his perspective, ‘What the eff is this guy doing? I’m trying to do the business a favor here.’ Then I explained my perspective to him, and I couldn’t just be, ‘I’m authentic.’ I had to prove it out there. Prove my authenticity, and say, ‘I just wanted to pack the place and I wanted people to be interested. I did it the wrong way. We should have collaborated. We should have talked in hindsight. I should have asked you what’s the best way to make us equals. Instead, I did it myself and it created a huge space between us and that was my fault.’”

Despite being in his mid-30s at the time, it's clear Cena wasn't the most mature man around a decade ago, likely due to being “the top guy” in WWE for years with few restrictions over what he was allowed to do. Fortunately, the duo have since made it right, and now even star in the same film franchise. All's well that ends well?