The Rock's Message To John Cena Suggests He'll Miss WWE Star's Retirement

The Rock and John Cena have a storied history, including real-life tension turned to a close bond, an iconic WWE rivalry, and a controversial alignment that fell flat earlier this year. The pair looked to have struck up one of the most powerful partnerships in WWE history when Cena turned heel at Elimination Chamber in February and handed his soul to The Peoples Champion.

But Rock missed WrestleMania 41, much to the frustration of fans, who felt it negatively affected Cena's heel run. He hasn't appeared on WWE programming since the Chamber, and some have speculated that the TKO board member will attend Saturday Night's Main Event at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

Cena showed his support for Rock after he was recently nominated for Best Actor at the Golden Globes, posting the movie's poster on his Instagram account. His fellow Hollywood actor responded with a heartfelt message in the comments section:

"Love ya man and, as you know, always grateful for all you’ve done for the business we love. You are truly the GOAT. Bring your moonshine, I’ll bring the tequila."

Rock's last line suggests mutual respect between the pair but could also indicate he wants them soon to meet up for a reunion. It reads as his goodbye message to Cena and perhaps rules out an appearance at Saturday Night's Main Event.

Some wishful fans are still hoping there is more to the story of Rock taking Cena's soul earlier this year and a few have even opined that this Saturday will not be the final time we see Cena competing in a ring. But he has constantly insisted that he is a man of his word and his match against Gunther will be his last ever wrestling match.

John Cena In Denial Over Disappointing Storyline With The Rock

John Cena has given interesting comments about his WWE farewell tour, which has seen him involved in several different storylines and matches. The most significant came on the Road to WrestleMania 41, when he turned heel and aligned with The Rock and rapper Travis Scott, brutally attacking Cody Rhodes at Elimination Chamber.

The build to his match with Rhodes at Mania was focused on Cena falling out with the fans but Rock's name was not mentioned during promo segments. This led many to believe a huge angle involving the Brahma Bull returning was set to occur at Allegiant Stadium.

This didn't happen, although Scott appeared and his interference led to Cena winning the Undisputed WWE Championship. But that was as far as the trio's story went, and he has lifted the lid on the backlash it received from fans.

Cena claimed that it didn't matter and downplayed it in an interview on Insight with Chris Van Vliet:

“Who cares? It doesn’t matter. We can talk about what could have been until the cows come home. And I think that’s what’s great about the people who are left standing. Certainly me and Cody. What’s the change? this? All right, let’s go. I don’t dwell for one second on what could have been, because what could have been is Brock doesn’t leave for the NFL and there’s no John Cena.”

Cena may well have no regrets over how that story panned out, but it's obvious that the overwhelming feeling in the pro wrestling world is that it was one of WWE's biggest letdowns. The heel turn itself was a masterpiece that explains why he and Rock are so successful in Hollywood, but it soon fell flat.

In an ideal world, the story concludes with Cena realising he didn't need Rock and that his connection with the fans was more important. We will never know what could have come from such a compelling partnership between two of the biggest stars in the business who are tied at 1-1 at WrestleMania.