John Cena hated losing to The Rock at WrestleMania 28, it has been claimed.
The Great One returned to WWE for a ‘Once in a Lifetime’ match with Cena, who was the company’s biggest star at the time, in 2012.
The Rock pinned the 43-year-old at the Show of Shows, before putting his rival over for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 29 a year later.
Despite ending the two-year feud with the title, Cena was unhappy with WWE chairman Vince McMahon’s decision to have The Rock get the first victory.
Speaking on his podcast, Monday Mailbag, former WWE referee Mike Chioda said: “We had this match, you know, Rock wanted me to do it and everything, and I think Cena had a little bit of a problem doing the job.
“Here is Cena, carrying the torch for the last 10 years and he was busting his a** day in, day out.
“And here comes The Rock, back after so many years of being in Hollywood, and he’s got to job out to The Rock?
“Well, of course, the show is in Miami. The Rock is a big Hollywood superstar now, and I think there was a little heat there.
“There was a little dissension. But you’ve got to go where the money goes… I mean, they put Rock over, and I was happy about that.”
Chioda believes The Rock and Cena were both too proud to lose the first of their two WrestleMania showdowns.
He added: “Here are two guys that were making big money. And that’s why, it’s not even like, ‘Okay, I’m getting big money for this match. I’ll do the job.’ It becomes about ego and pride. It really does.
“When it comes down to it, money is not even the issue. It becomes an ego thing and a pride thing.
“It’s like, ‘I’ve been carrying this business for the last 10 years, I should go around him first, then he’ll go around me’. ‘No, no, Rock’s going to go around you first.’ I’m sure John was p***** at Vince.”