This WWE Hall of Famer once doubted whether The Rock and John Cena had what it took to succeed in the business.
The Rock and John Cena are two of the most successful WWE Superstars of all time. Their crossover appeal enabled both men to move on to bigger opportunities outside the ring. Cena had his official sendoff at Saturday Night’s Main Event in December 2025.
As for Dwayne Johnson, he is a global box office juggernaut and currently sits on the TKO Board of Directors. The Rock was also recently nominated for a Golden Globe.
Despite their mainstream success, however, both men failed to impress a fellow WWE icon early in their careers. Speaking on a recent episode of his Six Feet Under podcast, The Undertaker revealed his initial impressions of The Rock and John Cena.
“Early on there was two people that, I watched them work day one and I was like ‘This guy ain’t gonna make it’. I was wrong, I can admit when I was wrong. There’s some people in the business who can’t do that. I will tell you when I was wrong, and I missed with him. You know who the other one was? Dwayne,” The Undertaker said.
“You’ve got to go back though, you’ve got to go back to day one when he had the things hanging off of him [his outfit], and he came out there and he was ‘Rah rah’, and he debuted in the Garden. I was like ‘Oh this poor kid’.
“And to have the legacy, obviously his grandfather High Chief Peter Maivia, his dad Rocky Johnson and then you have these expectations and you come out with that thing on. I was like ‘Oh man this is not gonna be good’.
“It took them [Cena & Rock] a minute to find their stride and I guess they had ok careers.” [H/T: WrestleTalk]
ALSO READ: The Undertaker Comments On John Cena’s WWE Legacy
