That's a ridiculous statement. If for no other reason than the fact that wrestling in general was such a huge deal and was much more accepted by the mainstream when Rock was on top than it is now with Cena on top. In 1998-2001 wrestling was considered cool by the culture in general. So names like Rock, Austin, Goldberg, etc. were on everyone's lips. Since Cena has been the top dog wrestling has moved back into it's shell as a nitch market. It isn't the flavor of the month anymore. You can't walk down a high school hallway and see a dozen WWF/WCW shirts anymore. People don't know who Cena is. Mind you, if roles were reversed I'm sure Cena would just about as big a name as Rock is. It's not Cena's fault. It's just the time when he came around.
The Rock started out in movies as The Rock for a few years. Then he became Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Now he's Dwayne Johnson. He spent enough time in each phase of name changing that people absolutely know that Dwayne Johnson = The Rock without any prompting.
The Rock is one of the top 3-4 most recognizable names in wrestling history along with Hogan, Austin and Flair. Cena has a looooong way too go and wrestling has to become much more mainstream again if he ever wants to get near that rare air those guys are already in.
Thats what Im talking about, everybody knows who The Rock is, but asking people who is Dwayne Johnson may get different answers. Dwayne Johnson doesnt want to be assoated with The Rock and tries to get away from it at every chance possible. He was probably made as hell doing The Rock Obama on SNL. My thing is that John Cena would be recognize for wrestling more than Dwayne Johnson would now. And thats my problem with Dwayne Johnson as tries so hard to get away from wrestling, He is an actor and acted for years like he like wrestling, when all he did was try to get away from it. Yeah he as great, but he doesnt like wrestling.
Look at Brock Lesnar, he left the WWE and wrestling pissing a lot of people off, but he didnt turn his back against wrestling. He still wrestled after the WWE. He still mentions his WWE past and talks positive about wrestling. He doesnt try to get away from the WWE and just be a MMA fighter, no he stills mentions wrestling in his past. And unlike Dwayne Johnson, instead of giving us this fake excuse for not wrestling saying hes moved on, he still has the passion in his heart, no Brock said it easy, he didnt like the WWE schedule and he wanted to do a real sport. I can respect that. I cant respect Dwayne Johnson and that bullshit he gives.
I wouldnt care if Dwayne Johnson never step foot in a wrestling ring again, but at least dont shun pro wrestling. Do movies, do all that stuff you want to do, but dont shun something you said you loved for so many years when that was a lie. It doesnt mean showing up on Raw, but stop with the wrestling was in my past or lets not get into my wrestling past as that was the past. Hell even Bret Hart speaks on wrestling and he should be bitter towards it more than Dwayne Johnson. The Rock is one of the greats of all time, I still love his matches and promos, but Dwayne Johnson is a prick.
I believe if John Cena makes it in Hollywood(doubt it though), he would still mention wrestling and not try to get away from it. Dwayne Johnson does everything he can to get away from wrestling. I truly doubt that he will ever be in the WWE Hall of Fame, not because the WWE will not allow it, but that he will turn it down as it wont fit his image. So fuck Dwayne Johnson. Im not a Cena fan, but at least cares about wrestling, unlike Dwayne Johnson who is a prick.