The Rock Reveals His Favorite WWE Opponents, But John Cena and Triple H Don’t Make the Cut
Did The Rock just snub Triple H and John Cena? In an Oct. 1 Sports Illustrated sit-down, the Brahma Bull rewatched his greatest WWE moments and picked his top three opponents—all Attitude Era rivals—leaving fans buzzing over who made the cut and who didn’t.
So The Rock just went down memory lane and, in the process, may have kicked a hornet's nest. While rewatching some of his classic WWE moments with Sports Illustrated on October 1, 2025, he rattled off his favorite in-ring rivals. Two very obvious names were not on it. Naturally, the internet noticed.
Who made The Rock's favorite opponents list
- Kurt Angle – the Olympic gold medalist with the broken neck story Rock never gets tired of referencing
- Booker T – an athletic freak Rock says he loved working with
- Brock Lesnar – a guy you can go anywhere in the ring with, in Rock's words
Rock's whole pitch was that these three brought something different every time and kept him guessing bell-to-bell. His vibe was very much: pedigree athletes, unpredictable, fun to work with.
"I loved wrestling guys who are just insane athletes who had a pedigree at other things... Kurt Angle, insane athlete... wins the gold medal with a broken neck... Brock Lesnar was the same... You know who else was an amazing athlete, was Booker T, who I loved wrestling."
Now for the awkward part: no John Cena, no Triple H. A fan on X summed up the reaction in two words: "interesting omission."
Why that omission got people talking
On paper, Cena and Triple H are two of Rock's defining foils. Both have long histories with him, both are known for turning up the intensity, and both have been central to his WWE eras. So yeah, eyebrows up when they didn't make the cut.
The Cena piece of the puzzle
Rock vs. Cena wasn't just storyline drama; it bled into real life. Back in the day, Cena took legit shots about Rock's commitment to WWE, and there's the infamous moment where Cena called him out for what looked like promo notes on his wrist (via YouTube). That heat carried them into WrestleMania 28 and 29, one win each, mega box office both times.
Fast-forward to early 2025: Cena turns heel, aligns himself as Rock's guy and leaves Elimination Chamber as The Rock's Champion. Then Rock goes mostly missing from TV after the PPV. The absence nukes Cena's fresh heel run, backs him into a babyface corner again, and Cena publicly calls out both Johnson and Travis Scott for leaving him hanging. Messy, and very not normal for WWE programming. If there's lingering resentment there, it would explain a lot.
The Triple H layer (aka the inside baseball)
This one goes back to the WrestleMania XL chaos. Rock showed up ahead of WrestleMania 40 angling to face Roman Reigns for the Undisputed title. That almost pushed Cody Rhodes out of his story, and fans revolted. Triple H, as CCO, reworked the Road to WrestleMania and delivered Cody vs. Roman in the end.
From there, the political temperature never really cooled. In 2025, when Paul Levesque went into the Hall of Fame, he reportedly didn't mention Rock in his speech. Then WrestleMania 41's main event drew heavy criticism, with fans blaming Travis Scott's involvement for wrecking the finish. Rock, for his part, said he loved how the match ended and explained why he skipped the show entirely, which sparked more discourse. Dave LaGreca from Busted Open Radio accused Rock of tossing Levesque under the bus.
Rock fired back on Instagram (via Wrestlezone) with a very Rock response:
"Hi Dave, the business is a complete work. Always has been, always will be. Every aspect of it, every match. Every interview. Please join me, Cody, Cena, Brian and the rest of us for our creative discussions so you can expand your perspective. Until then, stop ranting, it's not healthy my friend."
Notice the names there: Cody, Cena, Brian... and not Triple H. For a guy who's now the public face of WWE creative, that omission jumps off the page. Combine that with the WrestleMania 40 reshuffle and the WM41 fallout, and you can see why people think there's smoke.
So did he leave Cena and Triple H out on purpose?
We can't read Rock's mind, but the context is hard to ignore. With Cena, there's the recent heel-turn saga and those pointed comments about being abandoned. With Triple H, there are creative clashes, Hall of Fame silence, and very public second-guessing around the biggest shows of the year. If Rock wanted to avoid poking either bear in a casual favorites chat, this is what that would look like.
Could Rock vs. Cena still happen one more time?
Cena's in his endgame, working limited dates and mapping out a farewell run that revisits the biggest chapters of his career. At Fan EXPO Denver (via YouTube), he made it clear he wouldn't say no:
"Man, it would be cool if John Cena could fight The Rock one more time... I've survived and kept a level head over 25 years in the WWE by not setting expectations, by showing up every single day, doing what I'm told and asked to do it to the best of my ability."
Given how he's been choosing dance partners post-Wrestlepalooza, it's not impossible. Triple H, however, is effectively off the table as an opponent due to his medical situation.
Bottom line: The Rock's list was solid. The missing names are the story.