The following contains SPOILERS for F9. Don't say I didn't warn ya.
At this point, after nine Fast and Furious movies and a spinoff, it seems like this franchise has done just about everything. Even things fans have joked about, such as going into outer space, have now been covered. With Vin Diesel saying that Fast and Furious 10 will indeed be two movies, it's difficult to imagine just what the team will do to try and top themselves in those two installments. However, there is one thing that Fast and Furious 10 absolutely needs to include at some point: an on-screen battle between pro wrestling titans. We need to see John Cena take on The Rock one more time.
The Rock vs. John Cena is a battle of two of the biggest names to ever stand in a professional wrestling ring, as well as two of the most successful people to ever make the transition from wrestling to Hollywood. The pair have battled in the wrestling ring a couple of times before, and now that they're both officially part of the Fast & Furious franchise, it's time to bring the feud to the big screen.
The Rock And John Cena Followed Similar Paths To The Fast & Furious Franchise
Today Dwayne Johnson is arguably the single biggest movie star in the world. He's been a household name for so long it's hard to remember there was a time when that wasn't the case. While Dwayne Johnson was already a successful screen actor before he joined the Fast and Furious franchise, it's difficult to argue that Fast Five wasn't his breakout performance. The movie was the biggest role for him up to that point and it was also the movie where Fast & Furious transitioned from a popular film series into a global box office juggernaut. This is not a coincidence.
Now, John Cena has followed in The Rock's footsteps in more ways than one. He's the guy who took the mantle as the top guy in the company when Dwayne Johnson left WWE. Then Cena also transitioned to films. Cena, like Rock, was already building a successful film career. He was already a legit star, but F9 is the biggest movie he's been a part of and in a key role as the villain, just where Dwayne Johnson started. The parallels here are so significant they can't be ignored.
John Cena And The Rock Have Unfinished WWE Business
As two of the biggest names to ever work in WWE, a battle between The Rock and John Cena was the sort of thing that fans dreamed of, but never really thought we'd see. And yet, the match happened not once, but twice. In 2011, the night after Wrestlemania, WWE did something fairly unbelievable in not simply setting up a match between Cena and The Rock, but in setting it up a full year before it would happen, at the next year's Wrestlemania. The two would go head-to-head at the next two Wrestlemanias, with The Rock winning the first match, and John Cena taking the second.
For more than two years The Rock and John Cena would trade verbal barbs and physical punches. John Cena would be critical of The Rock's decision to leave WWE behind for the greener pastures of Hollywood (a few years before Cena would largely do the same). The Rock would treat Cena like a pretender to his throne. What underscored all of this were reports, and later admissions from both sides, that the two had real problems with each other. This wasn't just a TV performance. For a long time these two really didn't like each other much.
From all accounts the hatchet has been buried and Dwayne Johnson and John Cena are cool with each other once more. But the two men have battled twice, and each won once. The fans need a rubber match. But the battlefield has shifted. These men are now former wrestlers. They're both movie stars now, and so it only makes sense that the third and decisive battle happen not in the ring but on the screen. Specifically, in the franchise the two now share.
Dwayne Johnson Needs To Return For Fast 10
Of course, the biggest hurdle to seeing John Cena and The Rock go head-to-head on the big screen may be that one of them may have largely moved on from the film series. it's unclear if we'll actually see Dwayne Johnson in the main franchise again. Johnson has been at least a little candid regarding the professional issues he has with Vin Diesel, and the fact that Hobbs got his own spinoff but did not return for F9 would seem to indicate that he and the main franchise are heading in different directions.
Having said that, Dwayne Johnson is nothing if not a consummate showman who always wants to give the fans something special. If the two parts of Fast and Furious 10 truly are the end of the road, it makes all the sense in the world for all members of the "family" to return to take a final bow. Even if Hobbs isn't a major part of the next movies, he should be some part of it. And if Hobbs and Dominic Toretto aren't going to share the screen, then why not give Hobbs some screen time with the other Toretto brother?
To be sure, it seems by the end of F9 that Jacob Toretto is on the same page with the rest of the family, so seeing these two characters fight each other might not be necessary from a plot perspective, but certainly some justification could be created. Whether we see them in a big physical action sequence or something where they're both behind the wheel, seeing Cena and The Rock go at it one more time, in the franchise they both now call home, is just too perfect an opportunity to pass up. So, Universal shouldn't.
This would be something awesome to see in the franchise. The only thing that we could do to make it better would be to add Dave Bautista to the franchise, which, as it turns out, is something that could have happened. That would be a triple threat match for the ages.
