"I was punching from underneath" - John Cena addressed real-life animosity with former WWE Champion

John Cena had one of the hottest feuds in the WWE against The Rock, but there were some real-life issues between the two stars before it began.

In 2012, the Cenation Leader would challenge The Brahma Bull for a "once in a lifetime" match at WrestleMania 28 stemming from their real-life animosity. The two stars had taken shots at each other in the past, and it seemed that they did not like each other at all.

John Cena recently sat down for an interview on the NotSam Wrestling podcast and spoke about the buildup to their iconic dream match that began at last year's WrestleMania with The Rock as the host. The 16-time World Champion spoke about how the stakes felt very high and personal for him due to his opponent having his credentials cemented in Hollywood as a megastar.

“The thing with our matchup, and I think the thing that some people might not have seen, was it is supposed to be Michael Jordan (and) LeBron James, both in their prime. To do that, in this scenario, you do not have to elevate The Rock. He is, and always will be, in his own universe. I don’t have to give any more steam to that rocket. To make the billing the billing, you need to elevate John. So I was punching from underneath, but still punching." (H/T Wrestletalk)

Cena addressed that he felt his star power could come off as lower than The Rock, which would lead to him having some tense emotions toward his opponent.

John Cena recently spoke about the scariest moment of his WWE career. Check it out here.

John Cena revealed that he apologized to The Rock's mother

The Cenation Leader did not give it easy to The Rock during their usual tense promo segments in the buildup to their WrestleMania feud.

Both stars looked to degrade each other on the screen for the masses, handing off heavy-handed insults one after the other. Cena had even caught some real-life backstage heat for pushing the envelope a bit too far as he called out The Rock for writing promo notes on his wrist face to face.

John Cena revealed on the NotSam Wrestling podcast, the exact moment that both stars blew off their tense feelings for one another. He stated that he went to apologize to Dwayne's mother if he had offended her.

“The moment the ice began to melt was right after, when the first thing I did was went to apologize to his mom, and said, ‘Being in the business, I hope now you can understand, I just wanted to sell tickets. And I’m sorry if I made you feel a certain way, that was not my intention," John Cena said.

John Cena took a shot at a current WWE superstar's gimmick. Click here to see what he said.