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I’ve always said*, if WWE wants to book a really big money match for WrestleMania, they should forget about The Rock vs. Roman Reigns. The Rock vs. Vin Diesel is where it’s at.
Lingering issues between the former co-stars came to a head on the set of 2017’s The Fate of the Furious (aka F8). Dwayne Johnson seemed content to leave it “we see things differently” and head off into his own corner of the Fast & Furious universe. But while promoting this year’s F9, Diesel answered a few questions about the situation in a way that Johnson found hilarious.
They also prompted Rocky to address the relationship again, which he did in a new profile piece from Vanity Fair.
Fast & Furious’ behind-the-scenes feud first came to light in 2016 when Johnson referred to some unnamed male co-stars by a term very familiar to WWE fans - “candy asses”. Vanity Fair’s Chris Heath got him to define the term for his non-wrestling watching readers, and got some of Rocky’s real feelings about Diesel in the process:
“A candy ass is something you don’t want to be. And the best way that I can describe a candy ass is: Life is so much easier, I have found, when you are not full of shit. And a candy ass is completely full of shit.”
DJ says he regrets publicly sharing his assessment of a few of his collaborators, but while he won’t criticize Diesel directly, when he says they’re “philosophically two different people, and we approach the business of moviemaking in two very different ways,” then goes on to describe his philosophy as working hard and treating others with respect - it’s pretty clear what he sees Vin’s faults as.
It doesn’t sound like Rock’s alone it that criticism, since after the first “candy ass” comment he says, “interestingly enough…[it was] as if every single crew member found their way to me and either quietly thanked me or sent me a note.”
That would probably be a good place to leave this, but something tells me Diesel won’t be able to. So book this thing for WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles, and get ready to start counting the money.
* And AJ Styles agrees with me.