John Cena has apologised for criticising DWAYNE 'THE ROCK' JOHNSON.

The 46-year-old star previously slammed Dwayne, 51, for turning his back on his wrestling career in order to become an actor - but John has now confessed to making a mistake.

John - who has also made the transition into the movie business - said during a WWE press conference: "I went about it the wrong way.

"I violated his trust and I made allegations about his perspective that I knew nothing about. And deep down, I was a fan. I wanted The Rock back [in WWE]. I wanted to do anything to get The Rock back, but I did it the wrong way."

The wrestler-turned-actor acknowledged that his comments weren't "respectful".

John said: "I had to eat a little bit of crow. I had to say ‘I’m sorry and I was wrong,’ because I am sorry and I was wrong, and that’s a very humbling experience. Dwayne is a hell of a guy.

"I became who I despised. I see that perspective and I understand it. It was a great learning experience from my mistake with feuding with The Rock."

John has put his acting career on hold over recent months, amid the ongoing actors' strike.

However, he plans to return to the movie business at some stage in the future.

John - whose film credits include 'Trainwreck' and 'Sisters' - explained: "I made it perfectly clear you can’t do [acting and wrestling] because of the liability insurance. If I were trying to juggle both that’s very selfish because I’d put a whole lot of people in the movie business out of work if something happened to me."