Fans of the street-racing heist franchise speculated that the third-generation wrestler was simply talking smack in the tradition of scripted and choreographed antics at the WWE.

And it certainly worked – The Fate of the Furious amassed an eye-popping $1.068B at the global box office that year despite mixed reviews.

The 49-year-old action star told THR Magazine: ‘I think everyone had a laugh at that. And I’ll leave it at that. And that I’ve wished them well. I wish them well on Fast 9. And I wish them the best of luck on Fast 10 and Fast 11 and the rest of the Fast & Furious movies they do that will be without me’

All for publicity? The bald California natives’ beef originated in 2017 when Dwayne wrote a thinly-veiled, since-deleted Instagram post referring to an ‘unprofessional candy a**’ on the set

Head to head: Dwayne portrayed DSS agent Luke Hobbs in Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6, Furious 7, and The Fate of the Furious (pictured) as well as the spin-off Hobbs & Shaw

Johnson also portrayed DSS agent Luke Hobbs in Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6, and Furious 7 as well as the spin-off Hobbs & Shaw.

Last month, Vin (born Mark Sinclair) told Men’s Health he was simply trying to get a better acting performance from the Teremana Tequila co-founder.

‘I could give a lot of tough love,’ the 54-year-old SAG Award nominee – who plays Dominic Toretto – told the mag.

‘Not Felliniesque, but I would do anything I’d have to do in order to get performances in anything I’m producing. It was a tough character to embody, the Hobbs character. My approach at the time was a lot of tough love to assist in getting that performance where it needed to be.’

‘Tough love’: Last month, Vin (born Mark Sinclair) told Men’s Health he was simply trying to get a better acting performance from the Teremana Tequila co-founder

The 54-year-old SAG Award nominee – who plays Dominic Toretto – told the mag: ‘Not Felliniesque, but I would do anything I’d have to do in order to get performances in anything I’m producing. It was a tough character to embody, the Hobbs character. My approach at the time was a lot of tough love to assist in getting that performance where it needed to be’

Justin Lin’s latest offering – F9: The Fast Saga – has amassed $592.7M at the global box office despite a 59% critic approval rating (out of 285 reviews) on Rotten Tomatoes.

Dwayne next plays steamboat captain ‘Skipper’ Frank Wolff in Jaume Collet-Serra’s $200M-budget film Jungle Cruise, which hits US/UK theaters and Disney+ on July 30.

The family flick – inspired by the 1955 theme park attraction – also stars Emily Blunt, Paul Giamatti, Jesse Plemons, Édgar Ramírez, and Jack Whitehall.

Justin Lin’s latest offering – F9: The Fast Saga – has amassed $592.7M at the global box office despite a 59% critic approval rating (out of 285 reviews) on Rotten Tomatoes

Hitting US/UK theaters and Disney+ on July 30! Dwayne next plays steamboat captain ‘Skipper’ Frank Wolff in Jaume Collet-Serra’s $200M-budget film Jungle Cruise