Dwayne Johnson & Vin Diesel's 'prank' spat will be settled in wrestling ring - report

Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel's on-set spat is just a ruse for an upcoming wrestling showdown, according to reports.

The two action men reportedly fell out while filming Fast 8 and Johnson stunned fans when he appeared to take aim at his castmate in a social media rant about his male-co-stars' bad behaviour behind the camera.

He has never named names, but insiders claim the post was targeted at Diesel, who is also one of the film's producers.

Johnson, who used to wrestle as The Rock, fuelled the speculation last week (ends19Aug16) when he took to Instagram to thank cast and crew as the movie wrapped. He did not mention Diesel.

"Finished strong and on to the next. That's an officially (sic) wrap on #FastandFurious8," Johnson wrote below a shot of himself posing by the open door of a private jet. "Thank you to our director @fgarygray (F. Gary Gray) for the vision and execution. Thank you UNIVERSAL for being tremendous partners as always, thank you to all my fellow co-stars for the daily effort and grind.

"Scott Eastwood... Natalie Emmanuel I have a cold Budweiser ready for you and Tyrese Gibson you still have the biggest smile and forehead I've ever seen."

He added, "And a huge THANK YOU to our hard working production crew - the backbone of our business. Your kind words meant a lot to me last night - thank you! In the end, we all rallied, as great teams do, kicked a** and will deliver an amazing movie to the world. Proud of our entire FAST FAMILY."

But it seems the so-far one-sided war of words is all a ruse for an upcoming WWE showdown between Johnson, who reprises his role as government agent Luke Hobbs for the fourth time in the upcoming action movie, and Diesel, who has appeared in all but one of the Fast & Furious films.

"They are playing a huge prank, and it's all for publicity," a source tells Life & Style magazine. "The Rock convinced Vin to amp up the drama between them so they could turn it into a WWE match to help promote the April, 2017 release of Fast 8."

Meanwhile, Jason Statham, who reprises his role as villain Deckard Shaw in Fast 8, is refusing to get involved in the feud.

Asked about his take on what Johnson has written on social media, the 49-year-old tough guy told People magazine, "I stay out of any bickering or any troubles that people have. I have nothing to do with it and I don't want any part of it."