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- John Cena was the face of the WWE after The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin left the company. Making his WWE debut in the early days of the Ruthless Aggression Era, Cena quickly became the top star in the promotion after a fantastic run as the Doctor of Thuganomics on SmackDown. 'Big Match John' won his first WWE Championship from JBL at WrestleMania 21 and he never looked back. Cena worked with the biggest names in wrestling throughout the next decade, participating in several classics over the years. Find out which are John Cena's definitive best WWE matches.
John Cena is one of the biggest stars in WWE history. While many people questioned his in-ring ability throughout his career, Cena proved time and time again that he could have great matches with just about anyone. Even a limited wrestler like The Great Khali had some of his best matches against Cena.
Every Major John Cena Feud During WWE's Ruthless Aggression Era, Ranked Worst To Best
John Cena is one of the biggest stars of WWE's Ruthless Aggression Era, having been involved in a plethora of memorable feuds!From his beginning in the Ruthless Aggression Era all the way to the PG Era, 'Big Match John' worked with pretty much all the top names WWE had to offer during those years. While not all the matches set the world on fire, Cena competed in several classics. Let's go back and look at Cena's ten best matches in WWE.
UPDATE: 2024/05/14 17:30 EST BY Tomás Cunha
John Cena was the face of the WWE after The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin left the company. Making his WWE debut in the early days of the Ruthless Aggression Era, Cena quickly became the top star in the promotion after a fantastic run as the Doctor of Thuganomics on SmackDown. 'Big Match John' won his first WWE Championship from JBL at WrestleMania 21 and he never looked back. Cena worked with the biggest names in wrestling throughout the next decade, participating in several classics over the years. Find out which are John Cena's definitive best WWE matches.
13 John Cena Vs. Kevin Owens (Elimination Chamber 2015)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 8.5/10
|
Storytelling |
2/2.5 |
|---|---|
|
Technical Ability |
2.25/2.5 |
|
Character Work/Psychology |
2/2.5 |
|
Crowd Reaction |
2.25/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4.5 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 8.85
John Cena's main event run effectively ended in early 2015, with Big Match John beating the undefeated Rusev at WrestleMania 31 to capture the United States Championship for a fourth time. Cena introduced a fun open challenge concept that saw many up-and-coming stars stepping up to The Champ. Usually it led to a US Title match between Cena and each week's challenger, but that was not the case when Kevin Owens appeared.
Making his WWE debut as the reigning NXT Champion, Owens made his presence felt by brutally assaulting the United States Champion on Raw. Instead of challenging Cena for the title like everyone else, Owens met Cena in a champion-versus-champion non-title battle at the Elimination Chamber PPV. Owens shocked the world that night by beating Cena clean after a breathtaking matchup.
12 John Cena Vs. Edge - TLC Match, WWE Championship (Unforgiven 2006)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 8.5/10
|
Storytelling |
2/2.5 |
|---|---|
|
Technical Ability |
2/2.5 |
|
Character Work/Psychology |
2.25/2.5 |
|
Crowd Reaction |
2.25/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4.25 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 8.92
One of John Cena's best feuds of his first years as a main eventer was his long program with Edge. The Rated-R Superstar was arguably the most hated wrestler on the roster at the time, and that heat helped Cena get over with the audience. After Edge's wins over Cena at New Year's Revolution (the first Money in the Bank cash-in ever) and SummerSlam, the feud culminated with a TLC Match at Unforgiven.
The anti-Cena crowd hated the challenger in Edge's hometown of Toronto that night. Despite that and the fact Cena had never competed in a TLC Match while Edge essentially created the match type, Cena overcame all the odds and regained the WWE Championship. The ending of the match was memorable, with Cena delivering the AA (then known as the FU) off a ladder through two stacked tables.
11 John Cena Vs. Shawn Michaels (RAW April 23, 2007)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 8.75/10
|
Storytelling |
2/2.5 |
|---|---|
|
Technical Ability |
2.5/2.5 |
|
Character Work/Psychology |
2/2.5 |
|
Crowd Reaction |
2.25/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4.25 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 8.97
At WrestleMania 23, John Cena successfully defended his WWE Championship in a grueling main event match against Shawn Michaels. Three weeks later, the former World Tag Team Champions went at it on an episode of Raw emanating from London, England. The title wasn't on the line, but pride most definitely was.
They got more than enough time to tell a story - the match lasted 55 minutes from bell to bell - and they were able to top their 'Mania 23 match. The fans in London were into the action, which was exciting and ended with Michaels avoiding the FU (AA) before delivering Sweet Chin Music for the win.
10 John Cena Vs. JBL - I Quit Match, WWE Championship (Judgment Day 2005)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 8.75/10
|
Storytelling |
2.5/2.5 |
|---|---|
|
Technical Ability |
1.5/2.5 |
|
Character Work/Psychology |
2.5/2.5 |
|
Crowd Reaction |
2.25/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4.25 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 9.12
John Cena established himself as a main eventer after beating JBL for his first WWE Championship at WrestleMania 21. That match was quite basic, but their rematch at Judgment Day was the complete opposite. In his first WWE Title defense on PPV, Cena defended the gold in the first I Quit Match of his career against Bradshaw.
Cena took a huge beating at the hands of the former WWE Champion, but he refused to quit. Both men bled buckets during the exciting brawl, with Cena in particular losing a lot of blood. Somehow, 'The Champ' was able to overcome the odds and made JBL quit after Cena threatened to hit him with an exhaust pipe through a glass panel. Cena still did it anyway, putting a definitive end to their feud.
9 John Cena Vs. CM Punk (Night Of Champions 2012)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 9/10
|
Storytelling |
2.25/2.5 |
|---|---|
|
Technical Ability |
2.5/2.5 |
|
Character Work/Psychology |
2/2.5 |
|
Crowd Reaction |
2.25/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4.25 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 8.86
Cena and CM Punk had great chemistry together, with both men competing in a number of classic matches over the years in the early 2010s. While people often talk about other matches between them (more on those later), they had a hidden gem over Punk's WWE Championship at Night of Champions 2012.
From an in-ring standpoint alone, this was one of their best matches against each other. They went back-and-forth for 26 minutes and both kicked out of each other's finishers, with Punk even delivering a Rock Bottom for a nearfall. While many fans didn't love the no-contest ending when both men's shoulders were pinned to the mat at the same time, it was a classic.