John Cena’s best WWE matches, ranked

The term GOAT (Greatest of All Time) has become an overused hyperbole in almost every industry, including WowBut one of the few people to whom the moniker accurately applies is John Cena. He carried the company squarely on his shoulders as its top star for a decade and ended up tying Ric Flair (another GOAT contender) in holding a record-setting 16 World Championships (never mind the fact that Ric Flair is technically a 21-time champion.)

While Cena was criticized for his ring work for a long part of his career, even his staunchest haters had to reconsider their opinion as the talent improved and showed that he was a master of the ring, not just of the microphone. . Cena is one of those rare, once-in-a-lifetime talents who has earned the right to call himself an icon, not only for the hard work he has dedicated to WWE, but for the exceptional matches he puts on there.

10

John Cena vs Cesaro – United States Championship Match

Monday night Roy, July 6, 2015

Some of the best matches of John Cena’s career came during His fourth United States Championship reignDuring which he would hold an open challenge every week on Raw. This list would be remiss if at least one of the matches were not mentioned and perhaps the best of the US. it. Open Challenge phase was his mini feud against Cesaro. The week before, the two put on a clinic that was interrupted by Kevin Owens, which emerged causing a DQ when The Swiss Superman was seconds away from winning the title.

The Swiss cyborg refused to be denied a second week in a row, so in honor of the Fourth of July week, a rematch took place. Nothing felt like a better way to celebrate America than to have The company’s most beloved wrestlers and one of its best in-ring technicians Take part in an absolute masterpiece.

9

John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan – WWE Championship Match

summerslam 2013

One of John Cena’s best qualities is knowing when to play heel as much as he can. He may have never gone the full turn at the height of his career, however He knew when to recognize that he was the opposition Go into the match and how to follow suit while staying baby. This is one of the examples. At the beginning of the YES! Movement, Daniel Bryan had the crowd eating out of his hands at every turn, so more than usual, Cena was the de facto heel that the fans would boo.

Cena, meanwhile, has something to prove in-storyline to an opponent who doubted his wrestling ability and to fans watching him wrestle someone considered the best in-ring wrestler on the planet. The WWE Champion carried the match as if he had a chip on his shoulder. This dynamic combined with the real ability of both men produced a masterclass of a match. No one would chant “you can’t wrestle” to Cena anymore after that.

8

John Cena vs Rob Van Dam – WWE Championship Match

ECW One Night Stand 2006

Speaking of John Cena being able to go heel as tight as he can without actually turning, the 2006 edition of One Night Stand is, by far, the closest man has come to actually having a heel. There’s nothing like John Cena in enemy territory. From the moment he entered the Hammerstein room with his hat off, approaching a hostile crowd that would indeed have been upset, When he won, it turned out that the doctor of Tuganomics was Locked.

With full range to go extreme, it was A Cena who didn’t hesitate to inflict mounds of damage onto a beloved Rob Van Dam In hopes of retaining his WWE Championship. As ECW was in desperate need of a World Championship when its official revival was imminent, this was the last thing anyone wanted to see. Thankfully, audiences got the feel-good moment they wanted at the end of the show.

7

John Cena vs. CM Punk – Winner faces The Rock at WrestleMania

Monday night raw25 February 2013

A strong argument can be made for CM Punk being John Cena’s best in-ring opponent. Their chemistry was always on par with the best dance partners of wrestling’s past (Rock and Austin, Flair and Steamboat, etc.). With every match they had, their chemistry only improved, and the matches got better. In fairness, it’s hard to top their match in Money in the Bank (more on that later), but their match on Raw a couple of years later comes the closest.

This match is best remembered for the shock that came with the Straight Edge Superstar Deal out a then forbidden filerWhile the leader of the Senation unleashes a headscissors down. However, what is often overlooked is how easily a match of this caliber would seem out of place on a Mania card due to the sheer stakes, anticipation and emotion this has on the way to the grandest stage.

Unfortunately, this was also the beginning of the end of Punk’s first run in the WWE, as the result of this match denied him the WrestleMania main event match that he longed for more than anything else.

6

John Cena vs. AJ Styles

summerslam 2016

John Cena is just as synonymous with his presence at SummerSlam as he is with his appearances at WrestleMania, if not more so. As such, all eyes were on AJ Styles in 2016 when it was time for him to face John Cena at his signature PPV. This was Styles’ biggest test since coming to WWE: Facing the face that runs the place in the second-biggest show of the year.

Anyone remotely familiar with the Phenomenal One’s work before WWE knew he had a match like this in him, but on the off chance that anyone was watching who wasn’t familiar with Styles, the Styles clash between him and Cena made For a great introduction. Their first singles match was loaded with interference, but this match allowed both men room to breathe and take in the booming atmosphere.

5

John Cena vs. Umaga – Last Man Standing Match

Royal Rumble 2007

John Cena is a man of many nicknames, but one moniker absent from his resume is Monster Slayer. He would often find himself battle-tested by taking on behemoths like The Great Holly, Mark Henry, and most notably, Umaga in a Last Man Standing match. The Samoan Bulldozer hadn’t been pinned or submitted, let alone actually lost a match, so Cena’s underdog status was truly tested.

Usually, when his underdog persona is at stake, Cena tends to find himself bleeding like a leaking faucet in this era, be it during a match like this or an I Quit Match with JBL. Cena is never afraid of bleedingAnd when he did, it made watching him fight from below all the more awe-inspiring to watch, easy to get sucked into it. When Cena bled, the audience knew they were watching something special, and this was no exception.

4

John Cena vs. Randy Orton – I Quit WWE Championship Match

Breaking Point 2009

John Cena and Randy Orton are notoriously wrestling soulmates. They fought many times. Some fans hate this fact about them, and would say in 2009 in particular that this is when their dynamic started to grow stale. However, some will point to this very match as proof how to What their matches are must-see TV Every time they were on the screen.

This match is actually a good example of not only their chemistry but of their individual character’s best traits: Cena’s resilience and Orton’s unhinged violent streak. In this I Quit match, Orton torments, even torturing Cena on a physical level, and Cena is able to withstand every ounce of punishment.

3

John Cena vs Edge – TLC WWE Championship Match

Unforgiven 2006

If Randy Orton is John Cena’s in-ring soulmate, then Edge must be Cena’s best storyline opponent. Character-wise, you have two people who are the perfect antithesis of each other. One is the family-friendly role model who holds outstanding moral values, the other is an R-rated party animal who lives for debauchery and being as despicable as possible. When the two met, it was a huge storyAnd much of the story culminates in this show, at least momentarily.

Backlash 2009’s Last Man Standing match is often considered the true conclusion of their multi-year rivalry, but their TLC match at Unforgiven closed a chapter. The cherry on top of an already stellar match is at the end of the violent brigade, John Cena looks more somber than proud to win his third World Championship, Almost to the point he’s ashamed he felt forced to stoop to Edge’s level of depravity to win. It’s an excellent character-driven touch to the match.

2

John Cena vs. CM Punk – WWE Championship Match

Money in the bank 2011

There are matches that are great, and then there are Matches that are big enough to define their era. CM Punk vs. John Cena fits into the latter category, even causing a shift in the WWE product as fans knew it to be at the time. In a climate that prioritized homegrown talent and big beef men, the blending of reality with kayfabe in this storyline and the high praise for the proceeding match seemed to inspire WWE to start putting a bigger spotlight on the smaller sized talent of the independent circuit.

If the feud and match is not a success, the likes of Daniel Bryan and Seth Rollins may not be pushed to the main event scene themselves. Regarding the match, The drama was at an all time high. All the right elements – an electric Chicago crowd, an on-edge Vince McMahon, a John Cena with the responsibility of defending the WWE Championship on his shoulders – came together for an exciting contest.

1

John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels

Monday Night Roy, April 23, 2007

On the way to Backlash, the two halves of the show’s main event fatal four-way are scheduled to compete in singles competition. However, Randy Orton vs. Edge didn’t happen because, to the surprise of a sold-out Earl’s Court in London, Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena at the top of Raw’s second hour would last 55 minutes and 49 seconds. For nearly an hour, 13,320 Englishmen were on their feet as the former World Tag Team Champions put on an instant classic.

The in-ring mentality made the match especially entertaining, As there were subtle nods to their Mania match and signs that both men are learning from their past mistakes in this match, with new counters for each other. John Cena’s wrestling ability was lacking during this era, but he proved himself by holding his own for an hour with WWE s Original Iron Man.