One of the most iconic names in WWE history, 16-time world champion John Cena made his television debut for the company on June 27, 2002, responding to an open challenge from Kurt Angle. From there to stardom was a climax, having won the WWE Championship for the first time less than three years later, defeating JBL at WrestleMania 21.
Undoubtedly the main face of the company for about a decade, Cena aroused all kinds of feelings in the fans, becoming a great idol of most of the younger ones and pet hate by some of the older critics of the move-set. Limited and the long reigns of the Marine .
At a time when John Cena dedicated himself to the charms of cinema and will hardly be able to return to regular presence in the WWE, it is worth remembering the ten best matches of his career.
Backlash 2009
Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship:
John Cena (c) vs. Edge
In February 2009, at the No Way Out pay-per-view, Edge lost his WWE Championship in the opening match, so he decided to attack Kofi Kingston, who was supposed to compete in an Elimination Chamber match for John Cena’s World Heavyweight Championship, and not only held the place of the Ghanaian as he won the title by eliminating Rey Mysterio in the last. Weeks later, SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero announced that husband Edge would defend his belt against Big Show at WrestleMania XXV. However, as both were getting ready to sign the fight contract, John Cena appeared and relieved in his ear that the duel should be cancelled.
The following week on Raw, Vickie announced to Edge and Big Show’s surprise that Cena would be added to the match and it was later revealed that Cena’s addition was related to blackmailing Vickie with footage of her cheating on Edge with Big Show. At WrestleMania XXV, Cena regained the title, and on Raw the following day, Vickie Guerrero announced that the new champion would defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Edge in a Last Man Standing match at Backlash.
Money in the Bank 2011
WWE Championship: John Cena (c) vs. CM Punk
(If Cena didn’t retain the title, he would be fired)
On the June 13 episode of Raw, CM Punk benefited from a distraction caused by R-Truth to defeat the champion, John Cena, in a non-title match.
A week later, Punk became the leading contender for the WWE Championship by beating Alberto Del Rio and Rey Mysterio in a Falls Count Anywhere match. After the match, Punk revealed that his contract would expire at midnight on July 17, immediately after the Money in the Bank pay-per-view ended, and he promised to win the title and leave the company with the belt. On the following episode of Monday Night Raw , Punk helped R-Truth beat Cena in a Tables match and made one of the most famous WWE promos, proclaiming himself the best in the world , giving harsh criticism to John Cena, Vince McMahon and the entire management of the company and promising to defend the WWE Championship in other companies, such as Ring of Honor and to New Japan Pro Wrestling. As a result, Punk was suspended and his title shot of him was taken away .
However, Cena confronted Vince McMahon and threatened to leave the company and return the WWE Championship to him if Punk was not reinstated. Vince McMahon relented, but on one condition: if Cena lost the title , he would be fired. On the July 11 episode of Monday Night Raw, Mr. McMahon tried to get CM Punk to renew his contract to make sure the WWE Championship stayed with WWE. The company president agreed to all of Punk’s demands and apologized to him, but Cena interrupted them and attacked Punk. In response, Punk tore up the contract. And to spice it all up, an extremely important fact: Money in the Bank took place in Chicago, Punk’s birthplace.
Extreme Rules 2012
Extreme Rules match: John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar
On the April 2 episode of Raw , the day after he was defeated by The Rock at WrestleMania XXVIII , John Cena asked his opponent from the night before to appear on the scene so he could publicly congratulate him.
However, who appeared was Brock Lesnar, who had not stepped foot in a WWE ring since 2004. Lesnar offered Cena a handshake, but soon after he gave him an F-5 . The following week, Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis revealed that he had hired Lesnar to bring “legitimacy” and become the “new face of WWE” and further announced that Lesnar would face Cena at A week later, it was announced that the match would be played under extreme rules.Extreme Rules.
Monday Night Raw (February 25, 2013)
John Cena vs. CM Punk
At the Royal Rumble, John Cena won the Royal Rumble match for the second time in his career by eliminating Ryback last, while CM Punk lost the WWE Championship to The Rock. At the next PPV, Elimination Chamber, CM Punk failed to regain the WWE Championship, losing to The Rock , who would defend the title against John Cena in a rematch of the previous year’s WrestlemaniaXXVIII match, which The Rock won. the best.
The night after the pay-per-view , John Cena was about to step into the ring to confront The Rock when he was attacked by CM Punk, who still felt he was the main contender for the WWE Championship. .Therefore, a match between Cena and CM Punk was scheduled for the following episode of Monday Night Raw , to determine which of the two would face The Rock at Wrestlemania 29 .
SummerSlam 2013
WWE Championship :
John Cena (c) vs. Daniel Bryan (Triple H as guest referee)
After beating Mark Henry at Money in the Bank , John Cena was given the opportunity to choose who he would defend the WWE Championship against at SummerSlam by General Manager Brad Maddox. And Cena took the audience’s suggestion and chose Daniel Bryan .
Not satisfied with Cena’s choice, Vince McMahon tried to make Bryan ‘s life dark by putting him in a gauntlet match . On the August 12 episode of Monday Night Raw , Maddox acted as a guest referee in a match between Bryan and Wade Barrett and awarded the victory to Barrett after having too quickly counted a settlement. Maddox also offered to referee the match between Cena and Bryan at SummerSlam, but Triple H interceded and announced that he would referee himself.
Payback 2014
Last Man Standing match:
John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt
It all started at the Royal Rumble, when John Cena applied a STF to Randy Orton and seemed to be well on his way to winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, however, the lights went out temporarily and The Wyatt Family appeared at the edge of the ring, causing the distraction. and consequent defeat to John Cena .
In the next PPV, the Elimination Chamber, the Wyatt Family interfered in the Elimination Chamber match that had the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at stake, attacking John Cena, with Bray Wyatt hitting him with a Sister Abigail and Randy Orton reaping rewards by eliminating Cena in then .
However, Cena challenged Wyatt to a match at WrestleMania XXX , which challenge was accepted, with Cena prevailing in the ring. After defeating Wyatt, Cena accused his rival of being unable to defend himself without Luke Harper or Erick Rowan and challenged him to a Steel Cage Match. The challenge was accepted and Wyatt won the cage match at Extreme Rules, but he once again enlisted the help of Harper and Rowan . To break the tie, Bray Wyatt challenged Cena to a Last Man Standing match to Payback during the May 12 episode of Raw and received a positive response on SmackDown four days later.
Royal Rumble 2015
WWE World Heavyweight Championship :
Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Seth Rollins vs. John Cena
Brock Lesnar won the title by defeating John Cena at SummerSlam 2014 . Cena got his revenge the following month at Night Of Champions , but ended up winning via disqualification after Seth Rollins interfered and attempted to cash-in hisMoney in the Bank contract . In the ensuing PPV – Hell in a Cell, Cena beat Randy Orton in a Hell in a Cell match to earn a future title shot , retaining top contender status at TLC by beating Rollins in a Tables match . Later in the same event, it was announced that Cena would challenge Lesnar at the Royal Rumble .
On the last Raw of 2014, Rollins attacked guest host Edge and threatened to give him a Curb Stomp if Cena didn’t make the decision to reinstate The Authority, a faction that had lost him at Survivor Series after a team led by Cena won a elimination combat.Cena, albeit reluctantly, ended up declaring the return of The Authority.
On the January 5, 2015 edition of Monday Night Raw , Triple H added Seth Rollins to the title match. as retribution for The Authority’s return and fired the members of Team Cena who contributed to the loss of power at Survivor Series ( Dolph Ziggler , Ryback, and Erick Rowan).
The following week, Lesnar, Cena and Rollins signed the contract and were involved in a brawl , with Rollins performing a Curb Stomp on both Cena and Lesnar.However, Cena had his participation in jeopardy, as Triple H forced him to fight in a handicap match against Rollins , Big Show and Kane to not only secure his presence in the title match but also to guarantee Ziggler’s return. , Ryback and Rowan, on the last Raw before the Royal Rumble . Cena ended up winning with a roll-up on Rollins after the distraction caused by Sting, but it was Lesnar who came out on top as he appeared to attack Rollins and apply F-5 to Kane and Big Show.
SummerSlam 2015
WWE World Heavyweight Championship and WWE United States Championship:
Seth Rollins (c) vs. John Cena (c)
On the July 20 episode of Monday Night Raw , John Cena challenged Seth Rollins to a match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but the latter declined. The following week, Cena re-issued the challenge, but the Authority forced him to defend the United States Championship against Rollins , managing to retain the belt despite breaking his nose during the match. Given this scenario, Rollins challenged Cena to a match at SummerSlam in which the winner would take both titles, which was promptly accepted.
SummerSlam 2016
AJ Styles vs. John Cena
On the May 30 episode of Monday Night Raw , John Cena returned after recovering from a shoulder injury that had ruled him out of the ring for five months. AJ Styles appeared to welcome him, but Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, Styles’ former Raw teammates , showed up looking for trouble. Styles and Cena were preparing to fight them, but Styles ended up teaming up with Gallows and Anderson to attack Cena and re-form The Club.
A fight between Styles and Cena was scheduled for Money in the Bank , with Cena giving his opponent two options: allow Gallows and Anderson to be in his corner of him or banish them from the vicinity of the ring.Styles chose the second option and ended up winning, but with the interference of friends.
The feud continued over the next few weeks, first with Styles and Gallows attacking Cena during a match with Karl Anderson, then with Cena and Styles costing each other the opportunity to be present at the WWE Championship match at Battleground . The Club attacked Cena again on the 4th of July Raw , but Enzo Amore and Big Cass appeared to save Cena, which led to a match between the two factions being scheduled at Battleground , with the triumph smiling upon Cena, Amore and Cass after a Super Attitude Adjustment of Scene in Styles. After the two rivals were transferred to SmackDown in that summer’s Draft , Styles challenged Cena to one more match, this time at SummerSlam , which was once again accepted by Cena.
Royal Rumble 2017
WWE Championship :
AJ Styles (c) vs. John Cena
At the December 2016 TLC, AJ Styles retained the title by beating Dean Ambrose in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match .
Nine days later, on SmackDown , Dolph Ziggler defeated Ambrose, The Miz, and Luke Harper in a four-way elimination match for a shot at the WWE Championship on the December 27 SmackDown , but before he could do so, he was confronted by Baron Corbin, who challenged him to put the title shot on the line. The duel between Ziggler and Corbin ended in a double count-out , before Styles attacked them both with a chair.
As a result, the title was at stake in a triple threat match between Styles, Ziggler and Corbin, but before that, John Cena returned after nearly three months of absence and challenged the winner of that match to a title match at the Royal Rumble . Styles ended up retaining the belt and Cena appeared to shake his hand.
On the January 17 edition of SmackDown , Styles faced The Miz in a no contest after Cena, who was at the commentator’s table, was attacked by the champion. A brawl followed that ended with Cena applying Attitude Adjustment to both The Miz and Styles.