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Summary
The terminus GOAT ( Greatest of All Time ) has become an overused exaggeration in just about every industriousness , includingWWE , but one of the few masses to whom that moniker accurately give isJohn Cena . He carried the company squarely on his shoulder as its top virtuoso for a decade and ended up matching Ric Flair ( another GOAT contender ) in holding a disk - setting 16 World Championships ( nevermind the fact thatRic Flair is technically a 21 - meter Champion . )
While Cena was criticized for his in - ring workplace for a long part of his life history , even his unswerving hater had to rethink their opinion , as the talent observe improving and showing he ’s a master of the ring , not just of the microphone . Cena is one of the rarefied , once - in - a - lifetime talent 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 friction match he put on there .
10John Cena vs. Cesaro - United States Championship Match
Monday Night Raw, July 6, 2015
Some of the sound matches of John Cena ’s career come duringhis 4th United States Championship reign , during which he ’d hold an open challenge every week on Raw . This listing would be delinquent if at least one of those match were n’t bring up and perhaps the best of that U.S. Open Challenge phase was his miniskirt - feud against Cesaro . The hebdomad before , the two put on a clinic that was interrupt by Kevin Owens , who emerge cause a DQ when the Swiss Superman was seconds aside from gain the claim .
John Cena think many things to many matman who have been a part of WWE at some point . Claudio Castagnoli recently reveal why he honour Cena .
The Swiss Cyborg refuse to be deny a second week in a row , so in accolade of Fourth of July week , a replay take place . Nothing felt like a better means of celebrate America than to havethe company ’s most darling wrestlers and one of its well in - ring technicianspartake in an absolute masterpiece .
9John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan - WWE Championship Match
SummerSlam2013
One of the dependable caliber of John Cena is recognize when to play up being as list as much he possibly can . He may have never live on the full turn at the pinnacle of his vocation , buthe experience when to recognise he was the oppositiongoing into the peer and how to follow suit whilst remain babyface . This is one of those examples . At the very start of the YES ! Movement , Daniel Bryan had the crowd eat out of his hands at every act , so more than usual , Cena was the de facto cad who the fans would boo .
Cena , meanwhile , had something to turn out in - plot line to an opposition who doubted his hand-to-hand struggle ability and to fans watching him wrestle someone considered the best in - ring grappler on the major planet . The WWE Champion carry the lucifer as if he had a microprocessor chip on his shoulder . This dynamic coalesce with the actual ability of both men produced a masterclass of a peer . No one would intone " You ca n’t wrestle " to Cena anymore after that .
8John Cena vs. Rob Van Dam - WWE Championship Match
ECW One Night Stand 2006
mouth of John Cena being able to go heel as nearly as he can without actually turning , the 2006 edition of One Night Standis , by far , the closest the serviceman has come to actually being a heel . There is nothing quite like John Cena in foeman dominion . From the instant he take the air into the Hammerstein Ballroom with his lid pulled down approach a unfriendly crowd that actually would have rioted had he won , it was discernible that the Doctor of Thuganomics was locked in .
With full chain of mountains to go extreme , this wasa Cena who was not hesitating to inflict pile of legal injury onto a dear Rob Van Damin hopes of keeping his WWE Championship . As ECW was in desperate penury of a World Championship as its official revival neared , that ’s the last matter anyone wanted to see . Thankfully , consultation get under one’s skin the feel - secure bit they want at the show ’s end .
7John Cena vs. CM Punk - Winner Faces The Rock at WrestleMania
Monday Night Raw, February 25, 2013
A strong argument can be made for CM Punk being John Cena ’s best in - ring opponent . Their chemistry always seemed on par with the good terpsichore partners of grappling ’s past ( Rock and Austin , Flair and Steamboat , etc . ) . With each match they had , their chemistry only meliorate , and the matches get better . In fairness , it is gruelling to top their lucifer at Money in the Bank ( more on that later ) , but their match on Raw a twosome of age later descend the close .
This compeer is best remembered for the shock that came with seeing the Straight Edge Superstardish out a then - banned piledriver , while the Leader of the CENAtion unleashed a headscissor squelch . However , what ’s often overlooked is how easy a equal of this caliber would n’t seem out of lieu on a Mania poster due to the vaporous stake , anticipation , and emotion this had on the route to the Grandest Stage .
alas , this was also the commencement of the destruction of Punk ’s first run in the WWE , as the consequence of this match denied him the WrestleMania chief consequence match that he longed for more than anything else .
6John Cena vs. AJ Styles
SummerSlam2016
John Cena is just as synonymous with his mien at SummerSlam as he is with his appearance at WrestleMania , if not more so . As such , all eye were on AJ Styles in 2016 when it came time for him to confront John Cena at his signature PPV.This was Styles ' big run since coming to WWE : face the Face That start the Place at the second - swelled show of the class .
Anyone remotely familiar with The Phenomenal One ’s work prior to WWE knew he had a match like this in him , but on the off luck that anyone was watching who was n’t familiar with Styles , the trend clashing between him and Cena made for a great introduction . Their first singles lucifer was laden with interference , but this match allowed both men room to catch one’s breath and take in the booming atmosphere .
5John Cena vs Umaga - Last Man Standing Match
Royal Rumble2007
John Cena is a piece of many nicknames , but one soubriquet absent from his resume is monster slayer . He ’d often see himself battle - tested by taking on behemoths like The Great Khali , Mark Henry , and most notably , Umaga in a Last human Standing match . The Samoan Bulldozer had not been pin or submitted , let alone really lose a match , so Cena ’s underdog status was really put to the test .
normally , when his underdog persona is at interest , Cena tends to discover himself bleeding like a leaking spigot in this era , be it during a mates like this or an I Quit Match with JBL.Cena was never afraid of bleeding , and when he did , it made watching him fight from underneath all the more veneration - inspiring to ascertain , leisurely to get sucked into at that . When Cena bleed , consultation knew they were view something special , and this was no exception .
4John Cena vs. Randy Orton - I Quit WWE Championship Match
Breaking Point 2009
John Cena and Randy Orton notoriously are wrestling soulmates . They have wrestled each other a unnumerable number of times . Some devotee detest that fact about them , and would say in 2009 especially that this is when their dynamic pop out to grow stale . However , some will point to this very match as proof as towhy their matches were must - see TVevery sentence they were onscreen .
This match is in reality a good example of not only their chemistry but of their private part ’s best trait : Cena ’s resiliency and Orton ’s disorder vehement streak . In this I Quit couple , Orton is tormenting , even torturing Cena on a physical level , and Cena is able-bodied to withstand every ounce of penalisation .
3John Cena vs. Edge - TLC WWE Championship Match
Unforgiven2006
If Randy Orton is John Cena ’s in - ringing soulmate , then Edge has to be Cena ’s best storyline opponent . character reference - wise , you have two men who are the utter antithesis of each other . One is the family - friendly role model upholding owing moral values , the other is an R - rated party animal who subsist for debauch and being as despicable as possible . Whenever these two met , it made for tremendous storytelling , and much of that storytelling culminate in this show , at least momentarily .
Backlash2009 ’s Last Man Standing match is often considered the factual ending of their multi - year rivalry , but their TLC match at Unforgiven close up a chapter . The cherry red on top of an already starring match is at the end of the fierce brigade , John Cena looks more somber than proud towin his third World Championship , almost to the point he ’s ashamed he felt compel to lower oneself to Edge ’s storey of depravity to deliver the goods . It ’s an excellent character - driven trace to the match .
2John Cena vs. CM Punk - WWE Championship Match
Money in the Bank 2011
If this feud and match was n’t a achiever , the likes of Daniel Bryan and Seth Rollins may not have been pushed to the independent event scene themselves .
There are catch that are majuscule , and then there arematches that are great enough to define their era . CM Punk vs. John Cena agree in the latter family , even causing a faulting in the WWE ware as fan knew it to be at the prison term . In a clime that prioritized homegrown talent and swelled buirdly human beings , the shading of reality with kayfabe in this storyline and the high praise for the legal proceeding equal seemed to animate WWE to start putting a bigger spotlight on the belittled - sized natural endowment from the sovereign electrical circuit .
If this feud and match was n’t a success , the ilk of Daniel Bryan and Seth Rollins may not have been pushed to the main event scene themselves . As for the match , the dramatic event was at an all - time high gear . All the right elements - an electric Chicago crowd , an on - edge Vince McMahon , a John Cena carrying the responsibility of protecting the WWE Championship on his shoulders - came together for an exciting contest .
1John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels
Monday Night Raw, April 23, 2007
On the road to Backlash , the two half of that show ’s main result Fatal Four - Way were scheduled to contend in unity competition . However , Randy Orton vs. Edge did n’t happen because , to the surprisal of a sold - out Earl ’s Court in London , Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena at the top of Raw ’s 2nd hour would last 55 minutes and 49 endorsement . For closely an minute , 13,320 Englishmen were on their foot as the former World Tag Team Champions put on an insistent classic .
The in - ring psychological science made this match specially entertaining , as there were insidious nod to their Mania match and signs that both man were see from their retiring fault in that match , having new counters for each other . John Cena ’s wrestling power was scrutinise during this era , but he proved himself by holding his own for an hour withWWE’soriginal Iron Man .
