John Cena is one of the greatest WWE Superstars of all time and nobody can deny that. The guy has been an important and established member of the company for nearly fifteen years now, and his dedication throughout that tenure has been second to none.
Cena has had one great match after the other and despite what some people may say about his in-ring ability, you can't deny his track record of high-quality bouts.
This includes matches on the grandest stage of them all - WrestleMania. On several occasions, the multi-time World Champion has been featured in an important contest at the show of shows, and more often that not he produces one of the best performances of the night.
It's that consistent quality and effort that makes him so valuable to the WWE, and when you look through his ‘Mania history there aren't too many stains on his record.
However, two of his bouts that did not make the top 10 are his bouts against The Miz at WrestleMania 27 and Triple H at WrestleMania 22. Both contests felt slow and rather lethargic, while also not really being able to reach that next level. They were solid enough, but not for the main event of the biggest show of the year.
With that being said, the next 10 choices are much more suited to an event on the scale of WrestleMania so let's run them down.
#10 Edge & Big Show (WrestleMania 25)
As far as WrestleMania classics go, this wasn't one of them. John Cena inserted himself into the feud between Edge and Big Show heading into WM25 and in all honesty, it felt like a bit of a joke in comparison to some of the other big matches on the card.
With three Superstars as big as this, things should have felt a lot more important than they did that night in Houston.
However, it was a decent enough triple threat match, all things considered. Cena was able to lift both men up high for the Attitude Adjustment, allowing him to come full circle from five years prior when he first lifted up the Big Show for his famous finishing move.
In some ways it was poetic, but much like with Randy Orton it feels like Edge vs. John Cena was big enough to be a singles match on its own.
Nobody can take away the fact that Show was involved in a big World Title match at one of the most hyped Manias in history, but it didn't really deliver in the way many people were hoping. In some ways, it's a shame but if you're a casual fan, it's a decent enough match to enjoy with some interesting moments here and there.
Onto a bout that was the dawn of a new era.
#9 JBL (WrestleMania 21)
When you think about a match purely in terms of in-ring quality, you aren't taking in the art of wrestling properly. The story behind a big title match or a pay-per-view showdown makes things feel all the more epic, and the build up to the bout between John Cena and JBL certainly managed that.
John Bradshaw Layfield had held the WWE Title for a long time leading into the event in Los Angeles, with the story being that he didn't think Cena was worthy of being WWE Champion. Unfortunately for him, the company had other ideas, with this being the start of Big Match John's rise to the top of the sports entertainment industry.
The match itself was nothing to shout about and that's to be expected, given that Cena wasn't at that top level yet, while JBL wasn't the greatest in-ring performer in the world. Still, they accomplished a goal that night at the Staples Center and that's all that really matters in the grand scheme of the event.
Let's rewind twelve months where Cena began to rise as a star.
#8 Big Show (WrestleMania 20)
Another entry involving the Big Show here and one that was much more beneficial to the development of John Cena. Now at this point everyone was expecting the big spot where Cena lifts up Show for the Attitude Adjustment, but when it happened that didn't make it any less special.
In fact, the whole match had that ‘he's arrived’ feel to it, which could only have been a good thing for Mr Hustle Loyalty Respect. It was the classic tale of David vs. Goliath and both men played their parts brilliantly, which once again represents how the in-ring product pales in comparison to the overall storytelling.
Big Show is a master at putting people over and has done so many times over the years, with this being one of his biggest examples. For something like this to happen at such a historic event, you knew that WWE had some massive plans for Cena moving forward.
With that being said, eleven years on Cena was still having great matches like this next entry.
#7 Rusev (WrestleMania 31)
America vs the World. The dastardly heel holding the United States Championship captive while John Cena desperately attempts to reclaim the belt for the pride of the nation. This was a truly compelling story and when you think about it, the booking played out about as perfectly as you could've expected.
The match itself was never going to be a masterpiece as this was Rusev's first WrestleMania. However, it felt like a huge moment to see the Bulgarian Brute eat a pinfall, and seeing Cena holding a mid card title once again felt fresher than anything he'd done in years.
The match quality brings this one down a little bit, but that isn't to say this wasn't an important step forward for both men. Cena proved that he was moving down the card from the main event and Rusev showed that he can hang with the big boys when it came to performing on the biggest stage of the year.
Talking of big boys, here are three of the biggest Superstars in the history of the business.
#6 Triple H & Randy Orton (WrestleMania 24)
Triple threat matches for the world title at WrestleMania were unheard of before 2004, but now they appear to be a staple of the event with a number of them taking place in the last decade.
One of the biggest examples of this, based on name value alone, would be when Randy Orton defended his WWE Championship against both Triple H and John Cena in Orlando.
Going into this bout it seemed like Orton had absolutely no chance of retaining the strap, but looking back on the match now it was a pretty impressive moment, considering that everyone was calling it a predictable title match. In terms of the in-ring quality, the bout was decent enough with the promo for the contest being one of the biggest highlights of all.
Having such established guys battle it out over the most prestigious title in the company isn't exactly a bad idea, but the fact they'd been going at it back and forth for months took away from this one slightly. It's still solid, but in comparison to the top five on this list, it just lacks that certain spark.
Speaking of which, up next is one of Cena's most personal Mania feuds ever.
#5 Bray Wyatt (WrestleMania 30)
The Eater of Worlds Bray Wyatt has consistently been one of the most fascinating characters on WWE television since his main roster debut in 2013. The guy just ‘gets it’ when it comes to wrestling psychology, and his in-ring talent is of a high enough standard to back it up too.
It's all these elements that combined to make for a pretty damn enticing story heading into WrestleMania 30 against John Cena.
It was kind of an extension of the Embrace The Hate stuff Cena did with Kane in early 2012, but it was on a much bigger stage and the opponent felt really fresh. Wyatt was clearly one of the rising stars in the WWE and fans were uncertain as to whether Cena was going to be able to topple him in New Orleans.
It turns out he did, and whilst the match itself was very gripping, its end left fans feeling a little bit flat. It felt as if the wind had been taken out of everyone in the Superdome because nobody could really fathom why Cena walked away with the victory.
Let's rewind to New Jersey where a rematch of massive proportions took place.
#4 The Rock II (WrestleMania 29)
‘Once in a Lifetime’ turned into ‘Twice in a Lifetime’ when John Cena and The Rock squared off for the WWE Championship. Not a lot of people were interested in seeing these two face off one more time, but that didn't mean the contest wasn't going to be epic. In the end, it fell short of the first encounter but that doesn't mean it wasn't special.
Rock and Cena traded finishers for a long time towards the end of this match, making it feel like the Rock could actually pull off the upset and defeat Cena for the second year in a row. Alas, Big Match John came out victorious and lifted the title high once again.
In terms of the scale of the encounter mixed in with the hype, it definitely isn't as good as their first match up. However, you simply can't deny that this was one for the ages once again, as the two men's two-year storybook feud was set to culminate on the biggest stage of them all. You can't write things much better than that.
Onto a match that saw two men who experienced a similar rise in the WWE.
#3 Batista (WrestleMania 26)
Batista's heel turn back in 2010 was well received by many, as fans felt it was time for something fresh when it came to The Animal's persona. He went after John Cena heading into WrestleMania 26 and, as many people anticipated, the two went head to head for the WWE Championship at the event in Phoenix.
To say it was a success would be an understatement. When you pick apart the logistics of this bout, it's two of the biggest stars since the Attitude Era facing off at the biggest show of the year. It would've been really difficult for this to be anything other than great, which is what it ended up being.
You can moan about Batista not winning or Cena getting yet another world title reign, but it doesn't matter. The story was that he couldn't beat Big Dave and he proved everyone wrong on the one night that you'd expect babyfaces to reign supreme. Everything about this worked and the in-ring quality is what sees it fall a little bit short.
However, for this next entry, the wrestling itself was nothing short of brilliant.
#2 Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania 23)
Tag team partner vs. tag team partner. Mr WrestleMania vs. the new face of the company. Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena. This match pretty much wrote itself and you just knew from the second the bell sounded that this was going to be a good one.
Cena and Michaels put on a truly thrilling display in front of 80,000 fans in Detroit, and while it may not have been their greatest encounter ever, it certainly lived up to the hype that preceded it.
Michaels was continuing to defy all the odds and put on world-class matches, meanwhile, Cena was as good as he'd ever been, as he continued to grow into a consistently good performer.
It's not quite Cena's finest hour at the granddaddy of them all, but it certainly comes close. This was the moment Cena felt like he really had arrived and it looks even better when comparing it to the Champ's match the year before, against HBK's best friend Triple H. Either way, you need to give this a watch.
Now onto the one you've all been waiting for, and it's not surprising to see it top the list.
#1 The Rock (WrestleMania 28)
The dream match that nobody thought we'd ever see. Two icons of the business squaring off in Rock's hometown with a year long build; does it get much better than that? Whilst this certainly isn't Cena's finest hour in the ring, the sheer importance and hype behind this match, takes it up to levels that we haven't seen years.
Every single punch or arm drag was met with a thunderous reception by the crowd, and as the bout went on people slowly started to believe The Rock could upset the odds and topple John Cena. Then, when it actually happened, nobody could quite believe it.
With Rock being part time and Cena still appearing week in and week out, nobody realistically expected Rock to walk away as the victor.
Alas he did, and it carried on this feud for yet another year. Thankfully, the first match was so good that we tend to remember that above the WM29 encounter. Regardless, this felt like a match worthy of main eventing WrestleMania.
There are so many factors that you have to consider when booking a match of this magnitude, and the end product was about as perfect as any fan could have hoped for it to be.
Send us news tips at [email protected]
