10 memorable feuds involving John Cena

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When Two Icons Meet

The face who runs the placeIt’s no small feat being the face who runs the place. Cena’s been at the pinnacle of sports entertainment for the past 10 years. His rise began in 2004, just two years after making his memorable debut against Kurt Angle where he screamed the words ‘Ruthless Aggression’ in all its fervour. Chants like ‘You can’t wrestle’ have been thrown at him on numerous occasions. Yet, over the past 5 years or so, he’s been having some of the greatest matches ever. His latest US Championship reign has been one of the greatest reigns precisely because of the number of good matches it’s been producing.But the guy, mostly, has had so many memorable feuds during his ongoing reign as the biggest draw in the company.Here are 10 of them-

#10 The Rock

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When Two Icons Meet

These two main evented two Wrestlemanias together but the first match was way better and more exciting than the second. The Rock cam back after years to host Wrestlemania 27 and took a dig at Cena in his first Raw promo in years. Thus began a slow build up towards Wrestlemania 28 during which The Rock wasn’t in his A Game but it was still pretty darn good, The verbal exchanges saw Cena give some of his best performances so far.

Even though they were good together, nobody wants to see a Thrice in a lifetime.

#9 JBL

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The rise to superstardom

There is no way you can begin talking about Cena’s legacy and not mention John Bradshaw Layfield. Cena’s catapult to fame began with this very feud where he met the then WWE Champion JBL in Smackdown.

The reason why this is an important feud is because JBL was such a great heel and he made Cena look great as a babyface. Cena won his first title beating him at Wrestlemania. They also had one of the bloodiest fights ever at Judgement Day.

Maybe that explains why despite being a heel commentator JBL has immense respect for the guy.

#8 Shawn Michaels

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Classic!

Albeit brief, this still remains one of Cena’s better feuds. They even won the tag titles together. But mostly, this feud may be remembered as one of the few times early in Cena’s career that Cena was involved in good wrestling matches. Cena’s gained a fast and growing reputation of being an average to below average wrestler from the hardcore fanbase. But his feud with Michaels proved that this guy could hang around with the legends in the ring.

This rivalry signalled Cea’s move to Raw and later becoming the face of the brand and the company.

#7 Rusev

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The face and the Brute

Cena is the first man to defeat Rusev by pinfall. Rusev is also the first man to render Cena unconcious with his submission move call The Accolade.

Rusev is a tremendous performer. He understands in ring psycholgy and plays his character really, really well. Even this embarassing storyline involving him and Lana and Ziggler and Summer Rae has one silver lining and that is his acting.

Cena and Rusev had a really good feud which did not drag itself along.

There is still room for both of them to extend that rivalry.

#6 Cesaro

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Two Supermen

They can never have a bad match. Even if they are not embroiled in a storyline, their match will still be million times entertaining. Cesaro may be your favorite wrestler’s favorite wrestler. He is a man with tremendous strength and the most innovative moves (just watch this week’s Smackdown and see him counter Seth Rollins’ with a sharpshooter)

Cena and Cesaro have one of the greatest in- ring chemistry in the world of professional wrestling. The matches between these two only keep getting better and better. SuperCena vs the Swiss Superman has always been a dependable draw.

#5 Kevin Owens

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Owens fights Cena

Owens made his NXT debut in December 2014 and instantly catapulted himself into the main event picture with one of the best storylines of the past one year. He turned heel after attacking his best friend Sami Zayn and won the NXT Championship in his first Championship match. He instantly became the MVP in NXT. He made an unprecedented appearance on Raw during an Open Challenge put out by US Champion Cena. And instead of competing he gave the main roster audience an indirect introduction to who he was before signing off by giving Cena a Pop Up Powerbomb.

The moment was succeeded by a series of well-booked segments. And to top it all, Owens won his first match in a WWE PPV. He beat Cena clean. A heel beat the biggest face of the company clean.

Two consecutive matches in two consecutive PPV’s followed. Both of which were spectacular. Owens lost both. Rumor has it that Cena merchandise took a big hit after his loss, hence Owens was booked to lose.

#4 Brock Lesnar

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Beast for Business

Many, many years ago the Chain gang leader, Word Life thug John Cena faced Brock Lesnar and lost nearly all their matches. Lesnar was a bigger star then.

8 years later Lesnar returns and faces Cena at Extreme Rules, dominating Cena in every single way. Cena obviously made a comeback and won. Lesnar lost his first match since returning a few weeks prior.

But that wasn’t the last of the feud.

Lesnar faced Cena again at Summerslam 2014 and to the shock and delight of hardcore fans everywhere, he squashed Cena in a Championship match. A never before and never again seen moment took place and since then Cena has no idea how to conquer the Beast Incarnate. Cena was the first visitor to Suplex City.

The story came full circle. And it’s 2003 all over again.

#3 Daniel Bryan

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The Yes Movement meets the Cena juggernaut

You don’t become a WWE Champion without going through John Cena. That’s the norm for the past 10 years. If you’re going to be anywhere near the main event picture, you will, most definitely cross paths with the face who runs the place.

Daniel Bryan is one of the few guys who has beaten Cena clean, without any interference or cheating. The Yes Movement did enough to bring Bryan to the main event picture and the momentum escalated when he came face to face with the then WWE World Heavyweight Champion Cena. The running knee got Bryan his first major championship win in front of a raucous Summerslam crowd.

Bryan began the feud emphasizing that he’s a better wrestler than Cena, getting into the champions head. Many exchanges and a few slaps later, Summerslam arrived and so did Bryan’s stature as a main event star.

This was a short feud but a memorable one at that.

#2 Edge

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Cenation vs The Rated R Superstar

It was the years 2006. The Pay Per View was called ‘New Years Revolution’. Cena won a bloody Elimination Chamber match only too hear Vince McMahon’s music playing and the Chairman announcing that the first ever Money In The Bank cash in is about to take place. Edge walked out and delivered the most defining cash-in in the history of cash- ins and won his first WWE Championship.

Thus began this feud which produced some memorable moments- some of them primarily being Edge being tossed into the Long Island Sound or when Edge speared Cena to the delight of the rabid ECW crowd.

This was a rivalry that settled once and for all the legend that is the Rated R Superstar.

#1 CM Punk

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CM Punk Vs John Cena should have main evented atleast one Wrestlemania

CM Punk Vs John Cena has been the most defining feud during the PG Era in the WWE. No feud has been as impactful and consistently entertaining as this one. Whenever they crossed paths for a match, it’s been nothing less than what is supremely expected of them. The saga began with their Money In The Bank feud which was immensely boosted by THAT CM Punk promo. Since then it was the anti- establishment Punk vs the company man Cena. It was all sealed with a flying kiss from Punk to Vince McMahon when the newly crowned champion took his championship through his homecrowd of Chicago in glorious fashion.

Cena won their last match together after 6 unsuccessful previous attempts. It was controversial for its own reason with Punk using the Piledriver during the ending moments.

But this feud unknowingly ended before it had reached its saturation point after Punk left the company in 2014. They could have main evented Wrestlemania together. This feud is legendary because of what has been and what could have been.