WWE: After 14 years, John Cena finally achieves massive accolade

WWE Superstar John Cena has achieved another monumental milestone during his retirement tour. The Champ is set to bid goodbye to in-ring competition at the end of this year. With only a few months left in his farewell, he has received major recognition.

Ahead of SummerSlam, Cena officially ended his heel run, returning to his well-known babyface character. He put his WWE Championship on the line against Cody Rhodes in a Street Fight at the MetLife Stadium. The two popular stars put on a match for the ages, with a display of emotional storytelling and some thrilling in-ring action.

Fans saw one of the last stands of Super Cena, as he managed to kick out of a triple Cross Rhodes at one point. The back-and-forth action also saw The American Nightmare kick out at two after receiving an avalanche Attitude Adjustment from the top rope.

The instant classic ended when Rhodes dropped Cena with a Cody Cutter from the top rope through a table and then hit a Cross Rhodes to become the new champion. The match had everyone talking, and Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Dave Meltzer didn't hold back in his praise either.

Meltzer gave the match a five-star rating. This is John Cena's first five-star match in 14 years. The last time Meltzer rated a Cena match this high was in 2011, when he faced CM Punk at the Money in the Bank PLE in Chicago for the WWE Championship.

John Cena is a 17-time WWE World Champion. [Image credits: WWE.com]

Meltzer also labelled it as a "true classic match." In the past, Cena has come close to achieving his second five-star match from Meltzer but fell agonizingly short.

At the 2015 Royal Rumble, he wrestled Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins in a highly acclaimed triple-threat match. The contest saw all three stars deliver a stellar performance and earn a 4.75 rating from Meltzer.

In 2017, at the same PLE, John Cena faced AJ Styles in pursuit of a historic 16th WWE World Title. The two stars put on an all-time classic, and Cena ended with a rating of 4.75 again.

John Cena shared his take on Dave Meltzer's ratings

For many fans and even wrestlers, getting a high rating from Dave Meltzer means a lot. Meltzer is a respected name in the industry and has been a known critic of pro wrestling matches and his rating system.

Last year, during an interview on 92NY, Cena was asked about his 4.75-star rated match against AJ Styles and whether he would get back in the ring to achieve a perfect five-star rating.

"I am much more concerned when I perform for WWE, in how the audience as a whole feels about my performance rather than one individual trying to grade me in a level of stars. Not that it doesn’t matter, because that is a great way for those to try to get equity and try to get noticed. It’s a great ranking system and I really do appreciate it. I’m not knocking critics. I’m just saying my process is to make sure that everybody who paid a ticket had a good night,” he answered. [From 0:15 onwards]

Well, John Cena did end up getting that five-star rated match finally at SummerSlam. Fans will expect more of the same in the rest of his retirement tour.

If you use quotes from the second half of the article, please credit 92NY's YouTube channel and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.

About the author

Sherjeel Malik is a writer at Sportskeeda and covers pro wrestling. He was hooked on the product from the moment he saw The Hardy Boyz jumping off ladders during the Attitude Era. While he comes from an engineering background, Sherjeel’s love for pro wrestling and content writing led him to pursue a career in sports journalism. Before assuming his current role at Sportskeeda, Sherjeel worked at other reputable organizations for five years.

While writing articles, he ensures that he only relies on credible sources for information and covers relevant subjects that do not project an agenda against a particular person or association. WWE legend Paul Heyman once shared Sherjeel’s work on his social media handle.

Sherjeel’s earliest memory of pro wrestling is watching Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker square off for the WWE Title in the main event of a pay-per-view in 1998. His favorite wrestlers are Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy. While he admires Orton for his character work as a heel, he looks up to Jeff because of his unique wrestling style and risk-taking ability.

If he could go back to the Attitude Era, Sherjeel would like to manage Ken Shamrock and be his mouthpiece. He feels Shamrock’s promo skills prevented him from becoming a main event-level act in WWE. Hence, he would like to help the UFC Hall of Famer get over with fans.

When not writing about pro wrestling, he likes to read classics and fiction books.

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Edited by Gurjyot Singh Dadial