John Cena’s 20 Greatest WWE Matches Named & Ranked By AI

John Cena is currently in the final stages of his WWE farewell tour. The 17-time world champion will officially hang up his boots on the 13th December, bringing the curtain down on one of the most legendary careers in company history.

Since winning his first world title at WrestleMania 21 in 2005, Cena has remained one of WWE’s most popular attractions. His popularity over the years was always based more on his attitude and charisma than his in-ring ability. However, over the last 23 years, Cena has had more than his fair share of classic matches with some of the biggest names in WWE history.

His ongoing retirement tour has not only been about him getting a chance to say goodbye to the fans, but also an opportunity for him to revisit old rivalries one last time. Unfortunately for Cena, his year-long swansong was never going to provide him with enough time to share the ring with everyone that he wished to. During a recent promo on SmackDown, he named five WWE Superstars who he was devastated to be missing out on a final match with.

He now has just a handful of opportunities left to add to his catalogue of legendary bouts, so with that in mind, we asked ChatGPT to name the 20 greatest matches of Cena’s career. The technology did not disappoint, coming up with a full slate of absolute gems. Check them out below.

10

Brock Lesnar

Extreme Rules 2012

Lesnar’s first WWE bout in eight years following his return from the UFC felt more like a fight than a professional wrestling match. Cena was bleeding within minutes, setting the tone for a brutal contest where John shone as the plucky babyface who fought through everything that Brock threw at him and secured the win. Lesnar may have lost the bout, but the sheer drama of the ultra-realistic MMA-inspired match ensured that both men looked like stars in the main event showdown.

9

Rob Van Dam

ECW One Night Stand 2006

New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom played host to one of the most intense atmospheres in WWE history as Cena and Van Dam headlined the second (and final) ECW One Night Stand reunion show. Entering as the defending WWE Champion, Cena was despised by the ECW faithful. Fans even threw John’s shirt back on multiple occasions as he attempted to toss it into the crowd. The intimate venue helped the match become even more memorable as the two men battled it out in an extreme brawl. The crowd pop when RVD finally pinned Cena with a Five Star Frog Splash was simply monstrous.

8

CM Punk

Raw, 25th February 2013

One of only three television matches to make the top 20, Cena and Punk met on Raw in early 2013 to determine who would challenge The Rock for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 29. The clash was one of the best matches in the history of the long-running show. Cena and Punk would have many encounters both before and after this match, but their Raw classic is among their most-fondly remembered duels. A truly unpredictable contest, both men pulled out moves that fans weren’t used to seeing from them. Punk performed the usually-banned piledriver, while John shocked the audience by nailing a top rope hurricanrana. After almost 26 minutes of action, Cena booked his ticket to WrestleMania by pinning Punk after hitting an AA.

7

Edge

Unforgiven 2006 (TLC Match)

Cena entered hostile territory as he took on hometown favourite Edge in Toronto, Canada. On the face of it, the odds were stacked against John as he challenged the ‘Rated R Superstar’ for the WWE Championship as the contest was a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match – a specialty of Edge. The epic battle saw plenty of use made of weapons as both men played their roles perfectly. Edge was willing to take any shortcut he could to retain the gold, while Cena relied on pure grit. The memorable finish saw John hit an ‘FU’ (now known the AA) through two tables from the top of a ladder before collecting the gold.

6

AJ Styles

Summerslam 2016

Cena mentioned Styles as one of the opponents that he wished he could have had the opportunity to face again during his farewell tour – and it’s easy to understand why. The duo had outstanding chemistry in the ring, as shown in this 23-minute gem from Barclays Center in New York. For years, Styles had been one of the top stars on the independent circuit and in TNA Wrestling, while Cena was the standard-bearer in WWE. When they finally met, the crowd was torn on who to cheer for, but both men delivered once the bell rang. Styles earned the biggest win of his career after pinning the WWE poster boy. Cena did all he could to amplify the impact of the victory, even leaving his Never Give Up armband in the ring after the match to symbolise the passing of the torch.

5

Umaga

Royal Rumble 2007 (Last Man Standing)

Cena spent much of 2006 tangling with the likes of Triple H and Edge over the WWE Championship. His Last Man Standing match at the 2007 Royal Rumble, though, posed a different challenge. ‘The Samoan Bulldozer’ was monstrous heel, who had yet to suffer a decisive defeat at the time of the bout. That Cena was the much smaller man caused a dynamic rarely seen in his matches and helped give the contest a truly unique feel. Both men had opportunities to win the match, but Cena ultimately triumphed after he trapped Umaga in the STFU using the ring rope, choking him out and leaving him unable to answer the referee’s 10 count. The clash is widely considered to be the best of the late Samoan’s career.

4

Brock Lesnar & Seth Rollins

Royal Rumble 2015 (Triple Threat)

The sole non-singles match to make the top 20, Cena’s Triple Threat match with Rollins and Lesnar in early 2015 was absolutely thrilling. Defending WWE Champion Lesnar brought raw power, while Rollins offered speed and athleticism. Cena anchored the match as a plucky babyface. For nearly 23 minutes, the crowd were entertained by various twists and turns, including Lesnar being stretchered out of the arena at one point. ‘The Beast’ would return, though, eventually pinning Rollins with an F5 to cap off one of the best Triple Threat matches in WWE history.

3

AJ Styles

Royal Rumble 2017

A rematch of their epic encounter at SummerSlam 2016 mentioned above, Cena and Styles built on the success of that contest with this much-loved classic. By this point, Styles had graduated from being a promising contender to holding the WWE Championship. The pair took the Orlando crowd on a rollercoaster ride, exchanging finishers and near-falls during a gripping near-25-minute showdown – and they managed it all without ever leaving the ring. Cena took the victory after hitting Styles with two AAs. The win was especially significant as it saw John win his 16th world title, tying the tally of legendary WWE Hall of Famer, Ric Flair.

2

Shawn Michaels

Raw, 23rd April 2017

While Cena has been a fixture of the WWE main event scene for more than two decades, his best performance from a pure in-ring standard came in this non-title masterclass with HBK in London. The two men put on an exhilarating contest, which at 56 minutes, ranks as one the longest matches in Raw history. Michaels played his role as the crafty veteran to perfection, but John more than held up his end of the bargain as the British crowd lapped up the action, with the pair exchanging near-falls, counters and finishers. Shawn ultimately won the match, falling on Cena after hitting Sweet Chin Music.

1

CM Punk

Money in the Bank 2011

Cena has plenty of experience during his career of competing in hostile territory. His matches with Rob Van Dam and Edge mentioned earlier in these rankings are just two examples of him being forced to play that role. However, his match with CM Punk in Chcago at Money in the Bank 2011 took that dynamic to a whole new level. Cena defended the WWE Championship against the ‘Second City Saint’ at the Allstate Arena, with Punk vowing to leave the company with the title if he won it. The match perfectly blended storyline, in-ring brilliance and real-life emotion to produce one of the most memorable matches in both Cena’s career and WWE history. Punk did win the belt, but his ‘departure’ from the promotion lasted only a few weeks as the company failed to cash-in fully on the success of the match and angle.