The polarizing run of John Cena featured him having to deal with hostile crowds more than any other superstar in WWE history. Cena was pushed as the face of the company when he was generally loved by the audience at the end of his rapping gimmick. The character shift to a more traditional face led to many fans turning on him.
WWE would eventually have to lean into the polarizing nature of many fans booing Cena or heckling his matches with loud chants. The infamous sounds of “let’s go Cena/Cena sucks” from the crowd became a backdrop for his matches. Find out which shows specifically featured fans going wild with sharing their emotions. The following crowds were the most hostile to Cena in WWE.
10 WrestleMania 28 (Vs The Rock)
The rivalry between John Cena and The Rock would see their first big match come at WrestleMania 28. WWE set the match a year in advance to add hype to the build with the location of the event coming in Rock’s home of Miami, Florida.
Cena received a lot of hate from the fans during his entrance and throughout the match. Most shows in Florida would see Cena get booed anyway, but the love for Rock made it worse. Even rapper MGK was booed when performing on behalf of Cena before his entrance.
9 SummerSlam 2005 (Vs Chris Jericho)
The first major instance of the crowd turning against John Cena came at SummerSlam 2005 against Chris Jericho. Cena had moved to Raw from Smackdown in the draft as WWE wanted him on the bigger show to become the face of the company.
Jericho was a favorite of the diehard fans and many cheered for him over Cena. The reaction surprised WWE as the love for Jericho turned into hate towards Cena. Future crowds would start to mimic to jeers against Cena to start the turn.
8 New Year's Revolution 2006 (Vs Edge)
2006 was the year when fans made it clear the boos against John Cena were only growing and would never slow down. Cena received lots of jeers in his New Year’s Revolution 2006 match in the Elimination Chamber against five top contenders.
The fans were livid when Cena retained the title, but the huge shock of Edge cashing in Money in the Bank led to happiness. No one knew how the MITB cash-in would work until Edge took advantage of a weakened Cena much to the delight of the audience.
7 SummerSlam 2015 (Vs Seth Rollins)
WWE fans in New York were often the loudest against John Cena during his time as the top star. SummerSlam 2015 was the first of four consecutive SummerSlam events in Brooklyn. The attraction of Cena vs Seth Rollins would see the United States Championship and WWE Championship on the line.
Cena had his first realistic chance at tying Ric Flair’s record and the fans were extra invested that night. Jon Stewart interfering led to a huge pop as fans were just excited to see Cena lose. Rollins scored one of the biggest wins of his career thanks partially to the crowd atmosphere that night.
6 SummerSlam 2016 (Vs AJ Styles)
Another SummerSlam in Brooklyn would see AJ Styles as the dream match opponent of John Cena in 2016. The signing of Styles was a huge move that made fans support him more than ever when he turned heel on Cena in the summer.
This was their biggest match at the time with most expecting Cena to win since Styles won their first match via cheating. However, the crowd would be ecstatic when Styles won the outstanding match cleanly following Cena getting booed the entire time. There was a rare post-match moment of respect when Cena left his armband in the ring implying he’d be gone for a while.
5 WrestleMania 22 (Vs Triple H)
Chicago fans greeted John Cena with louder boos than he’d ever received heading into WrestleMania 22 weekend. The main event on the biggest show of the year would place Cena against WWE’s top heel Triple H for the WWE Championship.
WWE was forced to address the crowd reaction with Jim Ross claiming fans booed Cena and cheered Triple H due to being “wrestling traditionalists.” The crowd hatred for Cena helped the match grow from a solid bout to a memorable WM main event.
4 2006 Hall Of Fame (Inducting William Perry)
John Cena was selected to induct NFL legend William “The Refrigerator” Perry into the 2006 Hall of Fame class. WWE expected it to be a fun thing to have their biggest star vouch for the legend and be a part of the festivities.
The Chicago fans made their voices clear the night before WrestleMania 22 with intense boos and negative chants at Cena. It was worse than the show itself and prepared WWE to address how the crowd would react in Cena vs Triple H’s main event.
3 Unforgiven 2006 (Vs Edge)
The rivalry between John Cena and Edge became one of the biggest successes of John Cena’s career. Fans continued to heckle Cena against the heel, but he delivered some of the best matches and promos against Edge.
Their feud culminated at Unforgiven 2006 with Edge having the home advantage in Toronto, Canada. WWE booked a TLC match as Edge wanted all the odds stacked in his favor. Cena winning was huge here as it proved WWE welcomed the hostile environment and wanted to play into it.
2 Money In The Bank 2011 (Vs CM Punk)
WWE found lightning in a bottle during the Summer of Punk in 2011. CM Punk’s contract coming to an end was used in storyline when he received a WWE Championship match against John Cena. The worked shoot promos of Punk calling out Vince McMahon made him the hottest act in wrestling.
Money in the Bank 2011 was the perfect stage for Punk to challenge Cena in his hometown of Chicago. The fans treated it like a sports game with every Punk move cheered with love and every Cena move booed intensely. Cena put over Punk to the delight of the fans in an all-time great match.
1 ECW One Night Stand 2006 (Vs Rob Van Dam)
The return of ECW as a third brand under WWE would see Rob Van Dam having the biggest night of his career winning the WWE Championship. Van Dam used his Money in the Bank contract to challenge John Cena at ECW’s One Night Stand 2006 event in the Hammerstein Ballroom.
The fans heckled Cena from start to finish with swear-filled chants, throwing his shirt back into the ring, and even throwing toilet paper at him. Cena earned a lot of respect that night taking their heat and using it to create a memorable moment when many in his position would have refused.