The early years of John Cena saw him breaking out in WWE with the gimmick of a rapper. Cena’s genuine passion for hip hop would give him that gimmick on television as part of the Smackdown brand. Fans fell in love with Cena’s hilarious and often savage freestyle raps running down his opponents each week.
WWE would book a few rap battle segments where Cena went one on one with other wrestlers, with both parties trying to win. We will look at all the instances of Cena having to battle in the ring against others. Read on to find out just how things played out each time Cena got into a match of music. These are the John Cena rap battle segments ranked from worst to best.
10 Rikishi
One of the forgotten Smackdown battle rap segments featured John Cena going at it with Rikishi. Cena cut a typical, entertaining promo in a freestyle rap dissing Rikishi for his size, dance moves, and the outfit he wore in the ring.
Rikishi struggled to match Cena even though he was the fan-favorite. The slower-paced speech pattern of Rikishi saw him essentially just recite a promo in poetry form. Rikishi did eventually win over the audience as a likable personality dissing the heel in a lackluster battle.
9 Elias
Even though Elias did not technically rap, he delivered a musical number at WrestleMania 35 before John Cena made his return with the rap gimmick. Fans reacted with huge cheers at the surprise appearance of Cena sporting his old look.
Cena ripped apart Elias with brutal rap lines mocking the heel as the audience ate up every single line. Elias played his role making Cena look great, but it wasn’t much of a battle. Cena absolutely destroyed Elias in the way fans would have wanted heading into the show.
8 "Jay-Z and Fabolous"
WrestleMania 19 featured the first appearance of John Cena on the event during the Sunday Night Heat pre-show of the event. Cena claimed he was going to have a freestyle rap battle with hip hop icon Jay-Z and rising star Fabolous.
Neither rapper appeared, and Cena instead did his freestyle rap against cardboard cutouts of both men. The segment was a bit awkward seeing Cena talk to carboard cutouts as if they were real people. Cena’s rapping did provide entertainment, but the segment itself was strange.
7 Kenzo Suzuki
WWE tried to find comedy with the freestyle rap battle between John Cena and Kenzo Suzuki at Smackdown. Suzuki was playing an anti-American heel character getting into a feud with Cena over the United States Championship.
The rap battle featured Suzuki insulting Cena while struggling to deliver his lines in English as he was still learning the language. Cena went harder, throwing daggers at Suzuki and his manager Hiroko. It wasn’t a great segment, but the Cena charm made it fun.
6 Fans
WWE had a few segments of John Cena getting into battle raps with fans at the events. One specific incident featured Cena walking into the arena before a show. A fan insulted him in freestyle rap form enough to get Cena’s attention.
Cena responded to the fan with a longer freestyle rap ripping him apart. The fan was planted there by WWE as the segment was clearly scripted, but it still added a fun dynamic to the show. Cena showed that he could rap with the best of them at any given time.
5 Brian Kendrick
A smaller feud for John Cena in the lower card of Smackdown saw him going at it with Brian Kendrick. The two would have a highly entertaining segment in a battle rap segment. Referee Brian Hebner even added to the segment with his beatboxing.
Cena cut an entertaining freestyle, as usual, dissing Kendrick in comical form. However, fans would support Kendrick during his version of a rap. The execution wouldn’t win over any diehard hip hop lovers, but Kendrick was humorous in his delivery to make it great television.
4 The Rock
The Rock never actually rapped with John Cena, but they went back and forth with musical insults. Both men were trying to sell the personal nature of the feud heading into the WrestleMania main event. Cena opened with an old school freestyle rap mocking Rock.
The response of Rock featured him going old school as well with one of his concerts. Rock made a few personal insults towards Cena and his fan base. The segments played a huge role in the appeal of the match. It only would have been better if they went face to face with their respective performances.
3 Christian
The rise of Christian in 2005 featured him having highly entertaining promos. Christian started insulting some of the main eventers in the form of freestyle raps. John Cena was the main target of Captain Charisma’s antics.
The two even had a mini-rap battle ahead of the Royal Rumble 2005 match. Christian started the war with a lackluster rap before Cena struck back. The raps of Christian improved ahead of the draft, where he entertainingly mocked Cena.
2 Big Show
Big Show has always shown that he will do whatever it takes to entertain the audience. Despite being a big man and credible athlete, Big Show seemed to excel most in comedic segments. That made him the perfect opponent for John Cena in a freestyle rap battle on Smackdown.
The outfit of Big Show featured him mocking Cena while delivering a silly yet entertaining rap. Cena responded with lines that were far more savage to win the battle. WWE would see Cena benefit immensely moving up the card thanks to his feud with Big Show.
1 Kurt Angle
The most entertaining rap battle of John Cena's career was when he faced off with Kurt Angle on Smackdown. Cena played the heel as Angle was trying to make a fool out of him. The freestyle of Cena was great as usual, but Angle took it to another level.
Despite not having the hip hop touch, Angle had the comedic timing to make his rap a great response. Fans loved it as Angle received a significantly bigger pop. Angle was arguably the best wrestler in the world, but he proved he was outstanding in every aspect of the game, including comedy.