John Cena is one of the greatest superstars of all time. However, sometimes his ego can get in the way at the expense of other wrestlers. Big Match John is a 16-time world champion and has been featured in many of the best feuds of all time. The likes of Edge and Randy Orton have benefitted in lengthy feuds with Cena, which has elevated them to main event level status.
Unfortunately, Cena has come out on the winning side of feuds which he did not need to win. Cena's reputation would not be tarnished in any way, shape, or form if he did the job to elevate these talents. Many careers were never the same after they were beaten by Cena.
10 Wade Barrett
In 2010, Wade Barrett won the first season of NXT with Chris Jericho as his mentor. Things were looking up for Barrett as he was the leader of The Nexus which featured his fellow NXT participants in this stable. Jericho and Edge believed that The Nexus should have beaten their team at SummerSlam in a 7-on-7 match but Cena had other ideas.
Big Match John vetoed that decision and Nexus was never the same after that loss. Barrett managed to defeat Cena at Hell in a Cell, which ultimately saw Cena join The Nexus. It was pointless as Barrett got his comeuppance in a Chairs match at TLC. Barrett would have benefitted from going over in this feud, as he should have won the WWE Championship that year but it never materialized.
9 Bobby Lashley
Bobby Lashley rode a wave of momentum in 2007. Lashley represented Donald Trump at WrestleMania 23 in the Battle of Billionaires and defeated Umaga, who was Vince McMahon's representative, which led to McMahon's hair getting shaved bald.
Furthermore, Lashley is a two-time ECW Champion, and when he got drafted to Raw in the summer, he was destined for big things. Lashley clashed with John Cena over the WWE Championship at The Great American Bash. It was actually one of Cena's best matches with Big Match John retaining but it was a perfect time for Lashley to win the gold.
8 Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho was the undisputed superstar of the year in 2008. Y2J had an outstanding feud with Shawn Michaels, and Jericho had two reigns as World Heavyweight Champion. However, at Survivor Series, Y2J lost the World Heavyweight Championship to John Cena, who was returning from a three-month absence in his hometown of Boston.
There is no doubt that Big Match John deserved to win the title at Survivor Series but he should have dropped it back to Jericho in their rematch at Armageddon. Jericho's rich vein of form was too good to ignore, and beating Cena in their return match would have been a big deal for Jericho.
7 Batista
Batista's heel turn in late 2009 was certainly needed. The Animal was selected by Vince McMahon to battle John Cena for the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber 2010. Cena had just won the title in a grueling Elimination Chamber match.
The Animal took advantage and emphatically clinched his second WWE Championship which led to a blockbuster match at WrestleMania XXVI. Cena regained the title and retained the championship in subsequent Last Man Standing and "I Quit" bouts at Extreme Rules and Over The Limit. Unfortunately, Batista departed from the company straight after but WWE should have capitalized on Batista's new heel run and made him the WWE Champion for a longer run.
6 Bray Wyatt
No one's WWE career has been more stop and start than Bray Wyatt's. Bray squared off with John Cena at WrestleMania XXX in 2014 which seemed logical for Bray to pick up a huge win over Cena. However, that was not the case and Big Match John scored another win at WrestleMania.
It was a wasted opportunity as Bray could have cemented his spot as a legitimate top star with a victory over Cena on that stage. Whilst, Bray did gain revenge at Extreme Rules, he lost the feud at Payback in a sensational Last Man Standing match, which set Bray back a little bit.
5 Rusev
Rusev had a long unbeaten record heading into 2015 after a stellar debut year in the WWE. The Bulgarian Brute held the United States Championship and whilst he retained the title against John Cena at Fastlane, he dropped the title at WrestleMania 31.
Unfortunately, Rusev's aura was diminished as he failed to recapture the title from Cena at Extreme Rules and Payback. He never recovered from those losses and his WWE career went on a downward spiral, which was a shame as Rusev was so talented, and was believable as a monster heel.
4 Edge
The storied rivalry between John Cena and Edge in 2006 was nothing short of brilliant. Edge mastered his role as a top heel and was a certified main eventer as he finally became the WWE Champion at New Year's Revolution. The Rated-R Superstar's reign may have lasted three weeks but he bounced back in style.
Edge regained the WWE Championship in the summer and retained the title against Cena in Cena's hometown of Boston at SummerSlam. Unfortunately, Edge dropped the title to Cena at Unforgiven in a brutal TLC match. Big Match John did go on to hold the title for an outstanding 380 days but Edge should have continued his reign as WWE Champion, which could have led to a blockbuster match between the two at WrestleMania 23.
3 Umaga
Umaga's debut on the Raw after WrestleMania 22 in April 2006 was huge. He put the WWE locker room on notice by assaulting Ric Flair, who he defeated at Backlash. The Samoan Bulldozer was vicious and with Armando Estrada as his handler, the combination worked well. Umaga picked up huge wins over the likes of Kane and Triple H, and his unbeaten run was seemingly going to lead to a WWE Championship reign.
Unfortunately, January 2007 was the beginning of the end for Umaga. The Samoan Bulldozer suffered two devastating losses to John Cena in WWE Championship clashes at New Year's Revolution and Royal Rumble, which saw his undefeated run come to an end. Umaga continued to plummet down the card but a monumental victory over Cena was the only logical scenario.
2 Kevin Owens
Kevin Owens and John Cena had one of the all-time great trilogies in WWE history in the summer of 2015. Owens was still the reigning NXT Champion when he upset Cena in an instant classic at Elimination Chamber.
Unfortunately, the Prizefighter lost the following two pay-per-view encounters at Money in the Bank and Battleground. Despite losing the rivalry to Cena over the United States Championship, it would have been great if he had won the title. Nonetheless, Owens succeeded in his audition, and by the following summer, he had the Universal Championship.
1 Randy Orton
2009 was arguably Randy Orton's best year as a WWE superstar. The Age of Orton was born and Orton's heel run was exceptional as he took out Triple H and reignited his feud with John Cena. Understandably, fans have grown sick and tired of Cena and Orton's feud as it has been repeated but they have the chemistry together that makes it enjoyable.
However, in the fall of 2009, the WWE Championship was traded on numerous occasions. Cena dethroned The Viper at Breaking Point with Orton returning the favor at Hell in a Cell. Their 60-minute Anything Goes Iron Man match at Bragging Rights was off the charts but the result was inevitable as Cena would have left Raw had Orton regained the title. Furthermore, Orton was enjoying a successful run and deserved to build on his momentum heading into 2010 but it was not to be.