For over a decade, John Cena was considered the face of WWE, carrying the company on his back through difficult times whilst also playing a key role in the company's growth and success.

During his time with WWE, Cena has feuded with the very best of the best, taking on all of WWE's biggest names during his run and, through the most part, he has been incredibly well protected.

Despite his star power, WWE has rarely used Cena to put over other names, instead often having him defeat his opponents to keep him as strong as possible, even when it made the most sense for him to take the loss.

Because of this, various WWE Superstars momentum has been derailed, but on the other hand, there have been times when Cena has put over another talent with clean defeats, showing that he can be a company man when needed.

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10 Beat Cena Clean: Daniel Bryan (SummerSlam 2013)

John Cena hand-picked Daniel Bryan as his opponent for the main event of SummerSlam 2013 as he defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a match that saw Triple H involved as the special guest referee.

Much to everyone's surprise, Cena lost clean in the middle of the ring as Daniel Bryan busted out his running knee finisher for the first time to get the victory after a great match that saw Cena push through a very serious elbow injury.

Despite the fact Cena put over Bryan at a major main event, as the confetti fell, Bryan's big moment came to an abrupt end as Randy Orton cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase.

RELATED: SummerSlam: The 5 Best (& 5 Worst) Main Events Ever

9 Should Have: Damien Sandow (Raw 2013)

For the most part, the Money in the Bank briefcase has been used in a great way. Establishing many main event talents with their first major championship victory, but every now and then, WWE gets it wrong.

That is exactly what happened with Damien Sandow when he cashed in his contract against John Cena only to be defeated by the leader of the Cenation fairly comfortably which pretty much brought his career to a halt. Sandow could have been an entertaining figure in the main event scene with his talented microphone skills, but instead, WWE totally squashed him in one quick defeat.

8 Beat Cena Clean: The Undertaker (WrestleMania 34)

One of the only wrestlers to have defeated John Cena cleanly, without question, was The Undertaker who not only defeated Cena clean but totally squashed him in just two minutes and 45 seconds.

WWE had been building and teasing the idea that a dream match between the two icons was going to happen at WrestleMania 34 and even though it wasn't confirmed until the show itself fans were excited about the prospect of it.

However, this was more of a throwaway segment than anything else, with Undertaker picking up the victory so quick that fans were left stunned. Whilst it served to protect 'Taker, who had looked poor the year before, this match left fans wanting to see more.

RELATED: 5 Wrestlers Who Should Retire The Undertaker (& 5 That Should Have But Didn't)

7 Should Have: Umaga (New Year's Revolution 2007)

WWE loves building up monsters. It is tried and tested to have a top heel be a monster that seemingly cannot be stopped, and that is exactly what Umaga was when he burst onto the scene in 2006.

Umaga quickly impressed with his amazing athleticism for a man of his size and he quickly picked up major victories against the likes of Triple H, Ric Flair, and Shawn Michaels which put him on the map as a top talent.

But when it came to going after the WWE Championship, WWE quickly pulled the plug on him and had John Cena comfortably go over, handing Umaga his first defeat in the company and stopping his momentum in its tracks.

6 Beat Cena Clean: Kevin Owens

What better way to make an introduction to the WWE Universe than by arriving in WWE, calling out John Cena and beating him clean on a major PPV after putting on a Match of the Year contender.

KO burst onto the scene as the NXT Champion, answering John Cena's open challenge, but with a twist; Owens refused to face him for free, as the Prizefighter wanted a PPV opportunity at Elimination Chamber.

NXT fans were worried that WWE would ruin Owens in his debut match, yet much to everyone's delight, Owens stepped up to the plate and actually defeated Cena, clean in the middle of the ring.

RELATED: 5 NXT Call-Ups Who Have Not Met Expectations (& 5 Who Have Exceeded Them)

5 Should Have: Bray Wyatt (WrestleMania 30)

Who can forget the WrestleMania match between John Cena and Bray Wyatt, where Cena played a major role in helping to squash Wyatt on the Grandest Stage Of Them All when he seemed like he was ready for a huge push.

Even though Wyatt managed to get his win back at Extreme Rules, the damage to his character had already been done, and he struggled to get back to the level he was at heading into the Showcase of the Immortals.

This was a major issue with Wyatt as a character, as he always talked the talk but never managed to back it up with big victories. Hopefully, that will change with his brand new gimmick.

4 Beat Cena Clean: AJ Styles (SummerSlam 2016)

While WWE failed to solidify Bray Wyatt as a legitimate main event talent, the company didn't make the same mistake with AJ Styles when he competed against John Cena in what was a dream match fans never thought they would see.

The two men put on a Match of the Year contender at SummerSlam where most people thought Cena would be getting his win back from his Money in the Bank defeat where The Club had helped AJ secure a major victory.

However, WWE surprised everyone by having AJ go over yet again, with Cena putting over the former TNA star who went on to become the WWE Champion just months later.

RELATED: 10 TNA Wrestlers That WWE Did Not Want To Succeed

3 Should Have: Rusev (WrestleMania 31)

When WWE first brought Rusev to the main roster from NXT, the company did a fantastic job in making the Bulgarian Brute seem like a total monster, and it seemed like he was set to rise to the main event scene fairly quickly.

Rusev captured the United States Championship and had a fantastic run with the title, making the mid-card belt relevant again, providing a real purpose to it that got fans interested, especially when he began a WrestleMania rivalry with John Cena.

This was the perfect opportunity to go all the way with Rusev and commit to pushing him as a top heel in the company. Instead, WWE opted to play things safe with John Cena, and although his run with the title was superb, it started a downhill spiral for Rusev.

2 Beat Cena Clean: Brock Lesnar (SummerSlam 2014)

Whilst Brock Lesnar and John Cena have had a lot of very competitive matches over the years, their SummerSlam 2014 main event for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was anything but that.

The Beast absolutely destroyed Cena with the popular WWE Superstar failing to get any offense in throughout the entire match, which was a huge surprise as Lesnar completely dominated the match from start to finish.

Hitting an incredible 16 German Suplexes throughout the match, Lesnar didn't just win clean, he squashed Cena. Never before and never again has there been such a one-sided main event between two megastars like this, creating what was a very unique match.

RELATED: 5 Matches That Defined The Beast Incarnate (& 5 That Hurt His Legacy)

1 Should Have: Nexus/Wade Barrett (SummerSlam 2010)

The wrestling world was taken by total surprise when Nexus first arrived on the scene, destroying everyone and everything in their path, it seemed like WWE had an incredible new faction on its hands.

WWE built up a mega main event for SummerSlam in 2010, having The Nexus take on a mixture of WWE's top talent who they had issues with. Everyone expected Nexus to go over, yet John Cena ended up being the sole survivor for his team, beating The Nexus on their debut match.

This quickly hurt the momentum of the group, and things never really recovered. Cena went into a feud with Wade Barrett, but throughout it, Cena always got the upper hand, with all of The Nexus talent struggling to stay in the main event scene from that point onwards.

NEXT: The 8 Original Members Of The Nexus, Ranked