John Cena is one of the most polarizing wrestlers in WWE history. Cena is a joint-record 16-time World Champion with a record 13 reigns as WWE Champion and he is a three-time World Heavyweight Champion. He divides opinion like no other wrestler as some fans adore him, and others detest him. There's no denying Cena's commitment to WWE as he has been extremely loyal to WWE over the years.
Cena was the face of the company for a decade, and he was involved in several memorable main events. Cena has won a lot of major matches on pay-per-views, but he has also suffered some defeats in high-stakes main events.
15 Kurt Angle
John Cena and Kurt Angle collided over the WWE Championship in the main event of Unforgiven 2005. This was a physical match between the pair, and Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff got involved as he desperately wanted Cena to lose the title.
Angle was unable to win the WWE Championship for the fifth time as Cena got himself disqualified as he nailed the Olympic Gold Medalist in the face with the championship. This was Cena's first loss in a singles WWE pay-per-view main event although it wasn't by pinfall or submission.
14 Rob Van Dam
Rob Van Dam cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, and he challenged John Cena for the WWE Championship at One Night Stand 2006. The atmosphere was electric in the Hammerstein Ballroom with the fans backing RVD.
Cena received a hostile reception, and they booed every time he had some offense. Nonetheless, Edge speared Cena through a table. RVD took advantage and he captured his maiden WWE Championship with a Five-Star Frog Splash.
13 Edge
John Cena and one of his greatest rivals Edge locked horns a few times in 2006. The Rated-R Superstar beat Cena for the WWE Championship by cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase at New Year's Revolution.
The rivals once again locked horns in the main event of SummerSlam in Cena's hometown of Boston. Edge retained the WWE Championship, and he beat Cena in an outstanding Last Man Standing match at Backlash 2009 to secure his ninth World Championship.
12 Triple H
John Cena challenged Triple H for the WWE Championship at Night of Champions 2008, and if Cena was victorious, the WWE Championship would return to Raw. This bout is often overlooked, and hardly spoken about but it was a competitive WWE Title match.
There was a big fight feel with two of the all-time greats squaring off. Cena had his chances to regain the WWE Title, but the Cerebral Assassin put Cena away with a Pedigree to remain as WWE Champion.
11 Sheamus
Sheamus beat John Cena for the WWE Championship for the second time in his career at Fatal 4-Way 2010, and Cena was out for revenge in a steel cage at Money in the Bank. They headlined the show but the match was boring.
Cena came close to winning the WWE Championship again but the Nexus had other ideas by getting themselves involved. The Celtic Warrior managed to escape the cage, and once again notched up another win over Cena in a successful title defense.
10 The Miz
For the seventh year in succession, John Cena featured in a World Championship match at WrestleMania. This time Cena was looking to unseat The Miz for the WWE Championship in the main event at WrestleMania 27.
Unfortunately, this match will go down in history as one of the worst main events in the history of WrestleMania. Miz sustained a concussion, but Cena lost his first singles match at 'Mania, all thanks to The Rock getting involved.
9 CM Punk
John Cena had to endure a hostile environment in the Allstate Arena in Chicago when he put his WWE Championship on the line against CM Punk at Money in the Bank 2011. This was a five-star epic, and Punk ended Cena's WWE Championship reign.
A month later, Cena and Punk slugged it out at SummerSlam with the winner becoming the Undisputed WWE Champion. The finish was controversial as the referee, Triple H failed to spot Cena's foot being placed on the ropes with Punk getting the better of Cena.
8 Alberto Del Rio
The WWE Championship was like a yo-yo in the summer and fall of 2011, and John Cena was looking to recapture the WWE Title from Alberto Del Rio in a Last Man Standing match at Vengeance.
This was a solid encounter between the pair who had beaten each other for the WWE Championship at the previous two pay-per-views. However, this time the Mexican Aristocrat got the bragging rights with a huge win over Cena to remain as WWE Champion.
7 The Rock
"Once in a Lifetime" was the tagline for the year-long billed up for the hotly anticipated showdown between John Cena and The Rock. The two legends went toe-to-toe at WrestleMania 28 with the Great One having the hometown support as Mania emanated in Miami.
Their match lived up to the expectation and it was hard to predict the winner of this match. Ultimately, Rock emerged victorious with a Rock Bottom, and Cena found the loss hard to take as he sat on the aisleway.
6 John Laurinaitis
It's criminal that John Cena and John Laurinaitis closed out Over the Limit 2012 in a No Disqualification match. There were a couple of stipulations as Laurinaitis would be fired if he lost, and anyone who interfered during the match would be fired.
Cena dominated with ease as expected, and he handed Laurinaitis his comeuppance. Furthermore, Big Show who was "fired" turned heel once again by assaulting Cena with the WMD, and Laurinaitis upset Cena in a dreadful encounter.
5 Dolph Ziggler
Both John Cena and Dolph Ziggler won their respective Money in the Bank ladder matches in 2012, but Cena had failed to successfully cash in his briefcase. Nevertheless, he attempted to take the Showoff's briefcase away from him in a ladder match at TLC.
Cena isn't a ladder match specialist by any stretch, but he had a superb match with Ziggler. With some outside interference from AJ Lee, Ziggler went on to retain his Money in the Bank briefcase.
4 Daniel Bryan
John Cena and Daniel Bryan contested one of the greatest main events in the history of SummerSlam in 2013. Big Match John handpicked Bryan to be his challenger for the WWE Championship, and WWE COO Triple H overlooked proceedings as the special guest referee.
The action was off the charts, and credit has to be given to Cena for soldering on in this match despite carrying an injury. Ultimately, Bryan connected with a Running Knee and he dethroned Cena cleanly for his maiden WWE Championship.
3 Randy Orton
One of the biggest matches in the rivalry between John Cena and Randy Orton came at TLC 2013. Cena entered as the World Heavyweight Champion and Orton was the reigning WWE Champion. The winner of their TLC match would be known as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
Cena and Orton are not TLC match specialists but they had a fantastic match that was better than some of their past encounters. The Viper had beaten Cena in pay-per-views in the past, but he finally got the job done in a main event to send the World Heavyweight Championship into retirement.
2 Brock Lesnar
John Cena had never been dominated by one competitor in a main event but that all changed when he ran into Brock Lesnar in the main event of SummerSlam 2014. Cena's WWE Championship was in huge jeopardy with the Beast Incarnate in a rich vein of form.
Lesnar took Cena took to Suplex City and he connected with a whopping 16 German Suplexes. Cena simply had no answers, and Lesnar kickstarted his fourth WWE Championship reign, and first in a decade.
1 Roman Reigns
History was on the line at SummerSlam 2021 as John Cena challenged Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship. If Cena was triumphant, he'd become a record-setting 17-time World Champion. Nonetheless, the Tribal Chief was on another level, and the battle of generations was spicy.
Cena had some offense as did Reigns who had a refusal to stay down. Big Match John used the AA but it wasn't enough to get past Reigns. Despite Cena's efforts, he fell short with Reigns retaining the Universal Championship after he fell victim to the Spear.