Wrestlemania against Michaels. I thought his match with Hunter at WM22 was overrated and it didn't put over Cena's wrestling ability as much as the IWC suggests. However when Michaels got the nod to face Cena, he made him look like a million bucks, and Cena proved he could hold his ground in the biggest stage against one of the GOATs.
What was John Cena's best match?
- Thread starter Sexcellence of Sexecution
- Start date
King Patrick Star
K. O. T. R. 2007 - Team Undisputed
Im not a good fan to judge match quality, but my favorite John Cena match was at WrestleMania 21 vs. John Bradshaw Layfield for the WWE Championship. For me, it was a combination of John Cena winning his first WWE Championship at WrestleMania and the last WrestleMania appearance of my favorite WWE Championship Title Belt.
I also liked Cenas / JBLs A Few Good Men skit the best out of all of the parody movie trailers.
I also liked Cenas / JBLs A Few Good Men skit the best out of all of the parody movie trailers.
Cut the Bragging Rights IronMan match to a half-hour, and it might be the one. But it got a little outlandish near the end, with Orton trying to blow Cena up, the brawling through the crowd, and the convenient submission at the end. It seemed like they were trying too hard to have a classic, rather then going out there and having one. Shortened to a half-hour, and they just might have achieved that.
Although the outcome was predictable, I went with the Raw match in February to determine who would face the Rock at Wrestlemania. At times, I harkened back to the Mysterio/Orton match at No Way Out with some of the near-falls, as I truly thought the Piledriver or the Rock Bottom to Cena could end it. It played perfectly into what they were going for: It foreshadowed somewhat Punk's(yet to be determined) match with the Undertaker at Wrestlemania with the Piledriver, and it spotlighted that it would take a helluva lot to beat Cena during this point and time.
With regards to the comparison between the No Way Out 2006 match, it seemed that Cena may just have put his shot on the line like Mysterio did just to lose it. Yes, I knew that Cena was set to face Rock, yes, we had just seen two matches on back-to-back PPV's between Punk and Rock for the title, but the near-falls were so convincing that I truly was on the edge of my seat wondering which way the match was going.
Couple that with a match given away on free TV, and it doesn't get much better then that. Not only was it possibly Cena's best match, but it was one of the best TV matches I've ever seen.
Although the outcome was predictable, I went with the Raw match in February to determine who would face the Rock at Wrestlemania. At times, I harkened back to the Mysterio/Orton match at No Way Out with some of the near-falls, as I truly thought the Piledriver or the Rock Bottom to Cena could end it. It played perfectly into what they were going for: It foreshadowed somewhat Punk's(yet to be determined) match with the Undertaker at Wrestlemania with the Piledriver, and it spotlighted that it would take a helluva lot to beat Cena during this point and time.
With regards to the comparison between the No Way Out 2006 match, it seemed that Cena may just have put his shot on the line like Mysterio did just to lose it. Yes, I knew that Cena was set to face Rock, yes, we had just seen two matches on back-to-back PPV's between Punk and Rock for the title, but the near-falls were so convincing that I truly was on the edge of my seat wondering which way the match was going.
Couple that with a match given away on free TV, and it doesn't get much better then that. Not only was it possibly Cena's best match, but it was one of the best TV matches I've ever seen.
For me no doubt CM Punk VS Cena at MITB 2011! This was by far Cenas best match IMO in his career. Cenas gets a lot of shit for his 5 moves of doom but this match this night Cena pulled out a 5 star match. Hold for hold amazing great story telling in thsi match. I personally think Cena is a great great wrestler he has a lot of matches great ones,to his resume to be Fact.
Lockwoja02
Dark Match Jobber
I agree with cena v punk at mitb! It was a culmination of punk dragging the best out of cena and the fact that it was one of those rare occurrences where the fans didnt know the outcome of a John cena match. The match had everything, so I cant argue with your choice
MWRedskins
Mid-Card Championship Winner
got to go CM Punk and John Cena at Money in the Bank....the build was 5 stars worthy, Cena didnt laugh him off as just another guy like Cena sometimes does with various guys, Punk's mic work sold it, his threat of leaving was a huge story, Vince being involved made the story better and then the match had great length, BIG surprise and great ending with a very hot crowd. has to be Punk vs. Cena at Money in the Bank.
The Eighties
Forward Thinking Nostalgist
It's difficult to narrow it down to one when someone has had the amount of quality matches Cena has, especially when the aim of the matches varies so much.
When it comes to brutal, no holds barred style matches I think his best was the Last Man Standing match with Umaga at Rumble 2007. It was like watching Arnie fight the Predator and was the best monster heel vs Super-Face match since the days of Sting vs Vader.
From his regular match list the hour match with HBK and the often overlooked match with Orton at Summerslam 2007 rank highly, but I think his in-ring chemistry with Punk trumps both, I'm just not sure whether their MITB match in Chicago or the match from Raw earlier this year is their best together, I'm deadlocked.
When it comes to brutal, no holds barred style matches I think his best was the Last Man Standing match with Umaga at Rumble 2007. It was like watching Arnie fight the Predator and was the best monster heel vs Super-Face match since the days of Sting vs Vader.
From his regular match list the hour match with HBK and the often overlooked match with Orton at Summerslam 2007 rank highly, but I think his in-ring chemistry with Punk trumps both, I'm just not sure whether their MITB match in Chicago or the match from Raw earlier this year is their best together, I'm deadlocked.
Had to go with the match with HBK on Raw. What a great match, and on free tv. Cena showed he could go with one of the best wrestlers of all time. I think it was that match that actually made me a fan of John Cena. His matches with Punk are really close imo, but this one just stands out to me a little more.
John Cena's best match was against Shawn Michaels from Raw in April of 2007. They stole the show for over an hour on free television, I highly doubt anyone saw that coming. Half of that edition of Raw went to that match. I doubt he'll ever top it. Money In the Bank 2011 against CM Punk is probably the second best. The build and hype helped make it more interesting when it already would have been a great match without all of the questions everyone had going into it. This thread was made before the match took place, but I'd argue Cena VS Bryan from Summerslam this year is another candidate. It was very good. While some may disagree, I personally really liked his match against The Rock at Wrestlemania 29. It had an entire year's worth of redemption on top of hype left over from their previous encounter that also had a year long build. The story during the feud as well as Cena's victory in the end made that one all the better to me.
When he faced JBL at Judgement Day 2005 in the I Quit match is one I'd include in the poll too. Other honorable mentions that did make it into the poll are the TLC match against Edge in 2006 at Unforgiven. Not only did it start his year long title reign, but he 100% overcame the odds. It was a match Edge had the advantage in taking place in EDGE'S hometown. Few times have the odds ever been that much against Cena. The Iron Man match against Randy Orton at Bragging Rights in 2009 is another good one, not his best, but it's up there. Most of the other options on the poll I'm really not sure I would include them while better options are out there such as the Fatal Fourway in 2007 against Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, and Edge or more of Cena's Wrestlemania matches. Regardless of the options and lackthereof in the poll, the match against Michaels on Raw is the best match Cena has ever had and I predict it always will be.
When he faced JBL at Judgement Day 2005 in the I Quit match is one I'd include in the poll too. Other honorable mentions that did make it into the poll are the TLC match against Edge in 2006 at Unforgiven. Not only did it start his year long title reign, but he 100% overcame the odds. It was a match Edge had the advantage in taking place in EDGE'S hometown. Few times have the odds ever been that much against Cena. The Iron Man match against Randy Orton at Bragging Rights in 2009 is another good one, not his best, but it's up there. Most of the other options on the poll I'm really not sure I would include them while better options are out there such as the Fatal Fourway in 2007 against Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, and Edge or more of Cena's Wrestlemania matches. Regardless of the options and lackthereof in the poll, the match against Michaels on Raw is the best match Cena has ever had and I predict it always will be.
1) Shawn Michaels (Raw 2007)
2) CM Punk (MITB 2011)
3) CM Punk (Raw 2013)
These three all go together in quality. But, I'm a huge John Cena mark, and what he does for the industry is pretty good stuff. I don't think he's vastly superior to everyone else, but he's a pretty damn good wrestler, he's a pretty great sports entertainer, and he's a pretty hard worker in general. IWC hipster hate towards the company face is just silly. But I can watch these three matches at any time.
2) CM Punk (MITB 2011)
3) CM Punk (Raw 2013)
These three all go together in quality. But, I'm a huge John Cena mark, and what he does for the industry is pretty good stuff. I don't think he's vastly superior to everyone else, but he's a pretty damn good wrestler, he's a pretty great sports entertainer, and he's a pretty hard worker in general. IWC hipster hate towards the company face is just silly. But I can watch these three matches at any time.
My favourite John Cena match is an often forgotten one, which is sad because I think it is one of his best. I don't see too many older John Cena matches here. His match at No Way Out 2005 against Kurt Angle was one of his best matches of his career, and certainly was at that point in time. I don't remember fully, but I think the storyline was whomever won the match won the right to become the #1 contender for the WHC at WM21 a month later, and it may have been the finals of a tournament, and Kurt Angle and John Cena had one hell of a match. This was before Cena had 1st won the championship and so everyone was still behind him, and he was pretty hot, and I remember this being one of Cena's best that put him into that world title picture.
I remember what got him over was during this match he was the ONLY guy I recall ever seeing escape from what I like to call Kurt Angle's Ankle lock vice grip...when he used to fall to the ground and wrap his legs around the guys leg while executing the ankle lock. I remember that move being super over, because when he put his vice grip on, nobody got out. And I remember Cena being the 1st guy that I could recall ever escaping from that move when Angle had his legs wrapped around Cena's in this match. It was a big spot, and I actually remember thinking at the time that Cena didn't deserve to be the guy to be the one escaping from this move. It was a great match, and this is the match that led Cena to becoming the champion.
There was also another great match I remember Cena having around this same time, maybe in 2004, against the Undertaker on Smackdown I believe, and it was also a really good match, and I'd just like to throw that out there to. Cena really did have a lot of good matches before he was champion to, and that period shouldn't be forgotten.
I remember what got him over was during this match he was the ONLY guy I recall ever seeing escape from what I like to call Kurt Angle's Ankle lock vice grip...when he used to fall to the ground and wrap his legs around the guys leg while executing the ankle lock. I remember that move being super over, because when he put his vice grip on, nobody got out. And I remember Cena being the 1st guy that I could recall ever escaping from that move when Angle had his legs wrapped around Cena's in this match. It was a big spot, and I actually remember thinking at the time that Cena didn't deserve to be the guy to be the one escaping from this move. It was a great match, and this is the match that led Cena to becoming the champion.
There was also another great match I remember Cena having around this same time, maybe in 2004, against the Undertaker on Smackdown I believe, and it was also a really good match, and I'd just like to throw that out there to. Cena really did have a lot of good matches before he was champion to, and that period shouldn't be forgotten.