Lesnar F-5 ed Cena on his night back in 2012John Cena, to the dismay of many, isn’t exaggerating when he says he is ‘The face that runs the place’. Is he the most popular? Not necessarily. Is he the most vilified or hated? Most definitely not. And to be honest, no matter what you say, the man has earned the right to that epithet as day in and day out, Cena has been the most bankable, one of the most popular and certainly the most profitable name on the WWE roster for over a decade now.One of the reasons why John has the number of haters that he has is because of the prevalent notion that Cena is the perpetrator of the ‘Super-Cena’ gimmick that has adorned the WWE programming for the better part of a decade now. However, it is that booking that has made him the man to beat, if you are looking for instant credibility. While Cena has had his share of defeats in the WWE, given the nature of his gimmick and his status as the ‘WWE Franchise player’, a handful of his losses only have come without some or the other controversy and rightfully so.The list below counts down the men who have pinned the Ce-nation leader’s shoulders to the mat for a 3-count without leaving a wake of raised eyebrows:
#1 The Rock
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The Rock vs John Cena was one of the most eagerly anticipated feuds one can think of in the last several years. When ‘The People’s Champion’ made his return to the WWE in 2011, he was set on a collision course with Cena for a match to happen a year later. In that time period, the pair threw everything, but the proverbial kitchen sink, at each other in verbal barbs.
The match in itself was alright with the audience, for the most part, expecting a Cena win as The Rock was a part-time wrestler. However, when the main-event at Wrestlemania 28 concluded, it was quite a shock to see Cena lose cleanly in the middle of the ring after a Rock Bottom from the man he had antagonised in real life too. A major part of the shock was also because Cena hadn’t lost that way in many a number of years upto that point.
#2 Brock Lesnar
It seems like a trend to pit the returning big names in a feud with Cena, in their comeback match in the WWE as following The Rock at WM 28 was Brock Lesnar, who returned following the event on RAW, straight into a program with John Cena. While Lesnar lost in the first match between the duo at Extreme Rules 2012, the pair didn’t meet until 2 years later at Summerslam 2014.
By that time, Lesnar had become the ‘Beast Incarnate’, ‘The Conqueror’ who had demolished the unbeaten streak of The Undertaker the same year and was challenging John Cena for the possession of the WWE World Heavyweight championship. The lead-up to the match didn’t give away anything that we were set to witness, as Cena looked like he was going to accomplish what nobody including The Undertaker weren’t able to.
However, in what was a monumental night for Lesnar, he dominated Cena like never before in a one-sided whooping to become the new WWE World Heavyweight champion. The match stunned the whole world with the lack of offense Cena was able to mount, but it spoke volumes about how much of a company-man Cena is
#3 Daniel Bryan
For all his faults, Cena can never be criticized for not having an eye for talent and encouraging them when the time is right. By the time Summerslam rolled around in 2013, the title picture involving Cena (seems like we have a pattern here!) was in need of a fresh challenger. While the roster had its share of bustling talent, no name was hotter at that time than Daniel Bryan.
The dimunitive bearded star was riding a popularity wave, like no other, and was awarded the shot at the WWE World Heavyweight title by none other than the champion John Cena. In what was an instant classic, Bryan and Cena (with a grotesquely injured elbow) put on a match that was as good as any Summerslam main-event, with Bryan picking up a win, a clean one, via a running knee, that he debuted that night.
It was a memorable moment as the WWE audience got behind Bryan and pushed him to the title.
#4 Kevin Owens
Kevin Owens came into the WWE, riding a wave of steam unlike any other NXT standout a couple of months ago and was straightaway thrust into a program with.....who else but John Cena. The brash former Indie sensation and then-NXT champion made his intentions clear when he pulverized Cena on his first night and instead of taking the customary ‘Open Challenge’ for Cena’s US title, chose to challenge him to a match at the Elimination Chamber PPV.
In quite an exception, Owens’s first match in the WWE was on a PPV against the biggest star in the company and he did not let anybody down. In what was a spectacular match between the two big athletic guys, both men pulled out all stops and executed moves that had our jaws collectively drop on the floor.For the proverbial icing on the cake, Owens pinned the US champion clean in the middle of the ring at the end of the match and earned the bragging rights to be called the ‘biggest debut in WWE in 2015’.
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