4 of John Cena's greatest rivals throughout the years

John Cena is one of the greatest Superstars in WWE history. He has reigned as the top face of the company for well over 12 years now and even though he has slowed down recently, there is really no one at his level yet on the roster.

In this feature, I'll list who I thought were the top 4 rivals of his career.

Special Mentions: JBL, Triple H and Batista.

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#4 Randy Orton

Orton vs Cena

This should come as no surprise to anyone. Randy Orton and John Cena are two names that have become synonymous with each other over the years.

Both these Superstars, who have now achieved legendary status, were part of the same batch in OVW( WWE developmental territory at that time) along with Batista, Brock Lesnar and Shelton Benjamin; and they two have been crossing each other's path ever since.

The two have had numerous stories and matches over the years, but one of their matches that stands out as their greatest encounter is their match inside Hell In A Cell in 2014, which was won by Cena.

The two also battled it out for the chance to become the first unified WWE World Heavyweight Champion when Orton, The WWE Champion faced Cena, The WHC at TLC 2013, with Orton winning the bout.

#3 Wade Barrett

Barrett against Cena

Barrett was the first ever winner of NXT, which at that time was modeled as a wrestling reality show and wasn't the Yellow Brand, as we know it today.

After winning the season, however, Barret along with all the other participants made their main roster debut, as the group interfered in a match between John Cena and CM Punk, laying waste the competitors and all officials in the vicinity. This group of rookies called themselves The Nexus-- with Wade Barrett as their defacto leader.

The gang of rookies continued to make Cena's life miserable throughout 2010, costing him the WWE Championship and even defeating him in a 6-on-1 handicap match.

The feud took it's most interesting turn when Barrett defeated Cena in a HIAC match which forced Cena to become a member of Nexus.

In retrospect, this was probably the highlight of Barrett's career as he failed to accomplish anything significant once this feud was over.

A case of too much, too soon?

#2 CM Punk

Punk vs Cena

Ever since Punk made his main roster debut, this was the contest everyone wanted to watch.

What happens when the face of WWE goes up against the rebel from the indies?

And their first match at MITB 2011 was every bit as spectacular as everyone had hoped for it to be; not only garnering mainstream attention but also getting high praise from fans and critics alike. Punk picked up the win in this match, as would be the case in most of their matches.

The feud continued on-and-off for roughly two years which was capped off when the two met in another spectacular match on an edition of RAW; when Cena finally managed to pick up a win against Punk, which was also their last encounter with each other.

#1 Edge

Edge and John Cena

This feud has to go down in history as one of the best ever.

The two most important ingredients to make a feud memorable are: A great face and an equally great heel; and this feud had both, as the cunning and dastardly Edge proved to be the perfect foil for Mr. Good Guy John Cena.

Their epic rivalry started when Edge cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on Cena at New year's revolution PPV, just moments after Cena successfully defended his WWE Championship in a grueling Elimination Chamber match.

The rivalry between these two gave us some very memorable moments including Edge slapping Cena's father and Lita throwing John Cena's spinner belt so that Edge could debut the "Rater R" belt.

It is rumored that very few people backstage had the confidence in Edge to be the top heel, and it was, in fact, John Cena who wanted Edge to be his nemesis and gave a chance to Edge to prove his metal, thus becoming one of the best heels in the business.