5 Best John Cena rivalries of all time

#4 CM Punk

This was as much a rivalry of mic skills as it was of physical prowess. This was the rivalry that brought us the infamous 'pipe-bomb', where Punk brilliantly mixed fact with fiction to deliver the best wrestling promo of recent times.

Punk and Cena were both guys that have never shied away from a fight; verbal or physical. Their 2011 Money in the Bank match was proof of just that, as the superstars not only set it up with brilliant promos but followed it up with stellar in-ring performances.

One of the better moments in this rivalry came out on Raw where Punk lay waste to rules and slammed Cena with the banned piledriver.

These are two men who have, through the course of their rivalry, tested the strains of the PG era set upon them by the WWE. The two tore into each other on the mic and put on some exemplary matches to back their claims, respectively.

Another element that was very essential to this rivalry was the crowd. John Cena is a notoriously polarizing figure in the WWE. Half the fans love him, half hate him with gusto but in every scenario, John Cena was the centre of attention. His opponent rarely garnered any attention. However, if there is one thing CM Punk is good at, it is keeping the attention of a crowd.

In Punk, WWE fans finally found an alternative to Cena that they actually cared about. The anti-Cenation forces combined with Punk fans to finally balance out the crowd frenzy.