5 Best John Cena rivalries of all time

#3 Kurt Angle

A scrappy kid comes up to a WWE legend and proclaims he has enough "ruthless aggression" to take him down. Ring a bell? Yes, this was the debut of John Cena and the WWE legend in question was Kurt Angle.

While Angle defeated Cena in the inevitable match, Cena showcased his talent enough to announce his arrival in style.

The story and the rivalry continued at No Mercy 2003, where Cena again faced the Olympic gold medalist in a losing effort. This was a much more technically sound match and lasted a lot longer than their first outing.

Cena finally scrapped his first win against Kurt Angle at No Way Out 2005. This put Cena across as the talent to watch out for and cemented his legacy.

The promo work, while not as wild and risque as Punk and Cena, was still memorable. It allowed for some great comedy moments with one of Kurt's most iconic lines coming into play "I'm Kurt Angle, and what the heck: I won Olympic gold with a broken freakin' neck!"

Kurt Angle can truly be credited as the superstar that helped Cena climb the stairway to success. Cena's never give up reputation was built around his relentless pursuit of a victory against Angle. It was also Kurt's Ankle Lock that provided the inspiration for Cena's finisher STF.

The final encounter for this rivalry occurred in a First Blood match on Raw in 2006 that ended up being brutal, violent and ruthlessly aggressive.