Ranking John Cena's 10 greatest WrestleMania matches

#9 JBL (WrestleMania 21)

This match was all about the story in Los Angeles

When you think about a match purely in terms of in-ring quality, you aren't taking in the art of wrestling properly. The story behind a big title match or a pay-per-view showdown makes things feel all the more epic, and the build up to the bout between John Cena and JBL certainly managed that.

John Bradshaw Layfield had held the WWE Title for a long time leading into the event in Los Angeles, with the story being that he didn't think Cena was worthy of being WWE Champion. Unfortunately for him, the company had other ideas, with this being the start of Big Match John's rise to the top of the sports entertainment industry.

The match itself was nothing to shout about and that's to be expected, given that Cena wasn't at that top level yet, while JBL wasn't the greatest in-ring performer in the world. Still, they accomplished a goal that night at the Staples Center and that's all that really matters in the grand scheme of the event.

Let's rewind twelve months where Cena began to rise as a star.