This is Gripz (X2)
Note: The majority of this blog was made before John Cena got injured last year, so I had the mind frame he was still active in the WWE. I have made some tweaks to this blog and have now published it. Enjoy!
John Cena has been the face of the company for ten years now, since winning his first WWE title in 2005. He is currently ‘THE MAN’ of the WWE, just like previous names before him such as Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan…etc. He is a former 15 time WWE World HeavyWeight Champion; Money in the Bank ladder match winner; 2 time Royal Rumble winner and a tree time superstar of the year winner (2009, 2010, 2012) This is a few of his impressive accolades. He has been one of the most dominant
superstars in the past decade as well as atleast in the top 15 greatest superstars of all-time list. John Cena has lived up to the hype of being the superman of the WWE, HOWEVER, even superman has a weakness in kryptonite. Therefore, even John Cena isn’t invincible. In the recent feud between John Cena and Kevin Owens, it reminded me that John Cena has had his rare cases of being defeated cleanly.
In Wrestling, a clean loss/finish means: a match ending without cheating or outside interference.
John Cena is the face of the WWE, therefore beating him cleanly is a big deal, as it means the WWE trusts and gives the privilege of another superstar beating their most valued superstar. In some cases, this may been known as the passing of the torch .e.g. Warrior defeating Hogan; HBK defeating Hart…etc. It is usually a special rare moment.
This list is about superstars who have risen to the occasion and have beaten John Cena cleanly in a match. There have been many times Cena has lost uncleanly but this is because of cheating or interference by other superstars, which devalues the significance of the moment. This list is about superstars who have went head to head with WWE’s current most valued superstar and have come out victorious, without having the need to cheat.
The list is based on the following criteria’s:
- Only Singles matches – A one on one match is the best match to prove which superstar is better without any interference from other superstars.
- Shock Value- How surprising or obvious it was for John Cena to lose.
- How important was the match – Was a Title on the line? Career? Pride? Was it on one of the big four PPV’s or a match on Smackdown.
- Who beat him clean since 2005 -John Cena had won his first WWE title at Wrestlemania 21 and had been the face of the company ever since.
Honorable mentions:
- Randy Orton vs. John Cena Hell in a Cell
- Alberto Del Rio vs. John Cena Survivor Series 2015. This would have made the list but the article was created before they faced each other.
8. Brock Lesnar vs John Cena (C) for the WWE World Heavy Weight Championship – SummerSlam 2014
Let’s kick start this list with none other than Brock Lesnar! I know some of you may have thought Brock Lesnar would be higher on the list but I’ll explain as to why he is not. Brock Lesnar battled Cena for the WWE Championship in the mainevent of SummerSlam 2014 – that already ticks 3/4 boxes from the criteria. But, was it really surprising that Lesnar would defeated Cena, probably not. That same year, Lesnar had done the unthinkable, which was defeat Taker at Wrestlemania and his streak. It would make sense that Lesnar would win his next match, whoever he may face, so that doesn’t exclude John Cena. Therefore, why WWE would let a superstar lose his next match after ending the streak. Also, the WWE brought up the fact that Cena had defeated Lesnar in their last encounter, so it would make sense for Lesnar to revenge his defeat to Cena, in order to legitimize his claim to being the most dominant superstar at that time. The WWE had big plans for Lesnar at Wrestlemania 30, so they would make him appear as dominant as they could by letting him end the streak and beating Cena to become the WWE Champion. However, the way in which Brock defeated Cena at SummerSlam was shocking, but what wasn’t shocking was Brock being victorious over Cena.
7. HBK vs John Cena Raw 04/23/07
John Cena faced Shawn Michael’s in the main event of Raw 2007 (last Raw before the PPV Backlash). In that year’s m Wrestlemania Cena had defeated Michaels to retain the WWE Championship. The following PPV, Cena would defend the title in a fatal four way between Michaels, Edge and Randy Orton. The Raw match between Cena and Michaels was a great one, lasting so long the other scheduled match for that night between edge and Orton had to be cancelled. Michael’s clean win over Cena that night was a surprising one, considering that Cena was being booked strong since holding the WWE title for almost a year. Michaels tapping out to Cena that mania was evident of how strong Cena was being booked. However, Cena losing to the showstopper that Raw was a good move by WWE. Cena was the favourite heading into the fatal four way match at backlash. Cena losing to HBK showed although Michaels lost to him at mania, he was still capable of beating John Cena. Also, add the fact that it’s a fatal four way at backlash, which means Cena doesn’t have to be pinned to lose the belt. It added more intrigue into the match. Although Cena did still end up winning at Backlash, in the words of JR after the Cena and Michaels match on Raw ‘Michaels wins! Michaels wins! Michaels wins!” It was still nice to seethe showstopper, get his vengeance with a clean win against Cena.
6. Batista vs John Cena – SummerSlam 2008 John Cena faced ‘The Animal’ Batista at SummerSlam 2008, surprisingly there were no titles on the line but it was still a long-awaited match everyone wanted to see. Since both Cena and Batista won World Titles at Wrestlemania 21, they were the top names WWE relied on carrying the company. Batista would thrive on Smackdown while Cena would do the same on Raw. However, it was still Cena who was the face of WWE, him being on the WWE’s flagship show (Raw) and holding or competing for the top World Title was evident of this. Nonetheless, when Batista was drafted to Raw because of John Cena, it was inevitable a big showdown between the pair would happen. And, despite Cena really being WWE’s leading superstar, they would still hype their SummerSlam match as a battle for the best in the company. This is why it was surprising that Batista cleanly defeated Cena at the event. However, I assume it was an effort made by WWE to shock fans and make Batista a bigger draw. In later years, Batista and Cena would reignite their rivalry where Cena would beat Batista in 3 consecutive PPVs. Well, at least Batista won their first match, even if it was just the once.
5. Triple H (C) vs John Cena for The WWE Championship – Night Of Champions 2008
John Cena squared off against ‘The Game’ Triple H for the WWE Championship in the mainevent of Night Of Champions 2008. The Raw prior to their match Triple H had been drafted to Smackdown, this meaning Smackdown had two World Champions: Triple H and Edge. Edge was defending the World Heavy Weight Championship against Batista, this meant surely Batista or Cena would beat one of the World Champions so Raw has a World Title. The WWE were reminding viewers of Cena and HHH’s Wrestlemania 23 match where Cena made HHH tap out. They were playing on the fact that HHH had never defeated Cena up to that point. Therefore, it could imply that Batista would be the one to gain a World Title for the Raw brand. However, Batista lost his match to Edge at NOC. This almost guaranteed that Cena would defeat HHH, as the WWE would not leave their flagship show without a World Title. Well, HHH shocked everyone in defeating Cena cleanly, finally beating him but would leave Raw without a World Title. Edge would make an appearance the following Raw, where CM Punk would cash in his briefcase on him becoming Champion and making the World Heavy Championship exclusive to Raw. When Batista had lost to Edge at NOC, fans thought it was guarantee that Cena would beat HHH. It was a nice surprise by WWE, that they didn’t go with what could have been a very predictable outcome.
4. Daniel Bryan vs John Cena (C) for the WWE Championship – SummerSlam 2013 Daniel Bryan John Cena faced the man of ‘The Yes Movement’ Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship in the mainevent of SummerSlam 2013. In the previous Raw’s leading to the PPV, Daniel Bryan would win a fan poll which would determine who would face Cena at SummerSlam. If the WWE could have it completely their way, Cena would have probably retained. If WWE could have it their way, Bryan probably wouldn’t even be facing Cena at SummerSlam in the first place. However, it was due to Bryan’s strong fan support that he would defeat Cena clean at SummerSlam to win the WWE Championship. A lot of people disliked the outcome of Bryan immediately being cashed in by Orton, just after winning the belt. But, it still lead to Bryan winning it back memorably at Wrestlemania 30. Although Bryan’s first reign as WWE champion was a short one, it was still great to see the underdog defeat WWE’s face of the company cleanly and winning the biggest prize in the industry. ‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’.
3. Kevin Owens vs John Cena – Elimination Chamber 2015 John Cena battled Kevin Owens at Elimination Chamber 2015 in what was a phenomenal match. Kevin Owens was the current NXT Champion who attacked Cena, instead of facing him in his usual US Title ‘Open challenge’. This set-up a non-title match between the two at the Elimination Chamber PPV. Kevin Owens shocked the world in defeating Cena clean. It was not just one of the biggest upsets of Cena’s career but one of the biggest upsets in WWE history. Itwas Kevin Owens first match on the main roster and beating the WWE’s leading superstar clean or not clean was a big deal. Although Cena would go on to defeat Owens two consecutive times at the following PPV’s. It was still Owens who gained the most in feuding with John Cena. Kevin Owens clean win over Cena showed he has a very bright future and can become a major player in the WWE. It’s not every day you would witness a NXT superstar cleanly beating a mainevent superstar, let alone the face of the company.
2. Sheamus vs John Cena (C) for The WWE Championship – TLC 2009 John Cena faced Sheamus for the WWE Championship at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2009. Sheamus would earn his shot against Cena in winning a battle royal consisting of never been World Champion superstars. Although, Sheamus had defeated Cena cleanly in a tables match, it was still a huge shock to the WWE Universe in that time. Sheamus had only joined the company less than 6 months and he became the WWE Champion. In those 6 months he was feuding with the likes of Goldust and Shelton Benjamin on ECW as well as Jamie Noble on Raw. Cena was feuding with the likes of Edge, HHH and Orton. So, it was a nice break to see a new competitor challenging Cena. However, no one could have foreseen Cena losing cleanly to Sheamus. Sheamus was still a new superstar in WWE spending the majority of his time in ECW. Also TLC was the last PPV of the year, so it was a surprise WWE allowed a title change. I remember I was rooting for Sheamus to win but knowing his chances were very slim. Sheamus defeating Cena in a tables match still protected Cena as he was not pined or submitted. However, the fact he had defeated Cena cleanly, resulting in him becoming the new WWE Champion was a shocking moment.
1. The Rock vs John Cena – Wrestlemania 28 The Rock vs. John Cena at Wrestlemania 28 was John Cena’s biggest clean loss of his career- in my opinion. Long story short, The Rock returned to WWE after a 7 year absence to screw John Cena out of the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 27. This would lead to a year long build up with an eventual match between The Rock and John Cena at Wrestlemania 28. A match between The Rock and Cena was a dream match come true, this is evident in Wrestlemania 28 being the most purchased Wrestlemania up to that point. Many would forget, but Cena was the favourite and apparently obvious choice to win against The Rock. Their match was billed as ‘Once In A Lifetime’. The WWE gave the impression that there would only be one match between Cena and The Rock. Therefore, it would seem logical for Cena to defeat The Rock at mania. The Rock had been absence for 7 years, so it would be odd for him having only one match defeating WWE’s leading superstar then leaving again. This would only hurt John Cena’s image instead of making it stronger. Also, the match between the two was considered to be a passing of the torch. An example would be the Ultimate Warrior defeating Hulk Hogan or The Rock himself defeating Hogan. It was assumed Cena would defeat The Rock as it was the passing of the torch tradition. Cena had defeated past big stars before him at Wrestlemania such as HHH and HBK. It was assumed WWE would allow their face of the company to do the same again by defeating The Rock. However, WWE shocked us by having The Rock cleanly defeat Cena. It was later found out that there would be more matches between The Rock and Cena, so this would explain why The Rock won. However, leading up to the first match it was being hyped as a one time thing. Instead, their Once became a ‘Twice In A Lifetime’, there will probably be a three lool. I was still pleased to see The Rock win their first match though.
Conclusion: John Cena is WWE’s current most valued and trustworthy superstar. He will continue to have memorable and big moments in the WWE, which is good news for his fans. However, Cena is getting older and those injuries are occurring more often for him. Also, there are more up coming stars within the WWE who are or will be making an impact. Therefore, expect more clean losses that will be coming Cena’s way, which is good news for his haters. By the end of John Cena’s career, maybe this list would look very different to how it is now.
Thanks for reading my Blog, I hope you enjoyed it! Please comment below with anything regarding ‘The Biggest Losses of John Cena’s Career’. Is there any changes you would make to my list?
Please look out for my next blog ‘The Biggest Wins of John Cena’s Career’. It will be posted within the next couple weeks.
This is Gripz (X2)
