exist Bank Deposits 2024, John Heenan Announced his official retirement as a full-time WWE player. Well, actually, he announced his “Last Time Is Now” retirement tour, which will be his last consistent performance in 2025.
It was a bit surreal to see Cena bow to me because I was the first to witness his meteoric rise. A superstar that I’ve been through all the hard stuff. To say Cena is one of the most important figures in WWE history would be an understatement, but there are so many matches, feuds, and moments throughout history that have cemented his status as a legend.
…and others, due to their sheer numbers, were lost in the confusion. Or forgotten because they truly deserve it. That’s what I’m going to dive into today. For every scoring match Dwaynethere is a meaningless game Michael Cole Or some boring, filler fight that leads nowhere. The time is now!
contrast. Kevin Federline(2007)
when you are Kevin Federline John Cena was nailed during his Superman run? Do people know who Kevin Federline is? yes 2024? Regardless, K-Fed gained a reputation as a pop-culture trash by becoming Mr. Trump. britney spears For several years, their reality show chronicled their toxic marriage in the mid-2000s.
To promote his debut album, Federline appeared on WWE’s Cyber Sunday PPV in 2006. king bookerand big show – World Champions in RAW, Smackdown and ECW respectively. He hit Cena in the spine during the World Heavyweight Championship and helped King Booker retain the gold. The next night’s episode of RAW featured a 2007 New Year’s RAW match between Federline and Cena.
In this “No Holds Barred” match, Johnny Nitro interfered (he became one a few months ago John Morrison) This turned out to be irrelevant, but the biggest factor came from also inserting morning. Cena was just starting to feud with the Samoan Bulldozers when Umaga sent Cena out, giving K-Fed an easy three points. That match was never mentioned again, and Federline’s debut album ranks as one of the worst rap albums of all time.
I’m not done with the Umaga feud yet, though.
contrast. R-Truth(2011)
There was some tension with the Palace of Truth and Wisdom tag team following WrestleMania 27, R-truth He infamously betrayed his good friend John Morrison and then lit up a cigarette on RAW in England. This gave us one of my favorite niche slogans of all time: “It’s illegal!” Truth took on the role of a paranoid conspiracy theorist whose next target was John Heenan, who was in Easily defeated him at the only Death Penalty PPV ever.
Although it was short, the fight taught us a lot about the character of R-Truth. His unhinged idiocy was exposed, which gave us a look at his obsession with “Little Jimmy” and, perhaps most forgotten of all, gave us a completely tone-deaf theater with R-Truth singing in a Confederate general’s uniform “March of the Ants,” but substituted “Little Jimmy,” and it was out of rhythm.
However, perhaps it is most forgotten because someone interfered with the feud table match between the two on the Roulette edition of RAW. This left Cena lying on the mat “as uncomfortable as possible” while the man interfering was the number one contender, who was wearing a Stone Cold shirt. He then began cutting a legendary promo that would forever change the creative course of WWE and possibly wrestling history forever. That’s right, right after R-Truth’s cartoon action “Pipe Bomb” and “Punk Summer 2011.”
contrast. Bobby Leslie(2007)
After winning the ECW Championship multiple times, he and Vince McMahon It’s safe to say that both himself and on behalf of Donald Trump at WrestleMania Bobby Leslie The rocket was firmly strapped to him. After being drafted to RAW and stripped of the ECW Championship, Lashley began working alongside WWE Champion John Cena. The two white-meat babyfaces would meet in the main event of the 2007 Great American Bash.
This game is largely forgotten for a number of reasons. Both Leslie and Cena have appeared in “Superman” and are popular with many fans. Additionally, this game took place a month after Benoit’s tragedy, which skewed any perception of the rest of the year’s time or involvement.
In the end, this would be one of Lashley’s last WWE matches in over a decade, as he was no longer on TV in a few weeks, his contract was up, and he wouldn’t return to the company until April 2018. This also means that WWE, even if they were trivial, would not mention him on screen during that decade.
with Sabu(2006)
John Cena VS John Cena Rob Van Dam ECW: The 2006 One Night Stand will forever be a legendary encounter. The next PPV, “Vengeance ’06”, is obviously not well remembered. If we were to reminisce, it would also be for the main event of the reunion. DX generation Bury the shit spirit squad (including future Dolph Ziggler/Nick Names) in a 5 vs. 2 handicap match.
Since ECW is back on the rise and Cena is still the public enemy of the brand, another big name on the show besides RVD will be stepping up to fight Cena. That would be a notoriously bad machine Sabusome people may have forgotten that he was ever in WWE. He didn’t last long, but he did headline at ONS and Vengeance and then Summerslam a few months later.
Sabu will face Cena in an Extreme Rules Lumberjack match, where members of the ECW and RAW roster will be outside the ring and available to beat up or assist Cena at any time. Cena wins by defeating Sabu in a shorter match than bad Kane A match against the imposter Kane also took place on this show.
contrast. Miz(2009)
Following impressive runs on ECW and Smackdown, as well as long-term WWE Tag Team Championships, Miz In 2009, he was drafted into RAW and his journey to stardom truly began. One of the first things Miz did was call out top guy Cena for matches week in and week out. He had no answers due to Cena’s injury, but Miz took these as a waiver and claimed to be undefeated against Cena.
It’s almost like a deliberate homage to similar battles Chris Jericho ever with goldberg In WCW. Just like that feud, Cena came back and soundly beat Miz in his comeback match. If anything, this shows that Miz isn’t afraid to talk his way to an opportunity. It was also during this period that Miz established his “Awesome” mantra and his finisher, the skull-crushing finale.
This feud was most likely forgotten as it was during a rather lackluster time and their WrestleMania feud was overshadowed two years later. The game itself lasted just over five minutes.
vs. Cesaro/Claudio Castagnoli (2015)
When Cena became United States Champion in 2015, he reversed expectations by trying to become a mainstay. He holds a weekly open challenge where anyone can try to defeat him and win the United States Championship. It’s actually quite fun, most notably the debut of the main cast Sami Zane and Kevin Owens. But there is another person, Cesaro (Currently AEW Claudio Castagnoli), who proved to be a stronger main force but didn’t get a chance.
Cesaro would challenge Cena for the United States Championship twice every few weeks in two absolutely incredible televised matches, with the first match lasting almost twice as long as Cena’s other challenges. Cesaro won by DQ and in a later rematch Cena was sure to win, but only after a half-hour main battle.
It was forgotten because there wasn’t much of a follow-up, but Cena’s fantastic trilogy with Kevin Owens also took the spotlight.
contrast. Morning(2007)
I promised we would come back to Samoa to bulldoze.
In December 2006 and January 2007, Cena feuded with the then-undefeated Umaga. This is a book from last year’s Hulk Hogan book “Build a Monster and Feed Them to the Top”. Cena is once again in pretty tired booking mode, so it’s really curious to see if they let Umaga beat him.
Of course they didn’t, and Cena ended Umaga’s undefeated streak with… a slam. No joke. This is how the highlight of the 2007 New Year’s Revolution ended.
Umaga’s manager protested that it was a fluke because he was so charming. Armando Alejandro Estrada. Cena also challenged him to a Last Man Standing match at the Royal Rumble, which the “Hard, Loyal, Respect” fanatic certainly accepted, even after having his ribs splashed across the table by Umaga .
At the Royal Rumble, the two made up for their disgraceful performance earlier this month, as their Last Man Standing match was probably one of the most underrated matches of this era, as it was largely forgotten. The two are absolutely beaten Between each other, there was even a unique ending, with Cena strangling the monster with a dismantled ring rope. Umaga selling the choke was extremely realistic and Cena retained the title because, as JR noted during the match, “Even monsters need to breathe.”
(Why yes, this list was born out of my desire to gush about the Cena/Umaga Last Man Standing match to a wider audience, because it might be my favorite LMS match of all time, how did you know?)
contrast. CM Punk(2010 & 2013)
explain CM Punk It would be an understatement to say that both Cena and Cena have had some great dances, but even within their legendary catalogs, there are still two matches that feel like they were either overshadowed or completely forgotten.
The first of these occurred in the summer of 2010 as the main event of a special “Viewers’ Choice” episode of RAW. This is Cena and Punk, who have gotten votes over the past year with their absolutely incredible Straight Edge Messiah heel work. The two clashed in a match where it seemed obvious that Cena was going to win…until the NXT Season 1 winner Wade Barrett Appearing alongside other rookies who were part of the original NXT experiment, including one Daniel Bryan. They wore black and yellow “N” armbands.
What happened next was a squad of eight young men descended on the ring like vultures and tore Cena and the entire ring area apart. The match is forgotten as it was more or less a simple promotional catalyst that sparked what would become known as “NXT Riot” and spawned a steady storyline known as “NXT Riot.” hub. Ironically, Punk would usurp Barrett’s leadership of the group the next year.
Another game took place on February 25, 2013. rock Punk’s 434-day WWE Championship reign just ended. After losing the Elimination Chamber match, Punk challenged Cena, with his WrestleMania title on the line. The two would engage in a nearly half-hour match that included various recaps of their previous efforts, including a forbidden piledriver. Cena won after a silly and surprising hurricanrana into AA. Considering Punk’s departure after 10 years less than a year later, and the fact that February is usually a blurry time for WrestleMania, it’s no wonder this one was forgotten.
As of this writing, this is the last time Cena and Punk will see each other for at least a decade. It would be a shame not to see these two run at least one more time before Cena hangs up.
