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There's no denying that John Cena has had some legendary rivalries over the course of his fifteen-year career that started in 2002. But Cena usually doesn't receive any credit when he has a spectacular match.
Not all of hisCena's great rivals will make the top five list, but John Cena's elite rivals have made the top 5 list. JBL doesn't call John Cena " Big Match John" for nothing. Let's get started!
#5 Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar and John Cena have feuded on and off throughout their respective WWE careers, with the two men having their first major feud back in 2003 when Lesnar was the WWE Champion on Smackdown. In April 2004, Lesnar left WWE and went on to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion.
But in April 2012, "The Beast Incarnate" made his long-awaited return to WWE and attacked the then top superstar in WWE, John Cena. Lesnar's first match back in WWE was against John Cena at WWE's 2012 edition of Extreme Rules, the match was a main event bloodbath with a heroic apex.
Cena and Lesnar's Extreme Rules main event was something that WWE fans had not seen in a long time in terms of brutality. Their match exemplified why a match of Cena and Lesnar's magnitude belonged on a pay-per-view called " Extreme Rules". The two have also had other great matches as well, including the SummerSlam 2014 match where Lesnar nailed sixteen German suplexes on the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, John Cena.
The main events of Extreme Rules 2012 and SummerSlam 2014 are two reasons why viewing the Cena vs Lesnar rivalry is a must, especially if you're a Cena or Lesnar fan.
#4 Shawn Michaels
Back in 2007, John Cena had one of his more underrated rivalries with Shawn Michaels. Cena and Michaels have had countless battles, but their battles in 2007 are at the pinnacle in terms of match quality. "The Heartbreak Kid" earned the right to face John Cena at WrestleMania 23 by winning a Triple Threat Match against Randy Orton and Edge.
Although, the original plan for the main event for WrestleMania 23 was going to be a rematch from WrestleMania 22 with John Cena going up against Triple H, "The Game" tore his quad at 2007's edition of "New Years Revolution", which left an open spot for someone to face John Cena in the main event of WrestleMania 23.
The only fortunate part of Triple H's unfortunate removal from WrestleMania 23's card is that the John Cena vs Shawn Michaels rivalry was born. Their match at WrestleMania 23 for the WWE Championship is regarded by many people to be the greatest WrestleMania match of John Cena's career.
Following WrestleMania 23, Cena and Michaels had a WrestleMania 23 rematch on Raw, which is also regarded as one of the greatest matches in Raw history, and the match went for 55 minutes. If you haven't seen any John Cena vs Shawn Michaels matches from 2007, they're worth checking out on the WWE Network.
#3 Edge
Starting at New Year's Revolution in 2006, Edge cashed in the first ever Money in the Bank contract on John Cena after successfully defending the WWE Championship inside the Elimination Chamber; Edge hit Cena with the spear to win his first ever WWE Championship. Cena and Edge battled for the majority of 2006 on the Raw brand.
During 2006, Cena and Edge clashed one-on-one at five different pay-per-views -- New Year's Revolution (Money in the Bank cash-in), Royal Rumble 2006, SummerSlam 2006, and Unforgiven 2006. Along with Backlash 2006 in which Cena and Edge competed in a Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship along with Triple H.
The John Cena vs Edge feud from 2006 also won the PWI "Feud of the Year" award for being the best feud in 2006.
After their feud in 2006, the two still clashed at pay-per-views following 2006, their match at Backlash 2009 in a "Last Man Standing" Match for the World Heavyweight Championship stands out. If you're looking to watch great Cena vs Edge matches, their clashes at Unforgiven 2006 and Backlash 2009 are two of the many awesome matches that could be watched.
#2 AJ Styles
John Cena's feud with AJ Styles is one of Cena's more recent feuds, his feud began on the May 30th, 2016 edition of Raw, where he was attacked by Styles and The Club. The two then had a trilogy of pay-per-view matches which began at Money in the Bank, reached a fever pitch at SummerSlam; and culminated at the Royal Rumble 2017.
John Cena's match with AJ Styles at Money in the Bank 2016 was very good, while Cena's match with Styles at SummerSlam is regarded as one of the best in SummerSlam history; their match at the Royal Rumble 2017 is also a classic. Each time John Cena met AJ Styles in a one-on-one match, the two men always upstaged their previous encounter.
With AJ Styles picking up the first two one-on-one victories over Cena, a final match was set for the Royal Rumble 2017 for the WWE Championship. John Cena had to dig down deep in order to snatch the WWE Championship from a hardworking AJ Styles, Cena found the big match fire that he previously had and nailed consecutive Attitude Adjustments to pin AJ Styles for a three count and tie Ric Flair's storied record of sixteen World Championships.
These matches are worth your time checking out!
#1 CM Punk
John Cena and CM Punk's rivalry didn't begin until early 2011. The two had squared off before, but they weren't main rivals at that point. Fast forward to 2011, CM Punk and John Cena are the two hottest commodities in professional wrestling. "The Straight Edge Superstar" won a Number One Contender's Match to earn a shot at the WWE Championship at 2011's edition of Money in the Bank.
From there, Punk and Cena traded personal verbal barbs about their upcoming clash. CM Punk then went on to defeat John Cena at Money in the Bank, and once again at SummerSlam 2011 in controversial fashion.
CM Punk and John Cena clashed at 2012's SummerSlam in a Triple Threat Match also involving Big Show. The two clashed one-on-one again the following month for the WWE Championship at the Night of Champions pay-per-view, where the match ended in a draw.
John Cena's last ever one-on-one encounter with CM Punk was on the February 25th, 2013 edition on Raw where Cena had the last laugh by defeating Punk to earn the right to face The Rock for the WWE Championship in the main event at WrestleMania 29.
Numerous outstanding matches, a five-star performance at Money in the Bank 2011, and a classic storyline, John Cena's rivalry with CM Punk stands out as his best.
