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Ranking John Cena’s Greatest WrestleMania Matches

By Ernesto Solano

MIAMI GARDENS, FL - APRIL 1: John Cena looks on before his match against Dwayne ''The Rock'' Johnson during WrestleMania XXVIII at Sun Life Stadium on April 1, 2012 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Ron Elkman/Sports Imagery/Getty Images)
MIAMI GARDENS, FL - APRIL 1: John Cena looks on before his match against Dwayne ''The Rock'' Johnson during WrestleMania XXVIII at Sun Life Stadium on April 1, 2012 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Ron Elkman/Sports Imagery/Getty Images) /
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John Cena (Photo by Yanshan Zhang/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures) /

WM 25: John Cena vs. Edge vs. Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship (2009)

Don’t be fooled by his size and diminished agility, Big Show — now Paul Wight in AEW — is great and his presence allows for some cool stuff to happen in multi-man matches. One of the most impressive feats of strength inside a wrestling ring ever came at his expense in this match, but we’ll get to that in a bit. Prior to this match, Cena and Edge already had a prolific rivalry with each other behind them, meaning their chemistry in the parts of the match featuring just them had a nice flow.

Just like his triple threat match the year before, Cena was once again in an all systems go, sub-15-minute match. Edge and Cena carried much of the workload in this one before Cena literally carried the weight of both Edge and Big Show for about a second or two. That’s about 600 or more pounds of MAN pressed on Cena’s shoulders, making this one of the most iconic visuals in ‘Mania’s 30+ year history. Of course, this was the finish, and Cena walked out of Houston a 2-time World Heavyweight Champion.

(The clip is skipped to Cena lifting both Edge and Show on his shoulders)

WM XXVI: John Cena vs. Batista for the WWE Championship (2010)

Cena and Batista were destined to meet in a match at WrestleMania. They had almost identical trajectories to their respective heights in the industry, but an injury to Batista in 2005 may have ultimately and dramatically altered both men’s careers. It’s interesting to ponder an alternate reality where Batista was never injured and the roles of this match were reversed, with Cena as the bitter heel and Batista as the company’s top face.

I think it was best that things turned out the way they did. Batista is one awesome bad guy and Cena is the face of all faces.

This was like a clash of the titans, with two big statuesque dudes dealing each other numerous big moves for the duration of the bout. There’s a sick Attitude Adjustment attempt reversed into a Batista Bomb that was shockingly seamless considering the muscle-laden physiques of both men. I thought bowling ball shoulders were supposed to impede mobility! Cena and Batista surprised me and put on what I think is one of the more underrated ‘Mania matches.

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