Ranking John Cena’s Greatest WrestleMania Matches

WM 36: John Cena vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt in a Firefly Funhouse Match (2020)

I know. It was not a “wrestling” match, per se. But damn, I was captivated. I still can’t believe this was a WWE production; everything about it was so bold and weird. This was a different brand of “weird,” though. The typical WWE brand of weirdness often feels so forced, but this felt naturally funny and intriguing. Seeing surreal sketch comedy in the form of a horror movie in a WWE show was very bizarre, considering Vince McMahon has surely never watched a second of Adult Swim.

What distinguishes this from other cinematic matches in WWE’s catalog is that it’s the only one that appears to have taken place in an alternate reality. Wyatt trapped Cena inside his own psyche and took him on an expedition through his greatest failures and successes; even his greatest successes were twisted iterations of themselves. This match also examined one of the most interesting hypothetical scenarios of Cena’s story arc: what if John Cena was a heel? It’s hilarious to me that this match is WWE canon, and especially hilarious that this was how Cena was written off WWE TV and has remained written off since. It’s such a pleasantly strange production.

WM 23: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship (2007)

In his bout with Triple H the year prior, Cena was visibly “green,” still. This time, he squared off with an HBK at the peak of his powers; Cena had improved a great deal in the time since that night in Chicago. In the episode of WrestleMania Rewind regarding this match, it was disclosed that the original plan was a rematch between Cena and Triple H, but Michaels subbed in following his D-Generation X teammate’s injury a few months before.

That was a bit of accidental magic, but Cena and Michaels — who entered the match as the World Tag Team Champions — wrestled with purpose at ‘Mania 23 in Detroit, no matter what the circumstance. Giving Michaels the chance to wrestle in the main event of WrestleMania one-on-one with the WWE Champion felt like a lifetime achievement award of sorts, and “The Showstopper” made the absolute most of this opportunity.

The two a great story told in this match; it started with Michaels brushing Cena — who was only two years into his run as the WWE’s top guy — off as if he were unworthy to be in the ring with him. As the match progressed, Michaels learned that Cena wouldn’t engage him in a wrestling match, but he would beat the hell out of him instead. Michaels’ aerial brilliance was on display along with Cena’s freakish strength. Add in a bit of blood and a great deal of drama near the end and you have Cena’s greatest performance at WrestleMania.