#6. John Cena vs CM Punk | RAW, February 25th, 2013
A match so good, it appeared in The Hangover Part III. After Cena won the Rumble and Punk lost the WWE title to The Rock, these two men competed with the spot at Mania on the line. A very back and forth contest between two of the best, Punk at his best heel work, controlling matches as people do against Cena.
Cena would fight back, powering Cena up (the scene used in The Hangover Part III) but Punk would get right back on top, dodging a Cena shoulder tackle. Punk would counter again, this time countering Cena’s spinning powerbomb into an Anaconda Vice, also countering the STF into the Anaconda Vice. Punk had Cena’s number, it was put together brilliantly, fans thinking Cena’s spot at Mania was in jeopardy. The crowd in Dallas were HOT for this match, biting on every nearfall.
Counter after counter from both these men, kick-outs after their finishers were hit, submission attempts. This match had everything and it was for FREE, on Monday Night RAW. This match even had a PILEDRIVER, did it end the match? Absolutely not. What would end this match is John Cena hitting a hurricanrana and an AA for the three. These men went hell for leather on weekly TV and absolutely delivered. Inside the Tokyo Dome, Dave would be giving this *****.
#5. John Cena vs Umaga | Last Man Standing Match for the WWE Championship | Royal Rumble 2007
I think a lot of people going into this match, did not expect it to be as good as it was. But they absolutely blew it out of the park with this hard-hitting scrap. Umaga still had the aura about him of being unstoppable with Cena growing into the hero we know him as today, taking on larger men in a no-rule stipulation. Cena also went into this with injured ribs, due to prior attacks from the Samoan Bulldozer, giving us more drama and more babyface fire from the WWE Champion.
Obviously, Umaga controlled, beat Cena down, and would stop the multiple flurries from him until the champion would get all of the jabs, he needed to get in. Both men pulled off some fantastic spots, Cena picking up the steps and launching them from the ring to ringside into Umaga’s face. Umaga’s ‘handler’, Astrada, undid the turnbuckle from the corner, telling Umaga to use it for his Samoan Spike but would have that countered into a rope-assisted STFU from Cena. Cena wrapped the ropes around Umaga’s neck, his face pouring with blood, causing the challenger to pass out in a brilliant end to this match.
#4 John Cena vs Edge | TLC Match for the WWE Championship | Unforgiven 2006
A wrestler losing in their hometown? For WWE? NEVER.
Cena would head into enemy territory against his greatest foe, Edge, in Edge’s hometown in Edge’s match, TLC. What I love about this match is the pure emotion on his face as he’d lift the title above his head, which shows what professional wrestling is all about.
As every match between these two men would go, very even to start, both men knowing the other so well. Edge would be the first to get the toys, hitting a reverse DDT onto upturned chairs, reversing a suplex, using this to take control of the match to huge cheers from the hometown crowd. The momentum would swing, Cena hitting a hip toss on a ladder before the momentum swung back the other way, Edge hitting a powerslam through a table. Edge would channel his inner Shelty B, running up the ladder to jump out on Cena who was at ringside.
A constant back and forth between the two rivals, battling over the WWE Championship, Cena would put the STFU on Edge, who was sandwiched between the ladder. We’d ultimately get to one of the best spots in a TLC match, Cena hitting the FU on Edge from the top of the ladder, through two tables, before pulling down the WWE Championship to once again, be atop the mountain.
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