Video: Watch John Cena Analyze Some Of His Classic WWE Matches
As John Cena enters the home stretch of his illustrious career, it's the perfect time as any to reflect on his greatest matches. In a new YouTube video released by WWE, the man himself walked down memory lane to pick out his favorite matches from a career spanning over 21 years.
First, Cena picked his Extreme Rules Match against Brock Lesnar at the 2012 Extreme Rules premium live event. The match was significant for a number of reasons — Cena was fresh off a loss to The Rock at WrestleMania 28 and needed a victory to get his career back on track. Lesnar, meanwhile, had just returned to WWE and the match against Cena was his first outing in a WWE ring since WrestleMania XX. In short, both men needed the win, but it was Cena who prevailed at the end of a vicious encounter, after hitting an Attitude Adjustment to a bloody Lesnar on top of the steel steps.
"I love Brock as a performer," Cena said reflecting on the match. "I think he's extremely underrated, even though he's in conversation for the greatest of all time. And I love him as a human being. He is wholeheartedly himself and shoots you straight. And I really admire that about him."
Next, Cena picked his Last Man Standing Match against Batista from the 2010 Extreme Rules premium live event. Reflecting on it, Cena appreciates the brutality in the match and the extent to which the two performers pushed themselves, especially the concluding spot that saw Cena duct-taping Batista's legs around the ring post to keep "The Animal" down for the 10 count. "I think unique ideas like that ... I love that creative thinking, but man, that could have been smoother on my end," Cena said.
Why John Cena Loved Working With Bray Wyatt
Next, John Cena picked his Iron Man Match against Randy Orton from the 2009 Bragging Rights premium live event. Again, Cena appreciates some of the creative spots, specifically the one that saw Orton causing the pyrotechnics to go off to secure a 4-3 lead in the match. Eventually, Cena won 6-5 when he locked in the STF with five seconds left in the bout.
Cena then picked his Last Man Standing match against Bray Wyatt from the 2014 Payback premium live event. The match was the third in the trilogy of bouts between the bitter rivals after Cena won at WrestleMania 30 and Wyatt got one back inside a Steel Cage at Extreme Rules. At Payback, Cena would prevail by placing a large production box on top of Wyatt, forcing "The Eater of Worlds" to stay down for the 10 count.
"I really enjoyed performing with Bray," Cena said. "We were cut from the same cloth in that regard — both storytellers, both wanting to do bizarre things. We also tried to do different things and embraced each other's creativity."
The other matches in Cena's list include his United States Championship match against Kevin Owens at Battleground 2015, the match against Shawn Michaels on an episode of "WWE Raw" in April 2007, and finally, his classic bout against AJ Styles at Royal Rumble 2017. Cena explained why the latter match against "The Phenomenal One" was particularly special to him. "There are so many [matches] that I don't have any recollection of [but] I have fond memories of that," Cena said of his match with Styles. "When a plan comes together and everyone has a good time, it works. There isn't a better feeling."
.@JohnCena's 🇺🇸 Open Challenge was all about opportunity – and @FightOwensFight made the most of it.
Watch The Greatest of All Time reflect on his battle with KO and other legendary matches on WWE's official YouTube channel.
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— WWE (@WWE) November 1, 2023