The Most Surprising Losses Of John Cena's WWE Career

Sixteen-time world champion John Cena has already had a legendary career in WWE, and is certainly a first-ballot Hall of Famer even before completing his final run in his 2025 WWE retirement tour. Cena has done it all, including getting over the "Doctor of Thuganomics" gimmick, winning both the Royal Rumble in 2008 and the Money in the Bank contract in 2012, and has headlined WrestleMania five times. He has even made a wildly successful transition into Hollywood. He's also a world record holder outside of the ring, with the most wishes granted for the Make-A-Wish program at over 650.

Despite never officially turning heel in the ring, Cena hasn't always been loved in WWE by the fans, earning himself the nickname "Super Cena" for how strongly he was booked. Throughout his career, he defeated the likes of Triple H, Batista, Big Show, Booker T, Randy Orton, and more, with some notable "squash matches" many fans remember today, like defeating the entire Nexus at SummerSlam in 2010. Even though he's had major victories between the ropes, including all those championship wins, he's also suffered some big losses. 

Cena is continuing his retirement tour by looking for his first televised singles victory since 2018. Throughout the years, he's gone through different types of defeat, from the embarrassing, like taking a loss to a Z-list celebrity, and another to John Laurinaitis, to the straight shocking, like most recently, coming in second in the Royal Rumble in 2025 after being pushed off the ring apron by winner Jey Uso. 

Cena's loss at WrestleMania 24 in a triple threat match against "The Game" Triple H and "The Legend Killer," WWE Champion Randy Orton, was surprising because of how hard Cena fought to get there. He had to relinquish the championship when he suffered a torn pectoral muscle, and was expected to be out of WrestleMania. Cena suffered the tear in October of 2007 and was said to be out of action for six months to a year, but shocked the world when he showed up at the Royal Rumble at the end of January. He entered the match at #30 to a raucous crowd reaction to throw Triple H over the top rope to win the match.

Cena initially used his Rumble win to challenge Orton at No Way Out, but Orton got himself intentionally disqualified. Cena argued that he deserved another championship match and defeated Orton on "WWE Raw" to earn one at WrestleMania, and got himself added to the match pitting the champion against Triple H, who won the Elimination Chamber. To end the Mania match, Orton hit his devastating punt to Triple H, who had Cena down on the mat for the pinfall, and stole the pin to retain his WWE Championship.

It was a shocking loss as fans were fully behind Cena after his impressive recovery from injury. It was also his first WrestleMania loss after successfully defending the WWE Championship in back-to-back years after initially winning it at WrestleMania 21, and successfully defending the United States Championship at WrestleMania 20. 

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson had long since gone to Hollywood and was no longer wrestling full-time when John Cena came up in WWE. However, the pair began a feud ahead of WrestleMania 27, where Cena was set to face off against The Miz and The Rock was the host of the event. Rock and Cena got into a series of promo battles and Rock interfered in his match, hitting the star with a Rock Bottom so Miz could score the victory and win the WWE Championship. This set the scene for the following year's WrestleMania match between the pair, which was billed as a "Once in a Lifetime" event.

The promo battles between Cena and Rock got even more vicious without Miz involved in 2012, including one on "WWE Raw" where Cena called out the actor for seemingly having his lines written on his hand, visibly upsetting Rock. Rock would then host a "Rock concert" in the ring on another episode and went after Cena's real-life divorce. When the time came for their match, which was the main event of WrestleMania 28, the pair went back-and-forth until Cena was caught by a Rock Bottom when he attempted a People's Elbow of his own, and Rock pinned him for the victory. 

The part-time star going over Cena was surprising, especially as Rock's Hollywood career and alleged abandonment of WWE, in Cena's eyes, were the main factor in their feud. Despite the shock, the match infamously wouldn't be "Once in a Lifetime," as the pair faced off once again next year at "The Showcase of the Immortals." Cena got his victory back, and kicked off his 11th reign with the WWE Championship.

Cena is no stranger to getting in the ring with other members of the Bloodline, in addition to "The Final Boss," but Cena's loss to Solo Sikoa — the youngest member of the family currently on WWE's main roster — at Crown Jewel in 2023 was surprising. The loss came around the time that fans began to realize Cena hadn't had a televised singles victory in quite some time, and he didn't get one in Saudi Arabia before he went back to Hollywood.

The match was part of Cena's WWE run during the Hollywood writer's strike and he got involved in the Bloodline's business alongside LA Knight. The pair took on Sikoa and Jimmy Uso at Fastlane before Crown Jewel, and got the victory, and Cena went on to face Sikoa in Riyadh. During the match, Sikoa hit a series of Samoan Spikes on Cena, who barely got in any offense. The loss was surprising not only because it was Cena's last date during his writer's strike run, but also because of where the match happened. Saudi Arabia is known for its love of nostalgia acts, so Cena not going over in the match to please the crowd, and the country's crown prince, was surprising. 

As of this writing, the match against Sikoa was Cena's most recent singles match. He's since teamed with the Awesome Truth and entered the Royal Rumble, and he is set for another multi-man match in the Elimination Chamber.

Prior to his Fastlane tag team victory and a series of dark matches, Cena had another surprising loss to a much younger star at WrestleMania 39. Cena went up against, and lost to, Austin Theory in an attempt to win the championship he helped make popular in his younger years, the United States title. The pair kicked off the first night of the event, and Cena surprisingly put the heel Theory over on "The Grandest Stage of Them All." It surprised some viewers, as Theory wasn't getting over with the fans and wasn't very well liked, and many expected that year's WrestleMania to start off on a high note.

The pair started the feud on social media, and Theory ramped things up when he interrupted Cena's 20-year anniversary celebration on "Raw" in June 2022. The next year, Cena returned in March, and Theory confronted him once again and issued the WrestleMania challenge. The leader of the "Cenation" initially refused, as he thought Theory wasn't ready. However, Cena let his hometown crowd in Boston, Massachusetts decide that night, and the match was set. Theory didn't win their Mania bout clean, however, and hit a low blow after the referee was downed, followed by an A-Town Down to defeat Cena and retain his title. It was Cena's sixth WrestleMania loss in his career, having lost to Bray Wyatt in the cinematic "Firefly Funhouse" match the year prior.

One of Cena's most embarrassing, unlikely losses was to a man who was only famous at the time for being married to Britney Spears while attempting to become a rapper. Federline and Cena crossed paths in the "Celebrity Guest Host" era of WWE, when "K-Fed" appeared on the red brand alongside Johnny Nitro and Melina back in 2006. The wannabe rapper went to the ring and asked the fans if they wanted him to play his music, and Cena came out, spitting a verse even though his "Doctor of Thuganomics" gimmick had been retired. Cena hit Federline with an Attitude Adjustment to end the segment, but Federline would return multiple times to attempt to get in Cena's way.

The pair finally faced off in a No Disqualification match on "Raw" on January 1, 2007. Federline was accompanied to the ring by Morrison, who eventually got involved in the match. While the referee was distracted by Morrison, Federline hit Cena with a low blow. Umaga, who was set to challenge Cena next, also interfered and hit Cena with his own WWE Championship from behind, allowing Federline to get the pin and the surprising victory over Cena. It was the leader of the "Cenation" who got the last laugh that night, however, when he delivered another Attitude Adjustment to Federline, but "K-Fed" will forever have a victory over Cena.

Before John Laurinaitis was most infamous for being sued alongside Vince McMahon by former WWE employee Janel Grant, he was the head of the "People Power" movement as the on-screen manager for "WWE Raw," and in 2012, he was feuding with Cena. It started when following his "Once in a Lifetime" loss to The Rock, a returning Brock Lesnar attacked Cena and was supported by Laurinaitis. After multiple attacks on Cena by Lesnar and Lord Tensai, Laurinaitis revealed himself to be Cena's next opponent. The WWE Board of Directors ruled, in storyline, that if anyone interfered on Laurinaitis' behalf in their match, they would be fired, and Laurinaitis himself would be canned if he lost.

The pair went face-to-face in the main event of Over The Limit that year in a No Disqualification match. Laurinaitis scored the shocking victory over Cena, due to a surprise interference by the then-unemployed Big Show. The general manager had fired Big Show weeks before, for mocking his voice, so he couldn't be fired again for helping out during the match. Big Show knocked out Cena with a WMD, and Laurinaitis pinned him to keep his job. Laurinaitis was one of the company's biggest heels at that point, so it was shocking not to see him get his comeuppance at the hands of Cena.

Cena's loss to Kevin Owens during Owens' main roster debut, while still holding the NXT Championship, is considered Cena's most shocking loss by WWE itself, as ranked in a video on the company's YouTube channel. Owens answered Cena's weekly United States Championship Open Challenge on an episode of "WWE Raw," but instead of a match, "The Prizefighter" attacked Cena and told him they would fight on his terms. Owens was granted a match against Cena at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.

During the match, the pair traded finishers, with Owens hitting a pop-up powerbomb and Cena getting off an "Attitude Adjustment" for a near fall. The NXT Champion taunted the US Champion throughout the match and even hit his own AA to the leader of the "Cenation." Owens hit a second pop-up powerbomb on Cena to score the victory, shocking everyone in the audience who wasn't already familiar with Owens on WWE's developmental brand.

After the referee counted the pin, Owens grabbed the microphone and addressed the shocked crowd, declaring that Cena's time was up, and his time was now. Following the victory, WWE called it "one of the hardest-hitting fights in WWE history" and said Owens walked out with a career-making victory over Cena.

The "Yes!" movement in WWE surrounding star Daniel Bryan was going strong in 2013, but fans were still doubtful about Bryan actually getting awarded victories in WWE due to how he had previously been booked. Even before his match with Cena for the WWE Championship, Bryan had been put in adverse situations, in storyline, by heel referee Brad Maddox as well as Vince McMahon. However, he and Cena put on an excellent match at SummerSlam that year, and Cena surprisingly put Bryan over, in a bout that would be named Match of the Year by "Pro Wrestling Illustrated."

Their match was marketed as "wrestler versus entertainer." Bryan was able to win the match with a kick to the head, followed by a running knee to Cena to win his first WWE Championship. After the match, Cena shook Bryan's hand, accepting defeat, and even seemed to give him words of advice before he left the ring.

Bryan's celebration and the shock of Cena's loss on the grand summer stage didn't last long, however, as Randy Orton would interrupt Bryan's moment and cash in his Money in the Bank contract, and the pin was counted by special guest referee for Bryan and Cena's match, Triple H. The "Yes!" movement would further gain steam after Bryan's defeat, and Cena surprisingly wasn't one to hold it back.

When the leader of the "Cenation" put over Sheamus in a tables match at the TLC pay-per-view in 2009, it was surprising in many ways, because "The Celtic Warrior" had only been on WWE television for 166 days, and fans also initially thought the ending of the match was a botch. Those watching questioned the shocking ending when Cena was put through a table and Sheamus seemingly fell off the turnbuckle as the bell rang. The spot was planned, however, and at the end of the end of the match, Cena looked like he was ready to suplex Sheamus through the table from the top rope, but Sheamus countered, shoving the champion off the rope to crash through the wood below.  

Sheamus himself admitted it was a late decision for him to capture the championship from Cena, and he said it was Cena who had a lot to do with him going over. He said in an interview that "nobody was very excited" about his victory, as a lot of guys backstage had been there for years and hadn't been given the opportunity he had. Sheamus said there was a lot of heat on him after he won the title from Cena.

When John Cena announced his retirement tour at Money in the Bank in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and explained that the 2025 Royal Rumble would be his last, and also the first time he would get in the ring during the tour, many fans thought that he was a shoe-in to win the match, destined to outlast 29 other men. Shockingly, that wasn't the case, despite Cena being one of the final two men in the ring to end the night. The Rumble victory would surprisingly go to Jey Uso, who had gotten massively over with the fans with his "YEET!" catchphrase following a press conference appearance alongside Cody Rhodes. Uso's swell of fan support was too much for WWE to ignore, and Cena put him over, despite Uso being the one to send him over the top.

After eliminating former United States Champion Logan Paul, Uso hit a spear to Cena, but Cena countered and dumped him over the top rope. Uso held on, and the pair exchanged right hands on the apron as the crowd held their breath. Cena got Uso up for an Attitude Adjustment, but Uso escaped from the move and sent Cena crashing to the floor, and the crowd in Indianapolis, Indiana went wild. While many fans were excited for Uso, his win was divisive, with many thinking Cena should have won the WrestleMania-match opportunity at the event.