What is your favorite Cena match?

Rjd2

He has had many matches over the years. :eek: [/obvious]



While I can understand a lot of the complaints about his booking and promo style, heck I probably joined in with it many times, you have to admit the guy knows how to put on a Main Event match.:o
Thinking about his work since 2007 where I think he really improved, their has a ton of really good matches form him. He has had some corkers with Edge, Orton, JBL, Ziggler, Swagger, Batista to name a few.

However if pushed I would have to favor his Royal Rumble match with Umaga. Its booking 101, the babyface tries all to overcome the big bad monster and then snaps to choke the big man out. Its probably the nest Last Man Standing match in history, not sure how big of a compliment that is really.

So erm whats your favorite Superman Cena matches, go on you have to like at least one Cena match..:eek::o

gimmick

His one hour match with HBK in London is a stunner, and the TLC with Edge was pretty fantastic as well.

CMpunked

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH_XnyMo3L4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9UE9etCHnw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tskeHG3N1os

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L9xo4ws178

jaykhunter

John Cena vs Umaga at the 2007 Royal Rumble was a stormer. Another wasted talent RIP

There's a couple from his early days as a rapper which were great....

Angle vs Cena @ Unforgiven 2003 was pretty sweet! But that is Kurt Angle. Oddly Cena showed a lot more ring psychology back then than now, after 5-6 years in the main event

SlickRic

IMO...

in ascending order...

3. 1 Hour with HBK
the definitive way to know whether you have 'it' or not, is to go toe to toe with HBK in an hour-long match, and hold your own.

he did.

'nuff said.

and he dispelled, once and for all, any rumours that he 'couldn't wrestle'. he put that bollocks to bed with this outing.


2. Last Man Standing with Umaga

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi7t0b9zRnY

as said, a simple premise, and played to perfection by both characters. Cena had no option but to 'lose it' in order to choke out a monster who was obliterating him.

a wonderful performance, and proved once again, after his 'I Quit' match with JBL, that he could stand up and deliver on these kinds of matches, and make them believable, on PPV.


1. at One Night Stand against RVD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJhHDoarORU

the night, in my eyes, he became a true champion of this business, and the night he became THE man.

RVD may have won, but this night was all about John Cena.

he milked every minute of hate, didn't take one backstep from the barrage of abuse that was coming from the fans, didn't compromise his character once, smugly did all the spots (5-Knuckle Shuffle, pumping up the sneakers) that the crowd would absolutely despise, while doing it with a smile on his face, pretty much carried RVD to the best match of his WWE career (since his match v Jeff Hardy at Invasion); and generally just trolled the shít out of a crowd that was baying for his blood.

he got them to react exactly how he wanted them to.

he came out looking like a million bucks IMO.

phenomenal.

Diabhal Beag

Cena vs HHH at Mania 22. Just by the hatred from the crowd alone. To think we were sick of Cena in 2006 :pac:

JP Liz V1

I thought he best were against Orton imo partically their I Quit match

jaykhunter

Cena gained a lot of respect from me at ONS 2006. He worked the match like a pro; i've never heard so much hate for one man in a WWE show.

DM_7

Cena v Orton Iron man Match and I quit were very good.

Punk v Cena in 2011 was a top notch cable TV match.

Machismo Fan

Either the Royal Rumble '07 match with Umaga or the Backlash '09 Last Man Standing with Edge.

Lord TSC

Although it was only about a minute long, his match with Edge at new Year's Revolution stands out as possibly one of my favorite moments of all time. Granted, it wasn't a five star match but it being the first time the MITB had been cashed in, it told a great story. I was jumping around and marking out for it.

RVD vs Cena is another excellent match, both in terms of story and in righ action. As was Umaga vs Cena.

The Volt

Cena can wrestle. He managed to carry Batista at Mania last year and I thought he did well. However, it's the same thing every match and he never mixes it up. It's always Shoulder block, should block, spinning back drop, five knuckle shuffle, AA (With the optional reversal which results in the STF).

I would respect him a lot more if he mixed it up a bit more.

jmolloy

Agree Cena v Micheals and Cena v RVD. Enjoyed his match match with Big Show at Mania 20 i think it was and his debut as well against Angle but that was probably Angle dragging the rookie up a lot

ibFoxer

gimmick wrote: »

His one hour match with HBK in London is a stunner, and the TLC with Edge was pretty fantastic as well.

And to think, that match only happened because Orton ROYALLY f'd up the night before.

THANK YOU ORTON

Was at that RAW, was a pretty epic night :pac:

D.Q

what happened with Orton?

ibFoxer

D.Q wrote: »

what happened with Orton?

Ya know, i'm actually not sure. The only reason i know he did anything was cos we were talking about best matches the other night while waiting for the Rumble and my most knowledgeable mate mentioned it, he did'nt know either.:o

I'm certain SOMEONE here will have the answer though

CMpunked

D.Q wrote: »

what happened with Orton?

If he means the time i think he means;

When orton was in his "Im hhh's mate, im a second generation superstar" ego trip they (wwe) were on a tour and he trashed a hotel room in england and got sent home off the tour.
I remember it because it was the same day as the Mick Foley signing in easons and someone asked him what he thought about it and he had no idea what happened but said that he thought Randy could have all the possibilities to be one of the biggest stars in wrestling ever if he got rid of his own ego.

Mr.Nice Guy

I like Slick's choices. They came to mind for me too. The match with HBK was one of the best matches that year and 2007 was probably his best year overall. The Rumble match with Umaga was also great and I loved the visual of the Samoan monster being choked out by a desperate Cena. The match at ECW ONS I think was the night he won me over. He bored me big time in the latter half of 2005 and into early 2006 but the way he conducted himself in that arena where everyone hated his guts was phenomenal.

I think selling the drama of a match is one of his great unsung attributes as he really knows how to capture a moment. I think gimmick mentioned the TLC match with Edge and even in that match near the end where he has thrown Edge off the ladder, destroying Edge's hopes of retaining in his home town, and then he almost remorsefully unhooks the title and wins the match selling the moment brilliantly.

Another match I loved from his early years, and many people may have forgotten it and I only recall it because I had it on tape for a good few years afterwards, he had a TERRIFIC match with Kurt Angle at No Mercy in 2003. This was when he was really starting to get over as a heel. This is a great bout and one to check out if you've missed it/forgotten it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3__xWk4950U

flahavaj

The Umaga match at RR always stands out for me. What a finish, one of the most memorable of the last decade.

grames_bond

he had a smackdown match against danielson years back which was a fairly good one iirc! (as most of danielsons are)

citytillidie

Your fired match with Jericho on RAW after their Summerslam match was a good match and the crowd was great too

jaykhunter

grames_bond wrote: »

he had a smackdown match against danielson years back which was a fairly good one iirc! (as most of danielsons are)

That's right; Danielson surprisingly got a lot of offense! It was sweet! Great TV match; probably only 6-7 minutes tho

irish_stevo815

jaykhunter wrote: »

That's right; Danielson surprisingly got a lot of offense! It was sweet! Great TV match; probably only 6-7 minutes tho

:eek:
On Velocity no less. Love the yellow pants!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf-kiUcAdVI

parker kent

Weird how different people view different matches. One Night Stand was one of the nights that I think of when I think of how his booking drives me insane. Most of the match is Cena offence and not the typical RVD match. That he doesn't get a Van Daminator or Terminator annoyed me too. Fair enough if it was back and forth, bit it was booked to emphasize Cena. It was ONS after all and RVD's big night, but it ended up being the John Cena Show.

SlickRic

parker kent wrote: »

Weird how different people view different matches. One Night Stand was one of the nights that I think of when I think of how his booking drives me insane. Most of the match is Cena offence and not the typical RVD match. That he doesn't get a Van Daminator or Terminator annoyed me too. Fair enough if it was back and forth, bit it was booked to emphasize Cena. It was ONS after all and RVD's big night, but it ended up being the John Cena Show.

ah here, it was the 'John Cena Show' because the crowd made it the John Cena show, and Cena just used it to maximise the emotion.

he performed his role perfectly, which is why he's a bigger star than RVD would ever hope to be.

it's akin to the Hogan/Warrior match at Mania. Warrior won, but most people remember Hogan. very little to do with how it was booked.

Hogan is just better than Warrior.

Cena is just better than RVD.

we remember Cena in that match, IMO, because he outperformed RVD, plus he was already a bigger star anyway.

i may be slightly biased by the way, simply because i think RVD is pretty much the most overrated, arrogant, self-indulgent spot monkey in wrestling history (it's why him and Jeff Hardy get on so well).

i never 'got it' with Rob at all.

parker kent

SlickRic wrote: »

ah here, it was the 'John Cena Show' because the crowd made it the John Cena show, and Cena just used it to maximise the emotion.

he performed his role perfectly, which is why he's a bigger star than RVD would ever hope to be.

it's akin to the Hogan/Warrior match at Mania. Warrior won, but most people remember Hogan. very little to do with how it was booked.

Hogan is just better than Warrior.

Cena is just better than RVD.

we remember Cena in that match, IMO, because he outperformed RVD, plus he was already a bigger star anyway.

i may be slightly biased by the way, simply because i think RVD is pretty much the most overrated, arrogant, self-indulgent spot monkey in wrestling history (it's why him and Jeff Hardy get on so well).

i never 'got it' with Rob at all.

I don't get it with Cena, you don't get it with RVD. I prefer watching RVD over Cena, you may feel the opposite. I liked seeing Van Dam perform pretty amazing spots with the likes of Jerry Lynn, Sabu etc. You may not. There is no right or wrong.

I do however, feel the match was booked to emphasize Cena and maximize the hate he was getting from the crowd. The match was not about RVD, it was all Cena. Watch any RVD match from ECW and compare it to that match, Van Dam got a small amount of offense compared to when he was the focal point.

Of course our memories of the match are influenced by how it is booked. Saying otherwise is laughable. If it was booked to feature non-stop offense from one guy (therefore preventing the other from doing anything memorable), then the booking will influence the memories of the match. Hogan went into business for himself in the Warrior and Rock matches, that is why we remember him in those instances.

I was basically saying with my point that it is funny how one persons great match is another person's stinker. I think that is the point the booking of Cena's matches started to become unbearable for me. I much prefer him in the Umaga or HBK matches as he is portrayed as more human, not the Super Hero. Cena is far better when he is shown to have weaknesses, yet over comes them. That is why since 2007 his matches have gone downhill as he becomes less human and more Super Hero. That night in 2006 could be seen as a starting point of the invincible Super Hero Cena and it became more common place over time.

Edit: About the "he was a bigger star point". In that building, on that night you could easily say Van Dam was a bigger star. It was an ECW crowd, Van Dam is Mr. ECW. The crowd wanted to see RVD finally become a world champion. There would be nothing wrong with booking an even match and on Raw the next night saying that the home field advantage raised RVD's game, thus making him a star in the WWE. Booking plays a major role in how we perceive stars. If they are booked in matches as stars, wrestlers have a far better chance of becoming one. It is not guaranteed, but the chances greatly improve. On the other hand, if we see a guy get beaten around like a jobber and require Edge to win it for them (despite the ultimate home advantage), then it is difficult to become a star.

SlickRic

parker kent wrote: »

I don't get it with Cena, you don't get it with RVD. I prefer watching RVD over Cena, you may feel the opposite. I liked seeing Van Dam perform pretty amazing spots with the likes of Jerry Lynn, Sabu etc. You may not. There is no right or wrong.

agreed.

I was basically saying with my point that it is funny how one persons great match is another person's stinker.

if this was the main point, i do agree with this totally; and i concur with most of the rest of your interpretation of the Cena booking.

About the "he was a bigger star point". In that building, on that night you could easily say Van Dam was a bigger star. It was an ECW crowd, Van Dam is Mr. ECW.

this is where we slightly differ.

yes, RVD's Mr ECW.

but IMO, he was not the bigger star that night.

the crowd, even during the match, were more pre-occupied with chanting about Cena than they were in supporting RVD.

that was my interpretation.

but as i say, my bias against RVD may affect that

barney4001

a circus scam put on whatever:p

D2D

barney4001 wrote: »

a circus scam put on whatever:p

huh

jaykhunter

irish_stevo815 wrote: »

:eek:
On Velocity no less. Love the yellow pants!

Oh! That's right! I meant didn't they have a match on RAW last year? Also Danielson had a great short match with Batty.

CMpunked

That velocity match was actually really really good.
Cheers for digging it out!

grames_bond

sorry you are right (obviously with the link) it was velocity not SD! (damn blue ropes)

that would be my fav match, though they both worked well together!!

starviewadams

The only Cena matches that I can remember being very good are the one vs Umaga and the one on Raw vs HBK.Also the RVD ONS match,but I remember the crowd reaction more then the actual match.

For me,all of his other matches just blend into one mediocre,irritating to watch blur.

parker kent

starviewadams wrote: »

The only Cena matches that I can remember being very good are the one vs Umaga and the one on Raw vs HBK.Also the RVD ONS match,but I remember the crowd reaction more then the actual match.

For me,all of his other matches just blend into one mediocre,irritating to watch blur.

HBK could bring a cardboard cut-out to a 4 star match.

grames_bond

parker kent wrote: »

HBK could bring a cardboard cut-out to a 4 star match.

certain people can have a great match with a mop....

HBK didn't even need the mop!

Wolfe Tone

TLC match against Edge, I hated Cena up to that, once he took the big bump he got my respect.

rossie1977

parker kent wrote: »

Weird how different people view different matches. One Night Stand was one of the nights that I think of when I think of how his booking drives me insane. Most of the match is Cena offence and not the typical RVD match. That he doesn't get a Van Daminator or Terminator annoyed me too. Fair enough if it was back and forth, bit it was booked to emphasize Cena. It was ONS after all and RVD's big night, but it ended up being the John Cena Show.

so cenas other matches are booked to emphasize everyone else so i guess because cena never gets most of the offence

come on, it was in rvds home court, rvd was booked to win, what more do you want, cena was the top guy in the business and had held the title most of the previous 15 months, and one week or so later rvd f**ked it all up by being caught with drugs on him, slick is spot on, personally i would never have put my main title on a guy like rvd, paul e was smart enough to never put his main title on rvd, vince learned from his mistake though

anyway on topic, most of cenas main matches in late 2006-2007 were very good, umaga at rr, michaels at mania and raw, lashley at gab, orton at summerslam, he even got an entertaining watchable affair out of khali :eek: his injury in late 2007 took alot out of him and he came back way to early, he struggled to gain any sort of form in 2008 got injured again but since then he has come close to his 2006-07 form, great last man standing match with edge at backlash, some really fun encounters with batista, the orton series had some top notch wrestling, he has given wade barrett his best match in wwe to date

favourite match probably umaga at the rumble, i was there first row ringside that night in san antonio and it was the night that i really got out of the anti-cena crowd that parker and star still seem to be in

parker kent

rossie1977 wrote: »

so cenas other matches are booked to emphasize everyone else so i guess because cena never gets most of the offence

come on, it was in rvds home court, rvd was booked to win, what more do you want, cena was the top guy in the business and had held the title most of the previous 15 months, and one week or so later rvd f**ked it all up by being caught with drugs on him, slick is spot on, personally i would never have put my main title on a guy like rvd, paul e was smart enough to never put his main title on rvd, vince learned from his mistake though

Last post on this, since it is waaay OT. The TV title was pretty much level with the World title and he held it for 22 months. He was also about to win the title before he broke his ankle and then the shít hit the fan financially with ECW so they never got the chance. The plan was for RVD/Awesome to have an ECW title feud. It is a humongous lie to say Heyman was not going to put the title on him.

Your first point is also a bit ridiculous and nit picky. It surely goes without saying that Cena's matches are 99% of the time booked to emphasize him (as is the case for every top guy in the history of every promotion).

Van Dam was a lost opportunity for the WWE. Sure he ballsed up with the arrest, nobody disputes that. Maybe he would have been better off getting involved in a drug bust for steroids instead of wacky baccy, Vince seems to love those guys!

Just for a sliver of on topicness, the HBK match is far and away Cena's best. Then the Umaga match is next. It is fair to say I'm not a fan of too many of his other matches.

rossie1977

parker kent wrote: »

Your first point is also a bit ridiculous and nit picky. It surely goes without saying that Cena's matches are 99% of the time booked to emphasize him (as is the case for every top guy in the history of every promotion).

how is it nickpicky, you said cena got most of the offense in that match (i can't remember since its been a while since i watched that match), that in itself goes against the grain of a normal cena match, so if cena got most of the offense and lost then why it is nitpicky to say that if say dolph ziggler or jack swagger gets most of the offense against cena and loses then the match was booked to "emphasize" dolph or swagger it surely works both ways or no..........

Van Dam was a lost opportunity for the WWE.

rvd hasn't drawn s*it in his career, he was top of the card in portlaoise last year and they had to move the show to the small hall in the hotel and still there was only a few people at the show. chris masters and test drew way more a few months earlier over 1000 people. kevin nash was spot on in his shoot when he described rvd as the guy who works with main-eventers like hhh, cena, rock, austin and will never see his name on the marquee at msg

Sure he ballsed up with the arrest, nobody disputes that. Maybe he would have been better off getting involved in a drug bust for steroids instead of wacky baccy, Vince seems to love those guys!

yeah because rvd don't do roids :P vince has no problem with his guys doing weed, i was told this by someone who works closely with wwe, he has a problem with guys doing weed and getting caught by police, getting arrested and bringing bad publicity to his company

flahavaj

parker kent wrote: »

Weird how different people view different matches. One Night Stand was one of the nights that I think of when I think of how his booking drives me insane. Most of the match is Cena offence and not the typical RVD match. That he doesn't get a Van Daminator or Terminator annoyed me too. Fair enough if it was back and forth, bit it was booked to emphasize Cena. It was ONS after all and RVD's big night, but it ended up being the John Cena Show.

Cena was the heel. Hells often dominate on offence in a match in order to build the crowd heat, so that they'll pop for the babyface comeback/win. You can't dent Cena didn't do that well in fairness.

Sirsok

I remember being pleasently suprised by the match he had with Lashley at the Great American Bash 2007.....the FU of the turnbuckles was sick!

The iron man match at breaking point match with orton was good.....the kendo stick shots while handcuffed looked ridiculously painfull!

The time the raw crew came to Ireland in 05 he had a great match with Angle.....crowd was mental!

chordtype

Against Umaga at the Royal Rumble a few years back. Career best match for both men.

D.Q

parker kent wrote: »

Last post on this, since it is waaay OT. The TV title was pretty much level with the World title and he held it for 22 months.

But it definitely wasn't.

Compare past holders of both belts.

edit: wait. what world title do you mean?

starviewadams

The old ECW World Title I think.

parker kent

D.Q wrote: »

But it definitely wasn't.

Compare past holders of both belts.

edit: wait. what world title do you mean?

ECWs World and TV titles. I was talking about Rob Van Dam in ECW. It was claimed Heyman didn't believe in him enough, which is obviously nonsense. He gave him the TV title for 22 months and was about to book him as World Champion.

ricero

against rvd at one night stand such a hostile place for cena and he milked it brilliantly was a brilliant match aswell

parker kent

rossie1977 wrote: »

how is it nickpicky, you said cena got most of the offense in that match (i can't remember since its been a while since i watched that match), that in itself goes against the grain of a normal cena match, so if cena got most of the offense and lost then why it is nitpicky to say that if say dolph ziggler or jack swagger gets most of the offense against cena and loses then the match was booked to "emphasize" dolph or swagger it surely works both ways or no..........

rvd hasn't drawn s*it in his career, he was top of the card in portlaoise last year and they had to move the show to the small hall in the hotel and still there was only a few people at the show. chris masters and test drew way more a few months earlier over 1000 people. kevin nash was spot on in his shoot when he described rvd as the guy who works with main-eventers like hhh, cena, rock, austin and will never see his name on the marquee at msg

yeah because rvd don't do roids :P vince has no problem with his guys doing weed, i was told this by someone who works closely with wwe, he has a problem with guys doing weed and getting caught by police, getting arrested and bringing bad publicity to his company

Because when a regular heel gets most of the offense there is a natural turn towards the end when the face gets the upper hand. That did not happen in that match. Edge interfered before Van Dam got the upper hand. So it was basically Cena on top for the entire match. Of course I understand that the heel controls most matches. But it was one of the most one-sided WWE title matches imaginable. And it lacked the payoff of the babyface comeback. He basically woke up and saw a flattened Cena after the spear. You say yourself that you cannot remember the match, so that is a pretty important thing.

Also, there is not one format for booking a match. It really can vary from match to match. Look at Steve Austin v Bret Hart at WM 13. Hart won clean with a sharpshooter when Austin passed out. That could sound like Austin was being buried when he was actually being pushed to the moon.

Also this crap about "drawing" is ridiculous. A wrestler can only do so much on their own. They obviously need to have the talent, but there are a list of people who should have been main eventers that have been ignored by Vince. Even some established main eventers only ended up there through default after suffering through Vince favouring others instead of them. There are so many other aspects that influence whether business is good for a promotion. Van Dam never had the full backing of Vince and the creative team for various reasons. RVD is to blame for some of that, WWE for other aspects. The same thing could be said about 1000 other guys.

Take Cena for instance (since the thread is actually about him ). He was booed out of arenas when he first became a headliner (and for the rest of his run he has remained a hate figure for a lot of wrestling fans). Yet creative and Vince believed in him so he stayed on top. He's also embarrassed the WWE with some laughable interviews about drugs on Larry King and other outlets. Yet they still backed him. There are so many contradictory aspects to booking that you cannot derive any logic from it. It basically comes down to being liked by the guy on top.

Also, Kevin Nash talks a lot of shít, so I wouldn't really listen to his self serving BS. He was drawing a lot when he was Oz wasn't he :pac: I'm sure Vince booking him to clean house as Diesel or the creation of the NWO (the best angle in wrestling history) had nothing to do with his success. It was all down to Big Lazy himself :pac: