For more than two decades, John Cena has treated WrestleMania like his personal mythmaking stage. Titles were won, hearts were broken, careers were made, and “Let’s go Cena / Cena sucks” became the soundtrack to an era. As he heads into his final match this Saturday, December 13, his WrestleMania legacy feels like a complete story: 16 Mania matches, 10 victories, and one record-breaking world title win that changed WWE history.
ESPN, Bleacher Report, TheSportster and others have spent this farewell year ranking and re-ranking his greatest performances, while Reddit, X and Facebook are full of fans arguing over which Mania moment defined him most. And in late November, Cena himself even named his own top three WrestleMania matches: WrestleMania 28 vs. The Rock, WrestleMania 21 vs. JBL and his first Mania win at WrestleMania 20 vs. Big Show.
Using that as a backbone – plus match quality, stakes, crowd reaction and how fans talk about these bouts today – here’s a definitive look at the 10 greatest John Cena WrestleMania matches.
10. WrestleMania 39 – John Cena vs. Austin Theory (WWE United States Championship, 2023)
For a lot of younger fans, this was the full-circle moment.
At WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles, Cena opened Night 1 against Austin Theory, the cocky United States Champion who had grown up idolizing him. Theory retained after a low blow and A-Town Down, but the result almost mattered less than the symbolism: Cena returning for his first WrestleMania match in years to test a would-be heir apparent.
ESPN’s “most memorable WrestleMania matches” list places this bout at No. 10, in part because of what it meant to Theory’s career – his biggest win, against his childhood hero, on the grandest stage – and in part because it quietly closed the book on Cena’s Mania run as an occasional attraction before his full-blown farewell tour in 2025.
On social media, fans still debate whether the in-ring action delivered, but most agree that the sight of Cena taking the loss in the opener to give rub to a new generation is perfectly in line with how he’s handled his later career.
9. WrestleMania 20 – John Cena vs. Big Show (WWE United States Championship, 2004)
Madison Square Garden. A Patrick Ewing Knicks jersey. Brass knuckles and a 400-plus-pound giant hoisted up for the FU.
This was Cena’s WrestleMania debut, opening WrestleMania 20 in New York City and earning his first WWE championship by dethroning Big Show for the United States Title.
ESPN highlights how this 114-day U.S. Title reign set the tone for his love affair with mid-card championships, foreshadowing the legendary 2015 U.S. Open Challenge run. Cena himself recently named this match one of his three favorite WrestleMania bouts ever, purely for the feeling of winning his first major singles title on such a huge stage.
Fans revisiting it on YouTube and Reddit often call it “basic but perfect” – a straightforward giant-vs-underdog story that captures Cena right before he exploded into the main-event stratosphere.
8. WrestleMania 21 – John Cena vs. JBL (WWE Championship, 2005)
If WrestleMania 20 was the prologue, WrestleMania 21 was where the John Cena myth really begins.
Inside Los Angeles’ Staples Center, Cena ended JBL’s nearly year-long WWE Championship reign, claiming his first world title and effectively setting the course for the next decade of the company.
The match itself is a compact, 11-minute crowning moment rather than a workrate classic – and even ESPN notes the brutal “I Quit” rematch at Judgment Day is the real in-ring masterpiece – but the symbolism here is enormous.
JBL has said publicly that he wanted to be Cena’s “walk through hell,” the veteran champion fans had to see demolished to fully believe in their new hero. And in his own recent Q&A, Cena ranked this one as his second-favourite WrestleMania match ever, right behind his clash with The Rock at WrestleMania 28.
7. WrestleMania 31 – John Cena vs. Rusev (WWE United States Championship, 2015)
Rusev riding a tank to the ring in Santa Clara is one of those images that will live forever.
At WrestleMania 31, Cena challenged an undefeated Rusev for the United States Championship in a throwback “American hero vs foreign destroyer” story. ESPN ranks this match seventh on its WrestleMania list and calls it one of Cena’s best pure in-ring performances on the stage, noting how it ignited his beloved 2015 U.S. Open Challenge run.
Rusev himself has praised Cena as a “teacher” who asked him for his four best moves so he could build the match around making his opponent look like a monster.
Fan reactions from the time – and in modern retrospectives – tend to put this in the “sneaky great” category: maybe not the most hyped match going in, but an emotional, well-structured fight that gave Cena a meaningful non-world-title Mania moment late in his prime.
6. WrestleMania 24 – John Cena vs. Randy Orton vs. Triple H (WWE Championship, 2008)
On paper, this triple-threat in Orlando looked like another coronation for Cena or Triple H. Instead, it gave us Cena’s first WrestleMania loss and one of the loudest, most divided atmospheres of his career.
ESPN’s top-10 list puts this bout at No. 3, highlighting how entwined Cena and Randy Orton have been for 20+ years and how rare it was to see them share a WrestleMania ring at all. This was their only Mania meeting, with Orton walking in as champion and shocking the world by pinning Cena to retain.
Orton has talked about the electricity in the building – a split crowd screaming “Let’s go Cena / Cena sucks” at full volume – and how being in the ring with Cena guaranteed anything but a quiet audience.
On social media, fans still point to this match when discussing how unique Cena’s dynamic was: a babyface who could generate enormous heat, and a heel like Orton who could ride that wave to feel even more dangerous.
5. WrestleMania 36 – John Cena vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt (Firefly Funhouse Match, 2020)
This isn’t a “match” in the traditional sense – it’s a 13-minute fever dream that rewinds, distorts and reframes Cena’s entire career.
Held inside the WWE Performance Center during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Firefly Funhouse Match saw Cena and Bray Wyatt wander through surreal vignettes: the “Ruthless Aggression” debut, a parody of nWo Cena, a twisted look back at their WrestleMania 30 feud and the idea that Cena’s failures and near-heel turns had haunted him for years.
In a 2024 interview with Chris Van Vliet, Cena revealed this was the only match he’s ever written “from start to finish,” using props from WWE’s warehouse and leaning into a meta, self-aware dissection of his own character.
Among fans, it’s polarizing but unforgettable. Some argue it’s more short film than wrestling; others say it’s one of the boldest creative swings WWE has ever taken, and a rare chance to see Cena willingly deconstruct his superhero image. Either way, it’s impossible to talk about his Mania legacy without it.
4. WrestleMania 22 – John Cena vs. Triple H (WWE Championship, 2006)
Chicago. A hostile crowd. “You can’t wrestle” chants raining down. And John Cena answering every one of them in the main event.
WrestleMania 22 was Cena’s first time walking into Mania as WWE Champion, defending against Triple H at the peak of his “Cerebral Assassin” aura. ESPN ranks this bout fifth on its WrestleMania list and emphasizes how crucial it was in proving Cena could truly carry a show-closing match.
The atmosphere is still talked about on forums and watch-alongs: a split, often hostile crowd that reluctantly had to admit by the end that Cena had delivered. He tapped out Triple H with the STF, one of only two times in his career he both entered and exited WrestleMania as WWE Champion.
In hindsight, this match feels like the proof of concept for “Super Cena” – not just as a booked-strong champion, but as a performer who could handle pressure, backlash and expectations all at once.
3. WrestleMania 41 – John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes (Undisputed WWE Championship, 2025)
From a pure workrate standpoint, this is not one of Cena’s best WrestleMania matches – and that’s exactly what makes its place in history so complicated.
At Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, John Cena defeated Cody Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania 41 Night 2 to win the Undisputed WWE Championship and become a record-breaking 17-time world champion, surpassing Ric Flair’s recognized tally of 16.
The match was drenched in controversy: Travis Scott interference, a ref bump, a low blow and a belt shot finish that left many feeling Cody’s year-long chase and 378-day reign deserved a cleaner ending. Dave Meltzer reportedly gave the match one of the lowest main-event Mania star ratings ever, and discussion threads on Reddit and Facebook blasted it as “over-promised and under-delivered.”
And yet, when you zoom out, it’s impossible to leave this match off a top-10 list:
- It’s the night Cena officially became the most decorated world champion in WWE’s history.
- It’s the main event that defines the heel phase of his final run – “The Last Real Champion” willing to cheat and steal the biggest prize on the biggest stage.
- It’s also the emotional anchor for the SummerSlam 2025 rematch, where Cena returned to babyface form and dropped the title back to Cody in what ESPN now cites as one of the best matches of the year, cementing Rhodes as the present face of WWE.
Fans may never agree on whether WrestleMania 41’s main event was “good,” but almost everyone agrees it was significant – a messy, unforgettable pivot point that will be argued about for decades.
2. WrestleMania 28 & 29 – John Cena vs. The Rock (2012 & 2013)
“Once in a Lifetime.” Twice.
The Rock vs. John Cena at WrestleMania 28 in Miami is still one of the biggest box-office attractions in wrestling history: two era-defining crossover stars colliding in Rock’s hometown after a year of anticipation. The Rock went over in the first match, capitalizing on Cena’s overconfidence and handing him one of his most painful losses.
One year later at WrestleMania 29, under the bright lights of MetLife Stadium, Cena avenged that loss and captured the WWE Championship in their rematch. ESPN and ESPN’s separate career-highlights piece treat these two matches as a single, massive chapter in Cena’s story: a generational showdown that first humbled him and then framed him as the true long-term standard-bearer of the company.
In a recent Q&A, Cena himself named WrestleMania 28 vs. Rock as his personal No. 1 WrestleMania match, citing the magnitude of sharing that stage with Dwayne Johnson.
Among fans, the Rock–Cena duology is still dissected for its booking, promos and star power. Even people who prefer his more technical showcases with HBK or his surreal Funhouse trip with Wyatt admit: in terms of mainstream impact, nothing in Cena’s Mania catalog looms larger.
1. WrestleMania 23 – John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels (WWE Championship, 2007)
Ask most critics, ask most fans, and now ask ESPN – chances are you’ll land on the same answer: WrestleMania 23 vs. Shawn Michaels is John Cena’s greatest WrestleMania match.
Thrown together after Triple H’s injury, this main event in Detroit became something even better: Mr. WrestleMania testing WWE’s new franchise player to see if he could truly swim in the deepest water imaginable.
Shawn Michaels has since said he saw it as his job to push Cena to a “higher level” that night – to solidify him as the guy carrying WWE into the future. What followed was a 28-minute clinic in big-match storytelling: limb work, counters, escalating drama and a finish that saw Cena tap out HBK with the STF, walking in and out as WWE Champion for only the second time at WrestleMania.
Fans and analysts constantly point back to this match in “Cena’s best ever?” debates, alongside CM Punk at Money in the Bank 2011 and AJ Styles at Royal Rumble 2017. On Reddit, you’ll find entire threads dedicated to its pacing and how it foreshadowed their legendary hour-long RAW rematch in London weeks later.
If WrestleMania 21 made Cena the champ on paper, WrestleMania 23 is where he became the ace in everyone’s eyes.
The Bigger Picture: How WrestleMania Built “The Last Real Champion”
There are other Mania matches that fans will always bring up – the original Bray Wyatt bout at WrestleMania 30, the patriotic spectacle of WrestleMania 31’s U.S. Title entrance, even the chaotic Miz main event at WrestleMania 27 that set the table for Rock vs. Cena.
But taken together, these ten tell the full story:
- The Rise – Big Show at 20, JBL at 21
- The Proving Ground – Triple H at 22, the triple threat at 24
- The Face of the Company – Rock at 28/29, Rusev at 31
- The Self-Reflection – Firefly Funhouse at 36
- The Elder Statesman – Theory at 39
- The Record Breaker – Cody at 41
As John Cena marches toward his final bell against GUNTHER this Saturday at Saturday Night’s Main Event, every step down that ramp is built on these nights: the boos in Chicago, the fireworks in Miami, the silence of the Performance Center, the chaos of Las Vegas. The GOAT’s last week isn’t just about one more match – it’s about a WrestleMania legacy that turned a kid with “ruthless aggression” into The Last Real Champion.
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