5 AEW stars who have defeated John Cena one-on-one

Only a few wrestlers have succeeded in defeating John Cena in one-on-one action. Some of them are now AEW stars.

Cena has been the top guy and the face of WWE for over a decade and a half. Although he is now a part-timer, going head-to-head with The Leader of the Cenation remains a dream for many WWE Superstars today.

A few AEW stars, nonetheless, have had the opportunity to go head-to-head with the 44-year-old in the past few years while they were in WWE. Not only did they face Cena in singles action, but they defeated him. Two of them even have multiple victories over the 16-time World Champion.

Here are five AEW stars who have defeated John Cena one-on-one.

#5. AEW star Billy Gunn defeated John Cena

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Billy Gunn and John Cena shared the ring only a few times nearly two decades ago. In 2003, Gunn was an experienced WWE Superstar while Cena was still taking his first steps in Vince McMahon's company. In July of that year, they faced each other for the first time on SmackDown in a United States Title tournament.

During that time, Cena was feuding with The Undertaker. While the then-Doctor of Thuganomics closed in on the victory, he was distracted by The Deadman, who rode his motorcycle to ringside. Billy Gunn would then take advantage and pin Cena.

A year later, the two wrestlers went head-to-head again at a live WWE show in Japan. This time, Cena got his revenge and defeated the WWE Hall of Famer. Gunn remains one of the few AEW guys who have a victory over Cena in their record books.

The former D-Generation X member left WWE four months after his second singles match against Cena. He then returned to the company in 2012 before leaving again in 2015. Following his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019, the 57-year-old joined AEW. He is now the leader of The Gunn Club, which includes both his sons, Colten and Austin.