5 Best John Cena rivalries of all time
While John Cena might be quite the polarizing figure in the WWE universe these days, there was a time when his fanbase wasn't quite so polarized. The fans that now dub his character as one-dimensional and boring didn't have the same reaction for the scrappy 'ruthless aggression' newbie or the Doctor of Thugnomics.
As his star rose in the WWE, his feuds became increasingly one-sided. John Cena became the conqueror of all and it was a rather safe bet that he would emerge victorious and defeat most of anyone pitted against him.
Before this phase of his career though, John Cena has had some truly entertaining rivalries that kept the WWE Universe on the edge of their seats.
Whether he was trading insults with the Rated R superstar or proclaiming his arrival with ruthless aggression against Kurt Angle, Cena made sure the audience stayed hooked through his segments. While some of that credit, undoubtedly, goes to the rivals he was pitted against, nothing can be taken away from Cena's ability to entertain.
So as the superstar gets set to celebrate his 42nd birthday, let us take a look back at some of John Cena's most entertaining rivalries through the span of his career.
#5 Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar convincingly remains the only superstar in WWE history that John Cena hasn't been able to get an upper hand on.
Cena has taken more trips to the Suplex City than he'd care to admit. It was Lesnar's victory at SummerSlam 2017, however, that shocked the fans worldwide. It wasn't so much the win as the way Lesnar won that was surprising. Cena was beaten down and served with 16 German Suplexes in a match that made Cena seem like an upcoming jobber.
The first bout for this rivalry came all the way back in 2002, where The Beast decimated Cena in their match in SmackDown.
The Cena-Lesnar rivalry was also crucial because it came at a point in time where there were no legitimate top guys left in the company. John Cena was the only man who could present any sort of believability as a contender for the demolition derby that was Brock Lesnar.