The Legacy of a GOAT: John Cena’s Waning Years

Hello Folx, and welcome to part 3 of 411’s retrospective on John Cena’s career and legacy! You can find part 1 here and part 2 here. So far, we have covered Cena’s early years and rise to the top, as well as his prime years through SummerSlam 2013. This week, we will be covering Cena’s return at Hell in a Cell 2013 through WrestleMania 33.

Again, if any of you would like to share your memories of Cena, I will include them in next week’s final column.

14 & 15

Number 14

Following surgery to repair his triceps, Cena would return at Hell in a Cell. This would be another feat of healing, as he came back two months early. The dangers of returning early were what led to him being granted a shot against Del Rio.

Cena would beat Alberto Del Rio for his third World Heavyweight Championship (his 14th World Championship overall).

At TLC, Cena would challenge the WWE Champion, Randy Orton, in a match to unify the two World Championships. 2013 was an interesting time; the first brand split officially ended in 2011, but it took them until the end of 2013 to unify the two World Championships. Why? “Because F you, that’s why!:

Anyway, this is one of the better Orton vs Cena matches. The TLC stipulation was added to the match, and both Cena and Orton had matured as performers since their previous feud. Cena would lose here and again at the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber.

A Wyatt Family Interlude

The Chamber match would start the build to Cena’s WrestleMania XXX match. The Wyatt Family’s interference would cost him the match. And Bray Wyatt was on a mission to show the world that Cena wasn’t a real hero and vowed to turn him into a monster.

I was always a fan of Wyatt (I’m a goth girl who is obsessed with horror, sue me!) and so I was excited for the match. Unfortunately, of their two WrestleMania matches, this one is not the better one. Wyatt would lose on the biggest stage of them all.

But that loss did bring us this, and that’s kind of worth it.I think? Anyway, Wyatt would beat Cena at Extreme Rules in a cage match. Cena would then win the rubber match at Payback in a Last Man Standing match.

Number 15

2014’s Money in the Bank would bring Cena his 15th World Championship. Winning a Money in the Bank match for the vacant title. At Battleground, he won a Fatal Four-Way against Orton, Kane, and Reigns to retain the title.

Here we see the beginning of Reigns’s push to be the next Top Guy. The Shield broke up in June, and in July, he is in a match for the World Championship. Meanwhile, we have Kane in a World Championship match in 2014.

The Beast Returns and Issues with Authority

Cena Visits Suplex City

Cena had bigger things than Reigns taking his spot, or why Kane was still getting World Championship matches. Because The Beast was coming for him again.

SummerSlam would see the worst Cena beat-down since The Nexus debut. Lesnar hits no less than 16 suplexes and two F-5s to squash Cena. This would end Cena’s 15th World Championship reign at 49 days. And it would be over two years before he would get another one.

Since losing to Cena at Extreme Rules in 2012, Lesnar had gone on to feud with Triple H, CM Punk, and ended Undertaker’s 21-0 WrestleMania streak. And honestly, the run had been hit or miss. Which is how I generally feel about most of Lesnar’s matches. When he is willing to put on his working boots, he can put on a great match. When he doesn’t care about the match or doesn’t respect his opponent, then the matches are just going to be average at best.

This match, though? It was different. No one had ever seen Cena get demolished like this. Not only that, I don’t think I can recall a PPV match for the WWE Championship being this one-sided. I have made my feelings on Lesnar clear many times, and I can still appreciate the way this made him look every bit the Beast Incarnate.

Issues with Authority

Cena failed to regain the championship at Night of Champions due to interference by Seth Rollins. Team Cena would face Team Authority at Survivor Series. The stipulation was that if Team Cena won, the Authority would be fired, and only Cena could bring them back.

Even though Big Show turned on Cena, causing him to get eliminated. Sting would help Dolph Ziggler secure the win for Team Cena.

Cena would beat Rollins at TLC in a Tables match to become the number one contender to Lesnar’s WWE Championship. At the end of December, Rollins and Big Show would hold Edge hostage and force Cena to reinstate The Authority. But he would once again lose to Lesnar at the Royal Rumble.

A Return to the United States Championship

Enter Rusev

After failing to beat Lesnar, Cena would enter into a feud with the United States Champion, Rusev. Rusev would win their first match at Fastlane and refuse to grant Cena a rematch. Stephanie McMahon declared that Cena wouldn’t have a match at WrestleMania unless he got Rusev to agree to a rematch.

Cena would get his rematch when he attacked Rusev on Raw, put him in the STFU, and refused to let go until Rusev’s manager, Lana, agreed to it.

It’s so weird now to see Rusev with hair. He is one of the few guys I think looks worse with long hair. Anyway, Cena would win his fourth United States Championship by beating Rusev at WrestleMania 31. This was also Rusev’s first pinfall loss on the main roster.

Cena would then declare the Open Challenge, defending the title every week. He would retain the title against Dean Ambrose, Stardust, Bad News Barrett, Kane (at least it wasn’t a World Championship), Sami Zayn (the match where he blew his shoulder out a second time), Neville, Zack Ryder, and Cesaro. He would also beat Rusev twice more in a Chain Match at Extreme Rules and an “I Quit” match at Payback.

The Cena Formula

This is one of the major criticisms of Cena’s run during this time. He was winding down as the Top Guy; he didn’t need to go over Rusev in three straight matches, after only losing the first one due to interference. I honestly feel like Rusev could have had a World Championship run, but he never fully recovered from his feud with Cena.

NXT Champion Kevin Owens would make his main roster debut by challenging Cena. And oh man, just like Punk and Danielson, Owens was a guy I had been following for years. Watching him come out and do the Pop-Up Powerbomb to Cena was magic. But just like Rusev, Owens would win their first match, only to lose at Money in the Bank and Battleground. Luckily, Owens wasn’t permanently damaged coming out of the feud.

After the feud with Owens ended, Cena would once again set his sights on the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and Seth Rollins. The Authority would force Cena to defend his United States Championship against Rollins on a July episode of Raw, which he did, after getting his nose broken.

At SummerSlam, Rollins would manage to beat Cena, due to interference by Jon Stewart (Ah yes, the famously dangerous grappler Jon Stewart of the Daily Show!) in a winner-takes-all match. But Cena would regain the title a month later at Night of Champions. This marks Cena’s fifth United States Championship, which is the record for the WWE version of the United States Championship.

And just like his other feuds during this time, Cena would beat Rollins the next night on Raw, and again at WWE Live from Madison Square Garden.

Cena would resume his open challenge, which would allow Alberto Del Rio (why was he brought back?) to beat him at Hell in a Cell. Del Rio was spared the Cena feud formula because Cena would need another shoulder surgery.

A Phenomenal 16

Cena would make an appearance at WrestleMania 32, helping The Rock fend off The Wyatt Family. And in another Cena inhuman healing factor moment, he would make his full return four months ahead of schedule.

Cena would then enter into a feud with a guy who just loves to beat him up. Styles would beat Cena at Money in the Bank 2016. And can I just say how awesome this was? I’d been following TNA through results during the PPV era, and started watching them weekly during their Fox Sports One run. I tuned in every week for Impact and have always been a huge Styles fan.

This feud was the Face of TNA vs the Face of the WWE. Albeit, Styles was never treated like a top guy, even though he was the backbone of TNA. Still, it was weird and exciting to watch.

And unlike Owens and Rusev, Styles actually holds a good record against Cena. After Money in the Bank, Cena would team with Enzo and Big Cass to beat The Club. But Styles would come back and beat Cena again at SummerSlam.

And only five years after ending the roster split, the WWE split the rosters again in 2016, with Styles and Cena both moving to SmackDown during this time. After SummerSlam, Styles would win the WWE World Championship.

Cena and Dean Ambrose would face Styles in a Triple-Threat, with Styles winning by pinning Cena. Styles has always been one of the guys to bring out the best in Cena, and their five singles matches are some of the best of Cena’s career.

Number 16

After losing in the Triple-Threat, Cena would take time off to film American Grit season 2. He would return at the 2017 Royal Rumble, once again challenging AJ Styles. He would finally even manage to beat Styles in a one-on-one match and, with the win, tie Ric Flair’s record of 16 World Championships.

A WrestleMania Moment That Won’t Get Replays

Cena wouldn’t hold the championship for long, as he would lose it to Bray Wyatt in the Elimination Chamber the next month.

After failing to recapture the title, Cena would reignite an old feud when The Miz started accusing Cena of being a hypocrite because of his movie commitments. Which, to be honest, made sense. Cena talked a lot of crap about The Rock caring more about Hollywood. But now Cena was doing the same thing.

At the time, Cena and Nikki Bella had been dating for quite a while, and so she was brought into the feud. As was Miz’s wife, Maryse. Honestly, the best part of this feud was the “lost” Total Bella’s episodes. The match at WrestleMania 35 wasn’t much to write home about. Cena and Nikki Bella would pick up the win, and then Cena would propose to Nikki Bella in the ring.

And while this was set up to be a moment like Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth. It wasn’t meant to be, with Cena and Bella parting ways due to her desire to have kids, and Cena not wanting them. So, this will ever be a weird moment for both WrestleMania, Nikki Bella, and John Cena.

And that awkward moment will be the end of this week’s column.

Preview

Next week will be the last week. We will explore Cena’s final years. We will see him be one of Undertaker’s WrestleMania victims, enter Wyatt’s FireFly Fun House, and examine his final year.

And if any of you end up sharing your memories, they will be included in a special section at the end of the column.