The Most Surprising Losses Of John Cena's WWE Career

Sixteen-time world champion John Cena has already had a legendary profession in WWE, and is actually a first-ballot Corridor of Famer even earlier than finishing his ultimate run in his 2025 WWE retirement tour. Cena has accomplished all of it, together with getting over the “Physician of Thuganomics” gimmick, profitable each the Royal Rumble in 2008 and the Cash within the Financial institution contract in 2012, and has headlined WrestleMania 5 occasions. He has even made a wildly profitable transition into Hollywood. He is additionally a world document holder exterior of the ring, with essentially the most needs granted for the Make-A-Want program at over 650.

Regardless of by no means formally turning heel within the ring, Cena hasn’t at all times been liked in WWE by the followers, incomes himself the nickname “Tremendous Cena” for the way strongly he was booked. All through his profession, he defeated the likes of Triple H, Batista, Huge Present, Booker T, Randy Orton, and extra, with some notable “squash matches” many followers keep in mind right now, like defeating the whole Nexus at SummerSlam in 2010. Though he is had main victories between the ropes, together with all these championship wins, he is additionally suffered some huge losses. 

Cena is continuous his retirement tour by on the lookout for his first televised singles victory since 2018. All through the years, he is gone by way of various kinds of defeat, from the embarrassing, like taking a loss to a Z-list celeb, and one other to John Laurinaitis, to the straight surprising, like most lately, coming in second within the Royal Rumble in 2025 after being pushed off the ring apron by winner Jey Uso. 

Cena’s loss at WrestleMania 24 in a triple menace match towards “The Sport” Triple H and “The Legend Killer,” WWE Champion Randy Orton, was stunning due to how exhausting Cena fought to get there. He needed to relinquish the championship when he suffered a torn pectoral muscle, and was anticipated to be out of WrestleMania. Cena suffered the tear in October of 2007 and was stated to be out of motion for six months to a yr, however shocked the world when he confirmed up on the Royal Rumble on the finish of January. He entered the match at #30 to a raucous crowd response to throw Triple H excessive rope to win the match.

Cena initially used his Rumble win to problem Orton at No Means Out, however Orton received himself deliberately disqualified. Cena argued that he deserved one other championship match and defeated Orton on “WWE Uncooked” to earn one at WrestleMania, and received himself added to the match pitting the champion towards Triple H, who gained the Elimination Chamber. To finish the Mania match, Orton hit his devastating punt to Triple H, who had Cena down on the mat for the pinfall, and stole the pin to retain his WWE Championship.

It was a surprising loss as followers had been totally behind Cena after his spectacular restoration from harm. It was additionally his first WrestleMania loss after efficiently defending the WWE Championship in back-to-back years after initially profitable it at WrestleMania 21, and efficiently defending the US Championship at WrestleMania 20. 

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had lengthy since gone to Hollywood and was not wrestling full-time when John Cena got here up in WWE. Nevertheless, the pair started a feud forward of WrestleMania 27, the place Cena was set to face off towards The Miz and The Rock was the host of the occasion. Rock and Cena received right into a sequence of promo battles and Rock interfered in his match, hitting the star with a Rock Backside so Miz may rating the victory and win the WWE Championship. This set the scene for the next yr’s WrestleMania match between the pair, which was billed as a “As soon as in a Lifetime” occasion.

The promo battles between Cena and Rock received much more vicious with out Miz concerned in 2012, together with one on “WWE Uncooked” the place Cena referred to as out the actor for seemingly having his strains written on his hand, visibly upsetting Rock. Rock would then host a “Rock live performance” within the ring on one other episode and went after Cena’s real-life divorce. When the time got here for his or her match, which was the principle occasion of WrestleMania 28, the pair went back-and-forth till Cena was caught by a Rock Backside when he tried a Individuals’s Elbow of his personal, and Rock pinned him for the victory. 

The part-time star going over Cena was stunning, particularly as Rock’s Hollywood profession and alleged abandonment of WWE, in Cena’s eyes, had been the principle issue of their feud. Regardless of the shock, the match infamously would not be “As soon as in a Lifetime,” because the pair confronted off as soon as once more subsequent yr at “The Showcase of the Immortals.” Cena received his victory again, and kicked off his eleventh reign with the WWE Championship.

Cena isn’t any stranger to getting within the ring with different members of the Bloodline, along with “The Ultimate Boss,” however Cena’s loss to Solo Sikoa — the youngest member of the household at present on WWE’s important roster — at Crown Jewel in 2023 was stunning. The loss got here across the time that followers started to comprehend Cena hadn’t had a televised singles victory in fairly a while, and he did not get one in Saudi Arabia earlier than he went again to Hollywood.

The match was a part of Cena’s WWE run in the course of the Hollywood author’s strike and he received concerned within the Bloodline’s enterprise alongside LA Knight. The pair took on Sikoa and Jimmy Uso at Fastlane earlier than Crown Jewel, and received the victory, and Cena went on to face Sikoa in Riyadh. In the course of the match, Sikoa hit a sequence of Samoan Spikes on Cena, who barely received in any offense. The loss was stunning not solely as a result of it was Cena’s final date throughout his author’s strike run, but in addition due to the place the match occurred. Saudi Arabia is understood for its love of nostalgia acts, so Cena not going over within the match to please the group, and the nation’s crown prince, was stunning. 

As of this writing, the match towards Sikoa was Cena’s most up-to-date singles match. He is since teamed with the Superior Reality and entered the Royal Rumble, and he’s set for one more multi-man match within the Elimination Chamber.

Previous to his Fastlane tag workforce victory and a sequence of darkish matches, Cena had one other stunning loss to a a lot youthful star at WrestleMania 39. Cena went up towards, and misplaced to, Austin Principle in an try and win the championship he helped make widespread in his youthful years, the US title. The pair kicked off the primary evening of the occasion, and Cena surprisingly put the heel Principle over on “The Grandest Stage of Them All.” It stunned some viewers, as Principle wasn’t getting over with the followers and wasn’t very effectively appreciated, and lots of anticipated that yr’s WrestleMania to start out off on a excessive be aware.

The pair began the feud on social media, and Principle ramped issues up when he interrupted Cena’s 20-year anniversary celebration on “Uncooked” in June 2022. The subsequent yr, Cena returned in March, and Principle confronted him as soon as once more and issued the WrestleMania problem. The chief of the “Cenation” initially refused, as he thought Principle wasn’t prepared. Nevertheless, Cena let his hometown crowd in Boston, Massachusetts resolve that evening, and the match was set. Principle did not win their Mania bout clear, nevertheless, and hit a low blow after the referee was downed, adopted by an A-City All the way down to defeat Cena and retain his title. It was Cena’s sixth WrestleMania loss in his profession, having misplaced to Bray Wyatt within the cinematic “Firefly Funhouse” match the yr prior.

One in every of Cena’s most embarrassing, unlikely losses was to a person who was solely well-known on the time for being married to Britney Spears whereas making an attempt to develop into a rapper. Federline and Cena crossed paths within the “Superstar Visitor Host” period of WWE, when “Ok-Fed” appeared on the pink model alongside Johnny Nitro and Melina again in 2006. The wannabe rapper went to the ring and requested the followers in the event that they needed him to play his music, and Cena got here out, spitting a verse although his “Physician of Thuganomics” gimmick had been retired. Cena hit Federline with an Perspective Adjustment to finish the phase, however Federline would return a number of occasions to try to get in Cena’s approach.

The pair lastly confronted off in a No Disqualification match on “Uncooked” on January 1, 2007. Federline was accompanied to the ring by Morrison, who finally received concerned within the match. Whereas the referee was distracted by Morrison, Federline hit Cena with a low blow. Umaga, who was set to problem Cena subsequent, additionally interfered and hit Cena together with his personal WWE Championship from behind, permitting Federline to get the pin and the stunning victory over Cena. It was the chief of the “Cenation” who received the final snicker that evening, nevertheless, when he delivered one other Perspective Adjustment to Federline, however “Ok-Fed” will perpetually have a victory over Cena.

Earlier than John Laurinaitis was most notorious for being sued alongside Vince McMahon by former WWE worker Janel Grant, he was the top of the “Individuals Energy” motion because the on-screen supervisor for “WWE Uncooked,” and in 2012, he was feuding with Cena. It began when following his “As soon as in a Lifetime” loss to The Rock, a returning Brock Lesnar attacked Cena and was supported by Laurinaitis. After a number of assaults on Cena by Lesnar and Lord Tensai, Laurinaitis revealed himself to be Cena’s subsequent opponent. The WWE Board of Administrators dominated, in storyline, that if anybody interfered on Laurinaitis’ behalf of their match, they’d be fired, and Laurinaitis himself can be canned if he misplaced.

The pair went face-to-face in the principle occasion of Over The Restrict that yr in a No Disqualification match. Laurinaitis scored the surprising victory over Cena, because of a shock interference by the then-unemployed Huge Present. The overall supervisor had fired Huge Present weeks earlier than, for mocking his voice, so he could not be fired once more for serving to out in the course of the match. Huge Present knocked out Cena with a WMD, and Laurinaitis pinned him to maintain his job. Laurinaitis was one of many firm’s largest heels at that time, so it was surprising to not see him get his comeuppance by the hands of Cena.

Cena’s loss to Kevin Owens throughout Owens’ important roster debut, whereas nonetheless holding the NXT Championship, is taken into account Cena’s most surprising loss by WWE itself, as ranked in a video on the corporate’s YouTube channel. Owens answered Cena’s weekly United States Championship Open Problem on an episode of “WWE Uncooked,” however as an alternative of a match, “The Prizefighter” attacked Cena and instructed him they’d struggle on his phrases. Owens was granted a match towards Cena on the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.

In the course of the match, the pair traded finishers, with Owens hitting a pop-up powerbomb and Cena getting off an “Perspective Adjustment” for a close to fall. The NXT Champion taunted the US Champion all through the match and even hit his personal AA to the chief of the “Cenation.” Owens hit a second pop-up powerbomb on Cena to attain the victory, surprising everybody within the viewers who wasn’t already conversant in Owens on WWE’s developmental model.

After the referee counted the pin, Owens grabbed the microphone and addressed the shocked crowd, declaring that Cena’s time was up, and his time was now. Following the victory, WWE referred to as it “one of many hardest-hitting fights in WWE historical past” and stated Owens walked out with a career-making victory over Cena.

The “Sure!” motion in WWE surrounding star Daniel Bryan was going sturdy in 2013, however followers had been nonetheless uncertain about Bryan really getting awarded victories in WWE because of how he had beforehand been booked. Even earlier than his match with Cena for the WWE Championship, Bryan had been put in hostile conditions, in storyline, by heel referee Brad Maddox in addition to Vince McMahon. Nevertheless, he and Cena placed on a wonderful match at SummerSlam that yr, and Cena surprisingly put Bryan over, in a bout that may be named Match of the Yr by “Professional Wrestling Illustrated.”

Their match was marketed as “wrestler versus entertainer.” Bryan was in a position to win the match with a kick to the top, adopted by a working knee to Cena to win his first WWE Championship. After the match, Cena shook Bryan’s hand, accepting defeat, and even appeared to provide him phrases of recommendation earlier than he left the ring.

Bryan’s celebration and the shock of Cena’s loss on the grand summer time stage did not final lengthy, nevertheless, as Randy Orton would interrupt Bryan’s second and money in his Cash within the Financial institution contract, and the pin was counted by particular visitor referee for Bryan and Cena’s match, Triple H. The “Sure!” motion would additional achieve steam after Bryan’s defeat, and Cena surprisingly wasn’t one to carry it again.

When the chief of the “Cenation” put over Sheamus in a tables match on the TLC pay-per-view in 2009, it was stunning in some ways, as a result of “The Celtic Warrior” had solely been on WWE tv for 166 days, and followers additionally initially thought the ending of the match was a botch. These watching questioned the surprising ending when Cena was put by way of a desk and Sheamus seemingly fell off the turnbuckle because the bell rang. The spot was deliberate, nevertheless, and on the finish of the tip of the match, Cena seemed like he was able to suplex Sheamus by way of the desk from the highest rope, however Sheamus countered, shoving the champion off the rope to crash by way of the wooden beneath.  

Sheamus himself admitted it was a late choice for him to seize the championship from Cena, and he stated it was Cena who had loads to do with him going over. He stated in an interview that “no person was very excited” about his victory, as quite a lot of guys backstage had been there for years and hadn’t been given the chance he had. Sheamus stated there was quite a lot of warmth on him after he gained the title from Cena.

When John Cena introduced his retirement tour at Cash within the Financial institution in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and defined that the 2025 Royal Rumble can be his final, and likewise the primary time he would get within the ring in the course of the tour, many followers thought that he was a shoe-in to win the match, destined to outlast 29 different males. Shockingly, that wasn’t the case, regardless of Cena being one of many ultimate two males within the ring to finish the evening. The Rumble victory would surprisingly go to Jey Uso, who had gotten massively over with the followers together with his “YEET!” catchphrase following a press convention look alongside Cody Rhodes. Uso’s swell of fan help was an excessive amount of for WWE to disregard, and Cena put him over, regardless of Uso being the one to ship him excessive.

After eliminating former United States Champion Logan Paul, Uso hit a spear to Cena, however Cena countered and dumped him excessive rope. Uso held on, and the pair exchanged proper palms on the apron as the group held their breath. Cena received Uso up for an Perspective Adjustment, however Uso escaped from the transfer and despatched Cena crashing to the ground, and the group in Indianapolis, Indiana went wild. Whereas many followers had been excited for Uso, his win was divisive, with many pondering Cena ought to have gained the WrestleMania-match alternative on the occasion.