John Cena has wrestled at WWE Survivor Series dating all the way back to 2003. This Saturday, Cena competes in his final Survivor Series, defending the Intercontinental Championship against Dominik Mysterio. Out of all eleven matches Cena has been in so far at the WWE’s biggest fall event, it’s tough to debate which of his Survivor Series matches were his best. Recapping all of his greatest Survivor Series matches, here are Cena’s top five.
#5: Cena vs. Angle: WWE Championship (Survivor Series 2005)
Throughout the latter half of 2005, John Cena faced Kurt Angle, who was a thorn in his side. For months, then RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff showed his desire not to want Cena as the WWE Champion. When his initial plan of Chris Jericho beating Cena didn’t work, he decided to bring in Kurt Angle.
Angle was a big challenge for Cena, as Cena lost to Angle more times than he had defeated him. At first, Angle beat Cena at Unforgiven (2005) via disqualification, but failed to win the gold.
Angle’s second attempt came at Taboo Tuesday when he was in a triple threat match against John Cena and Shawn Michaels. Since Angle wasn’t pinned, Bischoff awarded him another title match, but with Daivari as special guest referee. This match featured so many cluster moments with Daivari officiating the bout.
With Daivari blatantly costing Cena chances to beat Angle, Cena was fed up and beat down Daivari, removing him from the match. The match went on as every referee entering the match would get knocked out until a SmackDown referee came in to call Cena beating Angle right down the middle.
#4: John Cena & The Rock vs. The Miz & R-Truth: Never Before, Never Again (Survivor Series 2011)
Never in WWE had fans ever thought that The Rock and John Cena would go toe to toe with each other. With planning a year in advance for John Cena against The Rock to take place at WrestleMania 28, both men had a roadblock to overcome.
A month before this legendary tag team match, The Miz and R-Truth cost Cena to win back the WWE Championship, leading Cena to a difficult crossroads. Cena had to find a partner to help combat The Miz and R-Truth. Not having any allies he could rely on, he called the one person whom he intensely disliked. Cena chose The Rock to be his partner.
This match put Rock and Cena to the test to see if they can coexist as a team before their historic match at WrestleMania. With this match being the main event at Survivor Series in Madison Square Garden, the crowd was going wild for “The Great One”. It was The Rock’s first match since WrestleMania 20. The Rock made no misses, hitting smooth hip tosses and successfully executing any maneuver from his move set.
Throughout the whole match, Cena had a hard time getting to his partner. Eventually, Cena was able to tag The Rock in, leading to victory for the unlikely duo. Unfortunately for Cena, The Rock hit him with a Rock Bottom to deliver a message for WrestleMania.
