In 2025, John Cena became the “Never Seen 17” when he finally won a record-breaking 17th WWE world championship. A 17th world championship reign eluded Cena for many years, but the eight-year drought came to an end at WrestleMania 41. A breakdown of Cena’s 17 world championship reigns is that Cena is a record-setting 14-time WWE Champion, and he won the World Heavyweight Championship thrice.
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While the likes of Edge, Randy Orton, CM Punk, and Brock Lesnar are among some of the wrestlers who have defeated Cena for a world championship, Cena has defeated some major names to grasp his world title reigns. Some of Cena’s world title victories have been outstanding wins, with Cena working extremely hard to get over the line to win the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship. 12 men have been defeated by Cena to win a world championship. Cena’s opponents in the ladder match for his 15th world championship reign will not be included.
12. Sheamus
John Cena dropped the WWE Championship to Sheamus in a tables match at TLC 2009, which was one of the most shocking WWE Title changes in history. A couple of months later, Cena competed in an Elimination Chamber match for the Celtic Warrior’s WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber 2010.
Cena, Randy Orton, Triple H, Ted DiBiase, and Kofi Kingston were all looking to take the WWE Championship away from Sheamus. The reason why Sheamus is ranked low on this list is that Cena didn’t eliminate Sheamus. However, the Game eliminated Sheamus, guaranteeing a new WWE Champion. Cena saw off Triple H with the STF to become an eight-time WWE world champion.
