John Cena was the face of WWE for well over a decade. Cena won his first WWE Championship at WrestleMania 21, while his record-breaking 17th world title began at ‘Mania 41. During his prime, John Cena faced the biggest stars WWE had to offer in some of the most memorable matches in company history.
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Cena also shared the ring with some names who weren’t established main eventers. For some people, those confrontations with The Champ elevated them to the next level in WWE. Without any further ado, let’s take a look at five wrestlers who benefited from wrestling John Cena on the big stage. Enjoy!
Edge
When John Cena made his SmackDown debut, Edge was already an established veteran who’d held the Intercontinental and World Tag Team Championships multiple times. However, it was Cena who moved up the card and became a main eventer first, winning his maiden WWE Championship at WrestleMania 21. The reign ended at the hands of Edge, who cashed in his Money in the Bank contract at New Year’s Revolution 2006.
This was Edge’s first taste of the main event scene. Although the Canadian dropped the spinner belt just a few weeks later at the Royal Rumble, their feud was far from over. Edge eventually won the WWE Championship for the second time in the summer, and the rivalry with Cena only intensified from there.
Edge went as far as to slap John Cena’s father in his own house, setting up a spectacular TLC Match at Unforgiven. For all intents and purposes, this was Edge’s first true main event program, and The Rated-R Superstar never looked back.
