John Cena earned the moniker Big Match John from his rival John “Bradshaw” Layfield, and it’s the perfect nickname for Cena. Cena proved that he’s a main event player and rose to the occasion when he appeared in WWE PLE main events. The 17-time WWE world champion has been the face of the company for two decades, and he will be riding into the sunset on the December 13, 2025, edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event.
RELATED: 5 Times John Cena Shouldn’t Have Won A WWE PLE Main Event
Unsurprisingly, the Never Seen 17 has generally featured in the business end of matches on WWE PLEs. He’s competed in 178 PLEs, losing his last outing to Dominik Mysterio in an Intercontinental Championship title defense at Survivor Series 2025.
Nevertheless, Cena is one of the all-time greats, but several times, he shouldn’t have closed out a WWE PLE. Some of the matches that he closed out at a WWE PLE were underwhelming. For sure, better matches were better candidates to go on last, but because of Cena’s star power, he often got the nod to close out PLEs.
5. John Cena Vs. The Miz – WrestleMania 27
Traditionally, the WWE Championship match closes out WrestleMania. This was no different at WrestleMania 27 when John Cena won a number one contender Elimination Chamber match, earning the right to face The Miz for the WWE Championship. This was Cena’s seventh consecutive world championship match at WrestleMania, which is a phenomenal achievement. Cena was 2-0 in WrestleMania main events.
Unfortunately, Miz sustained a concussion when he was tackled to the ground by Cena, and his head smashed the concrete floor. This had an impact on the match, and their WWE Championship match wasn’t good. The Rock was the host of WrestleMania, and he aided Miz in retaining the WWE Championship. Triple H and The Undertaker’s No Holds Barred colossal showdown stole the show and was a better option to go on last.
