{"id":145731,"date":"2025-11-12T07:00:53","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T12:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=145731"},"modified":"2025-11-12T07:18:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T12:18:15","slug":"5-must-watch-john-cena-wwe-survivor-series-matches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/11\/12\/5-must-watch-john-cena-wwe-survivor-series-matches\/","title":{"rendered":"5 &#8220;Must-Watch&#8221; John Cena WWE Survivor Series Matches"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/11\/10\/john-cena-makes-history-on-wwe-raw-in-boston-with-title-win\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">John Cena<\/a> will return to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/11\/10\/wwe-survivor-series-wargames-2025-match-made-official-on-wwe-raw\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">WWE Survivor Series<\/a> one last time at Petco Park in San Diego on November 29. This will also mark his second-to-last appearance as an active competitor. Although &#8220;The Never Seen 17&#8221; has been confirmed for the PLE, a match is yet to be scheduled. Rumors suggest that Cena could be involved in the Men&#8217;s WarGames match.<\/p>\n<p>In his storied 23-year career, the 17-time World Champion has appeared at Survivor Series 11 times with an impressive record. In honor of Cena&#8217;s legendary career and his storied history with the show, we take a look at five of his most memorable outings at one of WWE&#8217;s biggest shows.<\/p>\n<h2>Honorable Mentions:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Team Cena vs. Team Big Show (Survivor Series 2006)<\/li>\n<li>John Cena (c) vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels (Survivor Series 2009)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>John Cena (c) vs. Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship (Survivor Series 2005)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Survivor Series 2005 will forever be remembered for The Undertaker&#8217;s thrilling return following the main event showdown between Team RAW vs. Team SmackDown, which saw the blue brand&#8217;s Randy Orton pin Shawn Michaels to win the bout.<\/p>\n<p>However, the undercard featured a high-profile WWE Championship match between John Cena, the champion, and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/10\/14\/definitive-rival-john-cena-in-wwe-the-goats-greatest-enemy\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Kurt Angle<\/a>. This was Cena&#8217;s first singles match at Survivor Series, and he couldn&#8217;t have asked for a better opponent.<\/p>\n<p>Angle had the support of the RAW General Manager, Eric Bischoff, and he chose Daivari as the Special Guest Referee. Furthermore, the Olympic Hero was still in peak physical conditioning. Thus, the odds should have been in Angle&#8217;s favor. However, the Hall of Famer stood across from a young John Cena, who was in the middle of a memorable WWE Championship reign.<\/p>\n<p>The Olympic Gold Medalist took his rival to the limit with relentless offense. Shenanigans occurred towards the end of the bout, and Cena removed Daivari from the equation. The Champ nailed Angle with an Attitude Adjustment to retain the WWE Championship in a competitive and enjoyable match.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH - John Cena vs. Kurt Angle - WWE Title Match: Survivor Series 2005\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/r-MZzmqA35I?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2><strong>John Cena vs. Chris Jericho (c) for the World Heavyweight Championship (Survivor Series 2008)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>John Cena suffered a scary neck injury during his match with Batista at SummerSlam 2008. This put The Champ on the sidelines over the next few months. During this period, Chris Jericho had become the most detestable man on Earth, committing unspeakable acts against Shawn Michaels and Michaels&#8217; wife.<\/p>\n<p>A few weeks before Survivor Series 2008, which was set to take place in Cena&#8217;s hometown of Boston, WWE had announced that the returning Cena would face the World Heavyweight Champion at the event. Jericho defeated Batista on the 800th episode of RAW to win the championship, setting up a colossal showdown with Cena.<\/p>\n<p>At Survivor Series 2008, Y2J and Cena told a brilliant history. The villain, Jericho, targeted the challenger&#8217;s neck and put the returning hero to the test. Nonetheless, this was 2008 &#8220;Super Cena,&#8221; and no supervillain could have topped him on his first night back in front of his hometown.<\/p>\n<p>The Leader of the Cenation persevered through the Walls of Jericho and Codebreakers, eventually hitting the FU, now called the Attitude Adjustment, for the pinfall win.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH: Chris Jericho vs. John Cena | World Heavyweight Title Match: Survivor Series 2008\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rVqrBRAVBqA?start=1663&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>CM Punk (c) vs. Ryback vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship (Survivor Series 2012)<\/h2>\n<p>2012 was a challenging year for John Cena. He lost to The Rock during his &#8220;Once in a Lifetime&#8221; dream encounter at WrestleMania 28. This was followed by a miserable feud with John Laurinaitis and a Money in the Bank contract win that brought him embarrassment.<\/p>\n<p>It was time to turn things around towards the end of the year at Survivor Series 2012, where he faced CM Punk, who was closing in on a year as WWE Champion, and the indomitable Ryback. Truth be told, the Leader of the Cenation was a side-character in the Punk- Ryback saga, and Cena was solely there to eat the pinfall and add star power.<\/p>\n<p>There was nothing particularly special about the match, but it will always be remembered in high spirits for the debut of The Shield. Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose debuted during the Triple Threat Match and obliterated Ryback with the Triple Powerbomb through the announce table. Punk pinned a fallen Cena for the pinfall win.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH: CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. Ryback \u2013 WWE Title Triple Threat Match: Survivor Series 2012\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UHwiFfb79CY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Team Cena vs. Team Authority (Survivor Series 2014)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The Authority, led by the egotistical pair of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, had tormented the locker room for months. A few weeks before Survivor Series 2014, John Cena decided to step up to the authoritative villains, vowing to assemble a star-studded team to take down The Authority&#8217;s henchmen.<\/p>\n<p>Vince McMahon added the stipulation that the Authority would lose power if their team lost at Survivor Series. Thus, the pressure was on as the stakes couldn&#8217;t have been higher. Fans were expecting a &#8220;Super Cena&#8221; performance with The Champ powering through the opposition, and ridding WWE of The Authority.<\/p>\n<p>Fans couldn&#8217;t have been more wrong. Cena was shockingly eliminated early in the bout as his teammate, The Big Show, knocked him out to save himself. Seth Rollins, Team Authority&#8217;s captain, pinned Cena as Show walked out to hand Team Authority a three-on-one advantage, with Dolph Ziggler the sole survivor on the babyface team.<\/p>\n<p>The Showoff put on the performance of a lifetime, eliminating Kane and Luke Harper to level the playing field.\u00a0 A frustrated Triple H attacked Ziggler and nailed him with the Pedigree. Scott Armstrong was about to count to 3, but the Icon Sting made his stunning debut in the climax of the bout.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_145806\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-145806\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-145806 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/11\/22-13-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"A WWE Survivor Series graphic featuring John Cena.\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/11\/22-13-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/11\/22-13-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/11\/22-13-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/11\/22-13-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/11\/22-13.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-145806\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Stinger laid out Hunter with the Scorpion Death Drop, and put Ziggler on top of Rollins to send The Authority packing. Cena played a secondary role in this match, but he was instrumental in setting up the encounter and laying the foundation.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH - Team Cena vs. Team Authority - Elimination Tag Team Match: Survivor Series 2014\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gD7qJ3TW1jw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2><strong>John Cena and The Rock vs. Awesome Truth (Survivor Series 2011)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>WWE had announced John Cena vs. The Rock at WrestleMania a year in advance, but few would have thought that the megastars would team up together before their epic &#8220;Once in a Lifetime&#8221; bout. However, that is exactly what happened at Survivor Series 2011 inside Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n<p>Awesome Truth, the deranged duo of The Miz and R-Truth, had caused too many problems for John Cena. Cena needed a partner, and he felt The Rock would be a good choice. While it didn&#8217;t make much sense from a storyline perspective, the delivery of the angle was a masterpiece in storytelling.<\/p>\n<p>The Garden was rocking as this was the Great One&#8217;s first match in over 7 years. Cena took the brunt of the damage and nearly got pinned several times during the match. Nonetheless, the Brahma Bull was there to save the day as he landed the People&#8217;s Elbow on The Miz to hand his team the win. He wasn&#8217;t finished there, as Rocky Rock-bottomed Cena to close the show.<\/p>\n<p>In terms of energy and storytelling, this segment was brilliant. The Rock vs. John Cena at WrestleMania 28 will forever be etched in fans&#8217; memories, but Survivor Series 2011 was an intriguing chapter in their epic tale.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH - John Cena &amp; The Rock vs. The Miz &amp; R-Truth: Survivor Series 2011\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ChiLWi-mBvU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Header photo \u2013 WWE \u2013<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<em>Stay tuned to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a> for more on John Cena, WWE Survivor Series: WarGames and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can check out WWE programming on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/title\/81788927\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Netflix<\/a>\u00a0(Raw),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.usanetwork.com\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">USA Network<\/a>\u00a0(SmackDown),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cwtv.com\/shows\/wwe-nxt\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The CW<\/a>\u00a0(NXT), and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch\/home\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Peacock<\/a>\u00a0(archives and premium live event streaming). You can follow WWE on social media and relive top moments on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@WWE\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">YouTube<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John Cena will return to WWE Survivor Series one last time at Petco Park in San Diego on November 29. This will also mark his second-to-last appearance as an active competitor. Although &#8220;The Never Seen 17&#8221; has been confirmed for the PLE, a match is yet to be scheduled. Rumors suggest that Cena could be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5689,"featured_media":145807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7205,4,3],"tags":[165,8701],"class_list":["post-145731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-john-cena","tag-wwe-survivor-series"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5689"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145731"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":145849,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145731\/revisions\/145849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}