{"id":147502,"date":"2025-12-02T08:00:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T13:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=147502"},"modified":"2025-12-01T23:09:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T04:09:34","slug":"john-cenas-3-longest-and-3-shortest-wwe-championship-reigns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/12\/02\/john-cenas-3-longest-and-3-shortest-wwe-championship-reigns\/","title":{"rendered":"John Cena&#8217;s 3 Longest And 3 Shortest WWE Championship Reigns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>John Cena is one of the greatest WWE wrestlers of all time. Cena&#8217;s WWE career is winding down, and he has just one date on his retirement tour. Cena&#8217;s appearance on the December 13, 2025, edition of Saturday Night&#8217;s Main Event will be where Cena&#8217;s career will come to a halt.<\/p>\n<p>In the Last Time Is Now tournament, he&#8217;s poised to face Gunther or LA Knight. Nevertheless, Cena&#8217;s a first-ballot WWE Hall of Famer, and he can thank his championship haul for his future induction.<\/p>\n<p>The Never Seen 17 is a record-breaking 17-time WWE world champion, and he became a Grand Slam Champion by defeating Dominik Mysterio for the <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\">Intercontinental Championship<\/a> in Cena&#8217;s hometown of Boston. However, Cena&#8217;s Intercontinental Championship reign lasted just 19 days, dropping the title back to &#8220;Dirty Dom&#8221; in a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/11\/29\/dominik-mysterio-regains-title-from-john-cena-in-thriller-at-wwe-survivor-series-wargames-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">rematch at Survivor Series<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This article will feature different championships that Cena won in his WWE career. Not all of Cena&#8217;s championship reigns have been long. Despite Cena winning a whopping 27 championships in his WWE career, only eight of those championship reigns have lasted over 100 days. Some of Cena&#8217;s title reigns have been incredibly short, but beating Cena holding a title for a long while elevates a championship&#8217;s prestige.<\/p>\n<h2>6. 3rd Shortest: WWE Tag Team Championship &#8211; 1st Reign (2010)<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Raw: Barrett forces Otunga to lay down and surrender\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/G-bwU0-dU5s?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>Reluctantly, John Cena joined The Nexus after he lost to Wade Barrett at Hell in a Cell 2010. A few weeks later, at Bragging Rights 2010, Cena was forced to team with Nexus stablemate David Otunga. They challenged Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre for the WWE Tag Team Championship. Rhodes and McIntyre were champions for a month as they won the titles at Night of Champions 2010.<\/p>\n<p>Cena and Otunga brought gold to the Nexus by dethroning McIntyre and Rhodes. However, Cena&#8217;s third reign as a Tag Team Champion overall in his WWE career was short-lived. By orders of Nexus leader Wade Barrett, Otunga lay down in the ring with fellow Nexus stablemates Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel, the beneficiaries of ending Cena and Otunga&#8217;s one-day WWE Tag Team Championship reign.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>5. 3rd Longest: WWE United States Championship &#8211; 4th Reign (2015)<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH - Rusev vs. John Cena \u2013 U.S. Title Match: WrestleMania 31\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/A5wwxXtRfl4?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>The WWE United States Championship meant a lot to John Cena as he won it five times. It was also the first championship he won in his WWE career, beating Big Show for the title at WrestleMania 20. Fast forward 11 years, Cena won the WWE United States Championship for the fifth time. He saw off Rusev for the gold at WrestleMania 31. This was the first time that Cena held the United States Championship in a decade.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, Cena was a 15-time WWE world champion at this point, but was holding the United States Championship by making the title relevant again. Cena&#8217;s United States Open challenge was a highlight for Monday Night Raw in 2015. He defended the gold against the likes of Dean Ambrose, Sami Zayn, and Cesaro. Nonetheless, Cena&#8217;s 147-day reign as the United States Champion was over as the WWE Champion Seth Rollins curtailed his United States Championship reign in a Winner Takes All match at SummerSlam 2015.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>4. 2nd Shortest: WWE Tag Team Championship &#8211; 2nd Reign (2011)<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"John Cena &amp; The Miz win (and lose) the WWE Tag Team Championship: Raw, Feb. 21, 2011\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HgoUjlixPII?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>Twenty-four hours after John Cena prevailed in an Elimination Chamber match, earning the right to face The Miz for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 27, they had to co-exist on Raw. Cena and Miz challenged Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel, formerly of the Nexus, now representing The Corre for the WWE Tag Team Championship. The unlikely duo of Cena and Miz won the WWE Tag Team Championship.<\/p>\n<p>Yet again, Cena&#8217;s second WWE Tag Team Championship reign wasn&#8217;t long for this world, by order of the Corre&#8217;s leader, Wade Barrett. Slater and Gabriel invoked their rematch clause.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, Cena was blindsided by The Miz as Miz planted Cena with his patented Skull Crushing Finale. Slater covered Cena to regain the WWE Tag Team Championship. Cena&#8217;s second stint as a WWE Tag Team Champion was his shortest, holding the title for just nine minutes.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>3. 2nd Longest: WWE Championship &#8211; 1st Reign (2005\/06)<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH: John Cena vs. Chris Jericho | WWE Title \u201cYou\u2019re Fired\u201d Match: Raw, Aug. 22, 2005\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QqS9_wkXsVU?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>WrestleMania 21 was John Cena&#8217;s crowning moment as he ended JBL&#8217;s 280-day WWE Championship reign to become the WWE Champion for the first time. Cena&#8217;s maiden WWE Championship run was booked superbly, and he grew with every title defense. Cena became the franchise player, and he was the first draft pick in the 2005 draft lottery, moving from SmackDown to Raw.<\/p>\n<p>The reigning WWE Champion battled past the likes of Christian, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, and Shawn Michaels during his WWE Championship reign. Mixing it up with veterans improved Cena&#8217;s in-ring skills drastically. However, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/11\/18\/john-cenas-17-wwe-world-title-reigns-ranked\/3\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Cena&#8217;s brilliant 280-day WWE Championship reign<\/span> <\/a>was ended at New Year&#8217;s Revolution 2006.<\/p>\n<p>He retained the WWE Championship against Michaels, Angle, Carlito, Chris Masters, and Kane in an Elimination Chamber match. Still, Edge <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/10\/14\/definitive-rival-john-cena-in-wwe-the-goats-greatest-enemy\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank<\/a> briefcase, taking the WWE Title away from Cena in shocking scenes.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>2. Shortest: WWE Championship &#8211; 6th Reign (2010)<\/h2>\n<p>Elimination Chamber 2010 must have felt like deja vu for John Cena. Big Match John had just survived an Elimination Chamber match to capture his sixth WWE Championship reign at Sheamus&#8217; expense. However, Cena&#8217;s celebrations were abrupt as the chairman of the Board, Mr. McMahon, granted Batista an impromptu WWE Championship match. Cena was in no fit state in his attempt to retain the WWE Championship.<\/p>\n<p>Batista was fresh, seizing the opportunity presented. The Animal decimated Cena with ease, and he executed a jaw-dropping Batista Bomb to become a six-time WWE world champion. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=aFQZWt9keA4&amp;t=16s\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Cena&#8217;s shortest championship reign in his WWE career<\/span> <\/a>lasted just three minutes and 34 seconds.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>1. Longest: WWE Championship &#8211; 3rd Reign (2006\/07)<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels \u2013 WWE Title Match: WrestleMania 23\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qu3h46bmrkA?start=605&#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>John Cena&#8217;s third WWE Championship reign wasn&#8217;t just Cena&#8217;s longest championship in his WWE career; it was the best. Cena brought a chapter to a close in his rivalry with Edge for the WWE Championship at Unforgiven 2006.<\/p>\n<p>Cena defeated the Rated-R Superstar for the WWE Championship in a TLC match in Edge&#8217;s hometown of Toronto. Cena somehow found a way to overcome the odds against him. Nevertheless, Cena&#8217;s 380-day WWE Championship reign delivered the goods with Cena cementing his spot at the top of the card with a victory over Shawn Michaels in the main event of WrestleMania 23.<\/p>\n<p>For sure, Cena was a man on a mission by retaining the WWE Championship against the likes of Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, Edge, Mick Foley, Bobby Lashley, and The Great Khali. However, Cena&#8217;s WWE Title reign became a distant memory as he sustained an untimely injury, ruling him out of action for at least six months.<\/p>\n<p>Heaven alone knows how long Cena would have been the WWE Champion, which is something wrestling fans still debate had Cena not been injured.<\/p>\n<p>He vacated the WWE Championship but miraculously returned three months later as a surprise entrant in the 2008 Royal Rumble match. Cena went on to win the Rumble, but his 380-day WWE Championship reign most likely would have snapped 400 days if he hadn&#8217;t sustained a pectoral injury.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_147592\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-147592\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-147592 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/12\/John_Cena_051025-641x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"1022\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/12\/John_Cena_051025-641x1024.jpg 641w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/12\/John_Cena_051025-188x300.jpg 188w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/12\/John_Cena_051025-768x1226.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/12\/John_Cena_051025-962x1536.jpg 962w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/12\/John_Cena_051025.jpg 1134w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-147592\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: By <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:John_Cena_051025.jpg#\/media\/File:John_Cena_051025.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sarah Bellia<\/a> &#8211; Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><i>Header photo \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Edge_vs._Cena.jpg#\/media\/File:Edge_vs._Cena.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WikiMedia Creative Commons<\/a> \u2013 Stay tuned to the <\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_self\"><em><u><i>Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i> for more on John Cena 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.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>You can check out WWE programming on\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/title\/81788927\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>Netflix<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(Raw),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usanetwork.com\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>USA Network<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(SmackDown),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cwtv.com\/shows\/wwe-nxt\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>The CW<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(NXT),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/tubitv.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>Tubi<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(WWE Evolve),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aetv.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>A&amp;E<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(WWE Superstar Sunday \u2013 Rivals, WWE LFG, and Greatest Moments), and\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch\/home\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>Peacock<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(WWE Main Event, as well as archives and premium live event streaming). Follow WWE on social media to relive top moments and matches on\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>YouTube<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>, and catch fast-paced action on X (<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/i\/events\/1773457579022155776?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>WWE Speed<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>).<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John Cena is one of the greatest WWE wrestlers of all time. Cena&#8217;s WWE career is winding down, and he has just one date on his retirement tour. Cena&#8217;s appearance on the December 13, 2025, edition of Saturday Night&#8217;s Main Event will be where Cena&#8217;s career will come to a halt. In the Last Time [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5695,"featured_media":147591,"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":[2,7205,4,3],"tags":[165],"class_list":["post-147502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-history","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-john-cena"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147502","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\/5695"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147502"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147593,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147502\/revisions\/147593"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}