{"id":148504,"date":"2025-12-13T07:00:35","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T12:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=148504"},"modified":"2025-12-12T19:14:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T00:14:03","slug":"how-good-was-john-cena-really","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/12\/13\/how-good-was-john-cena-really\/","title":{"rendered":"How Good Was John Cena, Really?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>John Cena is one of the biggest names in the entire history of WWE. A 17-time world champion and the face of the company for well over a decade, Cena&#8217;s impact on pro wrestling is undeniable. Now that John&#8217;s career is over, wrestling fans will undoubtedly go back and rewatch some of his greatest matches and moments.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"Ttz74dx4ez\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/12\/04\/john-cena-underrated-wwe-matches\/\" target=\"_self\">5 John Cena WWE Matches That Don&#8217;t Get Enough Love<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;5 John Cena WWE Matches That Don&#8217;t Get Enough Love&#8221; &#8212; Last Word on Pro Wrestling\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/12\/04\/john-cena-underrated-wwe-matches\/embed\/#?secret=Vv7Zqq2inH#?secret=Ttz74dx4ez\" data-secret=\"Ttz74dx4ez\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>While there&#8217;s no doubt John Cena is a legend, just how good was The Champ\u00a0<em>really<\/em>? In this article, we&#8217;ll rank Cena&#8217;s in-ring skills, promo skills, character work, and look\/physique from 0-10 to determine just how good John Cena truly was. Enjoy!<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>When Did John Cena Make His WWE Debut?<\/th>\n<td>John Cena made his WWE main roster debut by challenging Kurt Angle on the June 27, 2002, edition of SmackDown<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>When Did John Cena Retire From WWE?<\/th>\n<td>John Cena competed in his final WWE match at Saturday Night&#8217;s Main Event on December 13, 2025, against Gunther<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>How Many World Titles Did John Cena Win In WWE?<\/th>\n<td>John Cena won 17 world titles in WWE<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>What Titles Did John Cena Win In WWE?<\/th>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>WWE United States Championship (5x)<\/li>\n<li>WWE Championship (14x)<\/li>\n<li>World Tag Team Championship (2x)<\/li>\n<li>World Heavyweight Championship (3x)<\/li>\n<li>WWE Tag Team Championship (2x)<\/li>\n<li>WWE Intercontinental Championship (1x)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2>How Good Were John Cena&#8217;s In-Ring Skills?<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Best of John Cena 2025: Full Match Marathon\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_uVXooqmImc?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 was never known for his incredible technical skills inside the squared circle, but The Champ had his fair share of classics throughout his 23-year WWE career. John was at his peak from an in-ring perspective in 2015, putting on amazing matches week after week as part of his US Open Challenges for the United States Championship.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cagematch.net\/?id=2&amp;nr=691&amp;page=10&amp;year=2007&amp;worker=&amp;promotion=&amp;type=&amp;constellationType=&amp;minWonRating=&amp;maxWonRating=&amp;minRating=&amp;maxRating=&amp;minVotes=&amp;maxVotes=\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cena also had an incredible 2007,<\/a> filled with many awesome WWE Title bouts against the likes of Shawn Michaels, Umaga, Randy Orton, Edge, Bobby Lashley, and others. Heck, Cena even managed to get a decent match out of The Great Khali during that year!<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_148523\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-148523\" style=\"width: 225px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-148523 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/12\/John_Cena_Randy_Orton_051025-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"A photo of WWE legend John Cena at the 2025 Royal Rumble.\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/12\/John_Cena_Randy_Orton_051025-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/12\/John_Cena_Randy_Orton_051025-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/12\/John_Cena_Randy_Orton_051025-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/12\/John_Cena_Randy_Orton_051025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-148523\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: By <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/Category:John_Cena_in_2025#\/media\/File:John_Cena_Randy_Orton_051025.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sarah Bellia<\/a> &#8211; Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While Cena was involved in a few dull matches and his execution could be sloppy at times, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/12\/10\/the-5-best-john-cena-wwe-ple-main-events-ranked\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">his catalogue of all-time classics<\/a> is impossible to ignore. Even with all his flaws from bell to bell, the man deserves props because <em>it takes two to dance<\/em>, after all.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>How Good Were John Cena&#8217;s Promo Skills?<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"John Cena destroying people on the mic: 30-minute WWE compilation\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eVKby6AoA5M?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 goal of a pro wrestling promo is to use words to build anticipation for an upcoming major match and sell a few extra tickets along the way.<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s no doubt in anyone&#8217;s mind that John Cena was one of the best of his generation when it came to cutting promos. He may not have been as electrifying as The Rock or as badass as Stone Cold Steve Austin on the microphone, but he could hang with any of his peers in a battle of words.<\/p>\n<p>Who could ever forget Cena&#8217;s promos with The Rock in 2011-13? What about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nJPhEq3MqNg\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">his infamous segment with Roman Reigns in 2017<\/a>? Or him coming up with creative rap disses as the Doctor of Thuganomics in the early 2000s? John Cena was great on the mic.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Rating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>How Good Was John Cena&#8217;s Character Work?<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"John Cena\u2019s villain era \u2013 Doctor of Thuganomics 2002-03: WWE Playlist\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LvKKoiU-fiE?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>For well over a decade, John Cena was booed by almost every crowd he performed in front of. There&#8217;s no other way to put it &#8211; Cena&#8217;s &#8220;Superman&#8221; character got incredibly stale, at least during a certain period of his run. Everyone could see it coming a mile away: Cena would get his butt kicked for 15 minutes&#8230; until he made his comeback and won. That&#8217;s one way to look at it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"UXJFA02brR\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/12\/09\/john-cenas-5-best-wwe-world-title-wins-ranked\/\" target=\"_self\">John Cena&#8217;s 5 Best WWE World Title Wins, Ranked<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;John Cena&#8217;s 5 Best WWE World Title Wins, Ranked&#8221; &#8212; Last Word on Pro Wrestling\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/12\/09\/john-cenas-5-best-wwe-world-title-wins-ranked\/embed\/#?secret=1q9hRDgzps#?secret=UXJFA02brR\" data-secret=\"UXJFA02brR\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Now think of him in the summer of 2002. Cena started as a generic &#8220;happy-go-lucky&#8221; rookie who eventually became SmackDown&#8217;s most charismatic midcarder. Just a couple of years later, Cena became WWE&#8217;s poster boy and was no longer rapping on his way to the ring.<\/p>\n<p>Looking back at John Cena&#8217;s entire WWE career, the evolution of his character can&#8217;t be ignored. However, no one can deny there was a time when John Cena&#8217;s character got stale from a creative standpoint, even if he still got loud reactions.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>How Good Was John Cena&#8217;s Look?<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Every jersey John Cena ever wore on WWE TV | 100+ throwback looks\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0CTUxUe1-xQ?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>Love him or hate him, it&#8217;s safe to say everyone can agree that John Cena has always looked like a star. Whether as the young Doctor of Thuganomics or during his long run as the face of WWE, everything about Cena&#8217;s look screamed <em>superstar<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>From his incredible physique to his colorful gear (the man sold s-loads of merchandise!) and confident body language, Cena looked like someone who belonged on posters and in main events. Cena&#8217;s look might&#8217;ve changed as his career progressed and his character evolved, but he always looked like a million dollars.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Rating: 10\/10<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How Good Were John Cena&#8217;s Overall Wrestling Skills?<\/h2>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>In-Ring Skills<\/th>\n<td>8\/10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Promo Skills<\/th>\n<td>9\/10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Character Work<\/th>\n<td>7\/10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Look<\/th>\n<td>10\/10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Overall Skills<\/th>\n<td>34\/40<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><i>Header photo \u2013\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:WWE_House_Show_-_Garrett_Coliseum_-_1-10-15_(15644478203).jpg\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WikiMedia Creative Commons<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Stay tuned to the\u00a0<\/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 significant 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 biggest names in the entire history of WWE. A 17-time world champion and the face of the company for well over a decade, Cena&#8217;s impact on pro wrestling is undeniable. Now that John&#8217;s career is over, wrestling fans will undoubtedly go back and rewatch some of his greatest matches [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5694,"featured_media":144008,"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":[2,2192,4,3],"tags":[165],"class_list":["post-148504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-wrestling","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\/148504","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\/5694"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148504"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148524,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148504\/revisions\/148524"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}