The incredible WWE career of John Cena is almost at an end with landmark moments taking place any time he appears. Cena announced that the legendary Madison Square Garden venue will host his final Raw match on Monday night. The living legend has the record for most Raw matches and will finish with 545 on the weekly show.
One funny twist about this is that Cena rarely appeared on Raw over his first three years on the main roster as a SmackDown guy during the early years of the brand split. Cena moving to Raw in 2005 as WWE Champion made him synonymous with the show as the top star. Each of these matches helped add to his legacy as arguably the best Raw performer of all-time.
Cesaro
February 17, 2014
WWE used the Elimination Chamber match of 2014 to set up great matches with all six men involved facing off in singles matches in the weeks before the PPV. John Cena faced Cesaro in one of their first matches to hold importance.
Cesaro had a breakout performance that made fans start to take notice of him. The conversations about Cesaro deserving a bigger push showed how much this match helped him. Cena scored the victory, but he made Cesaro look like an equal in a stellar match.
Neville
May 11, 2015
John Cena with Neville in NXT
2015 was the most underrated year of John Cena’s career, especially since he moved from the world title scene to the United States Championship. Cena defeating Rusev for the belt led to him spending most of the year having an open challenge against new opponents weekly.
Neville, aka AEW’s Pac, received one of his biggest opportunities on the main roster after having a tremendous NXT run. Cena sold his butt off to sell the smaller Neville feel like a real threat to make it a classic, even with a DQ finish leaving fans wanting more.
Rey Mysterio
July 25, 2011
Rey Mysterio and John Cena embrace after a match
John Cena’s most controversial Raw match featured his character doing something shady as a babyface. Vince McMahon didn’t realize Cena came off like a jerk challenging Rey Mysterio for the WWE Championship on the same night Rey won it by defeating the Miz.
Cena had the fresh advantage in kayfabe, but both men looked like the legends they are once the bell rang. Fans often mock Cena for winning the belt back to ruin Mysterio’s title reign. However, the match quality can’t be argued as another Cena Raw classic.
Seth Rollins
July 27, 2015
John Cena Vs Seth Rollins
The United States Championship open challenge gave us many great matches on free television. Seth Rollins was the WWE Champion, but he attempted to challenge Cena for the mid-card belt as well during a late July 2015 episode of Raw.
The infamous injury of Rollins busting Cena’s nose open is most memorable, but Cena secured the win in an outstanding match. This match set up an underrated PPV story of Cena and Rollins both putting their belts on the line in an attraction match.
Sheamus
June 21, 2010
Sheamus defeats John Cena at TLC 2009 to become WWE Champion.
Sheamus received a dream push of entering the main event scene once moving to Raw as a new star. John Cena entered a feud with Sheamus over the WWE Championship, but most of their PPV matches struggled to leave an impact.
The pairing had their best singles match on Raw in 2010 via a match with Vince McMahon as the referee. Sheamus looked like a top star on this night, but the match ended in a no contest. Nexus attacked McMahon to end the show with a memorable moment.
Cesaro
July 6, 2015
John Cena with Cesaro on his shoulders for a super AA
The best match of the United States Championship open challenge featured Cesaro stepping up to the plate for another classic match against John Cena. Chemistry was strong between the two as they started training together outside of the ring around this time.
Cesaro had another star-making performance to make fans want a bigger role for him. Cena continued to make the mid-card belt feel like a much greater prize and won the match to keep the open challenge going for a few more months.
Shawn Michaels
April 23, 2007
Shawn Michaels and John Cena face off backstage
John Cena’s rivalry with Shawn Michaels led to him having much longer matches than he previously did as the top star. One specific match on Raw served as a rematch for the WrestleMania 23 main event and pushed Cena’s boundaries further.
The match took place in the United Kingdom in front of a hot crowd and lasted almost a full hour. HBK pulled off an upset victory in a non-title match against the WWE Champion to keep their feud going.
CM Punk
February 25, 2013
John Cena v CM Punk on WWE Raw
The big story for WrestleMania 29 involved The Rock as WWE Champion with both John Cena and CM Punk trying to challenge him. Cena won the Royal Rumble match that year to earn the title shot on the biggest stage, but he put it on the line against CM Punk on Raw.
An angry Punk has since admitted that he was livid about getting snubbed from the WrestleMania main event and wanted to send a message that night. Cena and Punk both stepped up to have an all-time great Raw match won by Cena that clearly outdid the ‘Mania main event against Rock.
