Incredible John Cena Matches To Binge Watch Before He Retires From WWE

John Cena is done.

Retired. Finished. Hung up the boots.

And depending on when you’re reading this, he’s either about to be gone for good or already is. But here’s the thing that matters most: John Cena is one of the very few wrestlers who actually means it when he says he’s done.

No nostalgia run.

No “one more match.”

No Saudi payday big enough to change his mind.

If you knocked on his door with seventy-two billion dollars, he’d probably smile politely and say, “Sorry, chief. I promised the fans.”

That alone already puts him in rare company.

So instead of arguing about whether he was pushed too hard, or chanting “You can’t wrestle” like it was still 2007, now feels like the right time to do what wrestling fans almost never do in the moment: actually appreciate someone while they’re still around.

Because when you strip away the noise, the memes, and the years of mixed reactions, the truth is simple—when it mattered, John Cena delivered. Over and over again.

And if you ever doubted that, here are the matches that prove it.

When the Crowd Hated Him—and He Thrived

Take ECW One Night Stand 2006 against Rob Van Dam. On paper, it’s just another WWE title defense. In reality, it’s one of the most hostile environments any top babyface has ever willingly walked into.

The Hammerstein Ballroom despised John Cena. Not in a fun, boo-the-heel way. In a we genuinely don’t want you here way.

Cena knew it.

And instead of fighting it, he leaned all the way in.

Head down. Title held high. No pandering. No jokes. Just silent defiance.

The crowd threw his shirt back at him. They held up signs daring WWE to riot if Cena won. And when Edge interfered to give RVD the title, the place exploded—not just because Cena lost, but because for one night, he became something fans had begged for: the closest thing to a heel John Cena without ever turning him.

That match didn’t just work.

It changed the atmosphere of WWE for an entire summer.

The Year Cena Shut Everyone Up

If you want to understand why 2015 might be John Cena’s best in-ring year, look no further than his matches with Kevin Owens.

Owens debuted on the main roster and beat Cena clean. No shortcuts. No excuses. One pop-up powerbomb and that was it.

And suddenly, anyone who hadn’t watched NXT had to pay attention.

But the deeper story wasn’t Owens. It was Cena.

This was the stretch where the U.S. Title open challenge quietly rewrote his legacy. Night after night, Cena stood in the ring with the best wrestlers in the world—Sami Zayn, Neville, Cesaro—and didn’t just hang with them. He elevated them.

You can’t fake chemistry like that.

You can’t carry people like that for months straight unless you genuinely know what you’re doing.

That era didn’t erase the chants—but it made them sound ridiculous.

The Matches That Proved He Belonged at the Top

John Cena vs. Randy Orton at Bragging Rights 2009 is often overlooked because expectations were sky-high. But their Iron Man clash is a reminder that two megastars don’t accidentally stay on top for a decade.

The pacing.

The chaos.

The finish—Cena forcing Orton to tap with seconds left on the clock.

That kind of timing is brutally hard to pull off. They nailed it.

Then there’s Cena vs. Kurt Angle, his SmackDown debut in 2002. Cena himself has downplayed it over the years, but watch it now. The intensity is there. The presence is there. The confidence of someone who doesn’t yet know how big he’s about to become—but absolutely belongs in the ring.

That’s not luck.

That’s instinct.

When Cena Let Wrestling Be Weird (and Wonderful)

Few people expected John Cena to ever lean into wrestling’s stranger side—but when he did, he committed fully.

The Firefly Fun House match at WrestleMania 36 wasn’t a match in the traditional sense. It was a psychological fever dream. Alternate realities. Meta commentary. Cena as the nWo. Cena confronting his own career choices.

It only worked because Cena was willing to let it work.

Without his history, without his image, without his willingness to look foolish and vulnerable all at once, it would’ve fallen apart. Instead, it became one of the most talked-about segments WWE has ever produced.

The same goes for his later match with AJ Styles at Crown Jewel 2025—a full-on love letter to wrestling history. References layered on references. Two veterans knowing exactly how much freedom they had, and using it to give fans something joyful, emotional, and unapologetically indulgent.

That wasn’t ego.

That was confidence.

The Matches That Changed WWE’s Direction

Some Cena matches didn’t just entertain—they reshaped the company.

SummerSlam 2014 against Brock Lesnar is one of them.

Cena didn’t just lose. He was dismantled.

Suplex after suplex. F5 after F5. The birth of “Suplex City.” The death of the idea that Cena was untouchable.

And that’s exactly why it worked.

By sacrificing his aura, Cena turned Brock into WWE’s final boss for the next decade. That’s not weakness. That’s understanding the business at the highest possible level.

The same can be said for Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam 2013. Cena didn’t just lose the title—he made Bryan by choosing him, standing across from him, and proving to the audience that Bryan belonged in that spot.

When Bryan hit the knee and pinned him, it felt real.

Because Cena made it real.

The Moment It All Began

John Cena’s match with the Big Show at WrestleMania 20 isn’t his best. It doesn’t need to be.

What matters is the reaction.

Madison Square Garden knew. You can feel it watching the footage. The crowd didn’t just cheer Cena—they believed in him. That belief became the foundation for everything that followed.

And twenty years later, looking back with hindsight, it’s impossible to argue they were wrong.

Why Cena’s Legacy Will Last

John Cena wasn’t perfect.

He wasn’t universally loved.

He wasn’t subtle.

But he was reliable. He was adaptable. And when wrestling needed him to be something different—monster-slayer, underdog, gatekeeper, mentor—he did it without complaint.

Now he’s gone.

Not fading away. Not drifting into semi-retirement. Gone.

Which means this is the moment to rewatch the matches, appreciate the work, and admit what time has already proven: John Cena didn’t just carry WWE.

He earned the right to walk away on his own terms.

And wrestling won’t see another like him anytime soon.