John Cena's Greatest Ring Rivals Of All Time

John Cena's monumental career has had some of the highest profile matches in recent wrestling history, as "The Champ" has been willing to take on anybody who either wanted to dethrone him or simply believed they were the 'next big thing.' Now that Cena is wrapping up his in-ring wrestling career, he's already stepped back into the ring with many of his old rivals but which names should be considered his greatest rivals of all time?

Naturally, Cena's career had several feuds before he became the biggest star of his generation, like his storyline with Kurt Angle where he famously cut his "Ruthless Aggression" promo that set the tone for the WWE Era, or his major feud with The Big Show where he showed just how strong he was by hoisting the 300 pound veteran onto his shoulders for the Attitude Adjustment to win the WWE United States Championship. In a similar vein, Cena also faced JBL for the WWE Championship, winning it at WrestleMania 21 and cementing his legacy as a main eventer. 

And, of course, Cena's feud with Triple H absolutely has to be mentioned, even though their rivalry was far more business than it was personal. All things aside, while these men undoubtedly shaped Cena's career, there were others far more instrumental with far more at stake than just championships.

John Cena and Randy Orton have a storied rivalry that goes back to the early days of their WWE tenures and, over the years, the two men have continued to compete in both television matches and Premium Live Events, often main eventing both. Amongst all his rivals, Orton is arguably the star he's clashed with the most times, even most recently, with the two competing again one last time at Backlash for Cena's farewell tour.

From the very beginning, Orton and Cena's rivalry has been heated, specifically back in 2007 when "The Legend Killer" attacked Cena's father during their WWE Championship feud, making things far more personal than they ever were before. Over the years, the two have clashed in several stipulation gimmick matches too, like "I Quit," Ironman, TLC, and Hell in a Cell matches.

Even with how heated their rivalry has been, Orton has gone on record to state that the camaraderie between him and Cena has been present, even during his early years with Triple H and Ric Flair. "The Viper" additionally claimed that both he and Cena respect one another and have always trusted each other too. This trust also went further than just in the ring, as Orton added that he feels that he can trust anything Cena tells him, and compared his word to gold.

CM Punk and John Cena might both be fan favorites, but the two characters couldn't be further apart. Punk has always prided himself on being a rebellious anti-establishment character while Cena has been seen as the company man and face of WWE, so naturally, the two were always meant to clash.

Most notably, the biggest moment to come out of the Punk-Cena feud was undoubtedly the "Pipe Bomb" promo the "Second City Saint" cut, where he seemingly went off script and buried several names in the promotion for holding him back while Cena was laid out in the middle of the ring. This additionally led to Punk skyrocketing in popularity, and is considered by many to be one of the greatest moments in his career. Other prominent moments in their feud was their Money in the Bank 2011 clash, where Punk ended up walking away with the gold. While this was their biggest chapter, the two revisited their feud in 2025, with Cena parodying Punk's "Pipe Bomb" promo as well as a match at Night of Champions, where Punk tried to beat some sense into a the heel Cena trying to ruin wrestling.

Punk has fondly looked back at his rivalry with Cena, even comparing their dynamic to Superman and Batman, asserting that when someone mentions Cena it's hard not to mention Punk in the same conversation. He also looked back at their MitB 2011 clash, calling it the best moment of his career and admitting that he'll always be tied to Cena in the world of professional wrestling.

Both John Cena and Batista came out of OVW around the same time, hitting the main roster before going on to become parallel pillars of the Ruthless Aggression Era. Batista was largely associated with "WWE Raw" in his early main roster years, becoming the World Heavyweight Champion before being drafted to "SmackDown" with the title during the 2005 draft. Meanwhile, Cena was largely seen as the face of "SmackDown," becoming the WWE Champion, before also switching brands in that year's draft

Despite this, they only clashed a few times, like SummerSlam 2008, where Cena suffered an injury, ending what should have been a feud that would've headed into WrestleMania 25. However, the two revisited their feud again in 2010, when Batista screwed Cena out of the title at Elimination Chamber before clashing with him again at WrestleMania 26 where Cena regained the title. The last major match between the two happened at Over The Limit 2010, where Cena beat Batista for the last time in a heated "I Quit" match.

In 2024, Batista sat down for an interview with Chris Van Vliet, where he set the record straight about his relationship with Cena. According to "The Beast," he does get along with Cena and respects him a lot more than fans seem to think. However, he honed in on the differences between him and his former rival, noting that he wouldn't be able to go on a retirement tour, expressing that he ended up retiring the way he wanted: without any fanfare.

Before John Cena came in and become the face of the Ruthless Aggression, the Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin were the two biggest names of the Attitude Era. Instead of fill the void when Austin retired, Rock instead went to the film industry. This decision would later become the crux of the feud between "The Brahma Bull" and "The Champ," when Cena would call the Rock out for "abandoning" WWE in favor of Hollywood. The two then entered into a feud based on this criticism, but things quickly turned ugly, especially after Cena "went into business for himself" and called the Rock out — mid-promo — for having his key points written on his arm. The two went on to have two massive clashes at both WrestleMania 28 and 29. 

Notably, their WM28 feud had the tagline of "Once in a Lifetime," and is considered by many online to be their best match, and often used in memes to play on how big their rivalry was. However, the heated aspect of their on-screen rivalry was largely in part due to their real dislike of one another. Former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz once confirmed that there was heat between the two men, and in 2023, Cena admitted that he could've handled things better, especially when it came to how he "violated" the Rock's trust, adding that the feud could've gone better had they worked together. With all of this said, Cena is still open to facing the Rock one more time, but with only a handful of dates left of his retirement tour, their WM 28/29 feud might remain "Once in a Lifetime."

Brock Lesnar has always been one of the most dominating names on the roster during any of his runs with WWE and absolutely dominated John Cena at Backlash 2003, where he retained the WWE Championship. The two men wouldn't meet across the ring again until 2012, where they faced one another in an Extreme Rules match at the titular pay-per-view that year, where Cena finally bested his old rival with a steel chain to finally slay "The Beast Incarnate." 

Things wouldn't end there, as two years later as Lesnar would get his revenge against Cena during 2014's SummerSlam, winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship after a heavily one-sided beatdown that fans often recall today. Their rivalry then extended to Night of Champions that same year as well as the next year's Royal Rumble, where Lesnar retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. However, the two men will once again face off in 2025, after Lesnar returned during SummerSlam and decimated Cena.

Across the years of their rivalry, Cena and Lesnar have presented a hero-versus-monster dynamic that rarely worked out well for Cena, especially during 2014's SummerSlam squash. Because of this, their clashes have always allowed Cena to dig deep to get the upper hand, playing into his "Hustle, Loyalty, Respect" character. When the two will go head-to-head one last time, Cena will have one last chance to slay "The Beast Incarnate."