"John Cena: Greatest Rivalries" DVD Review

With the creation of the WWE Network in February, many loyal followers of WWE's home video brand were concerned that the company would face a massive halt in production of their very successful DVD and blu-ray line. Those worries have been somewhat tempered as WWE has released a steady stream of new content, with the latest being John Cena's Greatest Rivalries.

John Cena isn't exactly a rarely touched on subject by WWE, and particularly on home video. The 2003 release "Word Life" gave fans a look at how the blue chip superstar transformed from a fresh young babyface into the "Doctor of Thuganomics." 2007's "My Life" served as a full-on documentary for the star, who had become the biggest name in the WWE by that time.

The coverage didn't stop there however, as 2010's "John Cena Experience" took a look at Cena's insane schedule and routine, and two years ago saw a special release regarding Cena's highly publicized feud with blockbuster movie star, The Rock.

What more could be covered? With the WWE so thoroughly chronicling John Cena's career it would appear on the surface that there isn't much left to be desired. Yet with well over 12 years under his belt, the man had enough classic, iconic feuds to fuel another release. One look at the liner notes shows that it's warranted.

- To open things up, Cena's early battles with Eddie Guerrero and Batista are shown, including a match Cena had in OVW as "Prototype" taking on Batista, then known as "Leviathan." There's also a cool transition before each feud is touched on that replicates a video game character select screen.

Cena is very complimentary of Guerrero and Eddie's influence on his career. Guerrero's inclusion is a nice surprise, because it isn't one of Cena's high profile feuds. The matches included are a U.S. Title tournament match, and their classic " Latino Heat Parking Lot Brawl" on Smackdown, that was later featured on the WWE video games.

The OVW Title match between Prototype and Leviathan was also included, with each respective gimmick being shown on the aforementioned "video game character select screen." Cena put over the huge OVW class that featured himself, Shelton Benjamin, Randy Orton and Batista. The two are obviously green in the match, but the promise in both is also evident.

After not being involved with each other for several years, the two met again in a Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules 2010 (WWE incorrectly has it listed as April 2005 in the set). Cena mentions how the two were much more seasoned and had a much different dynamic. This would be Batista's final feud before leaving the WWE for four years.

- Many didn't expect Shawn Michaels and John Cena to have a series of classic matches despite HBK's ability and the cohesion is on full display in this set. The two were thrown together due to an injury to Triple H, and ended up having one of the best matches in Raw history in April 2007, which is featured in this set. Cena put over Michaels huge as a teacher to him this set, which also has their April 2008 Raw match as well.

- Perhaps Cena's longest-standing rival is Randy Orton. Cena goes through the typical motions of them bringing out the best in each other and being competitive. It's interesting to see the stark contrast in interest between their Summerslam 2007 meeting and the February 2014 Raw match, which are the two matches shown. Seven years ago this was a highly anticipated feud with a hot crowd. Years later it still gets a good reaction, but nowhere close to the original.

- Cena says JBL coached him in the early stages of his career, as he's said about several of his opponents. He talks about how hard they went in the ring, and how important his first main event feud was. The selection of matches between the two is interesting, as WrestleMania 22 was an obvious choice, but a forgotten about Raw encounter between the two from June 2008 as well. Cena said that by the time he got to JBL he'd already had matches with Brock Lesnar and the Undertaker, so he was used to the physicality.

As the production powers on, you realize how many classic matches John Cena has had, a far cry from people chanting "you can't wrestle" in unison at him for years prior.

- Chris Jericho and John Cena aren't remembered for a particularly memorable rivalry, but the two have had their fair share of classic moments. Jericho was Cena's first PPV opponent (not included in the set), and Cena dealt Jericho a loss that ended his WWE career for two years, which is shown. An underrated, excellent match between the two for the World Heavyweight Championship from Survivor Series 2008 is a highlight on this collection.

- John Cena's greatest rivalry was likely against Edge. The two had a giant series of battles that truly brought out the best in both guys and started a real turning point in Cena's career in which helped him put on consistently good matches. This feud was probably more important to Edge than Cena, but ended up being a definitive one for both.

The second disc kicks off with the Edge matches, the first of which is a cage match from October 2006. The second, a Last Man Standing match from Backlash 2009, shows how comfortable the two had become with each other, truly becoming the Frazier to the other's Ali. It was a bit surprising that their TLC match wasn't on the blu-ray, but it's on no less than three other releases and the WWE Network, so it's not hard to find.

- Cena's battles with WWE juggernaut Triple H from WrestleMania 22 and Raw in October 2009 really show John Cena's progression as a competitor. Triple H is billed as a technical master and while John Cena clearly isn't, he never falls behind Triple H in their matches which is a testament to his work ethic and transcends the screen.

The main release closes out with John Cena's iconic feud with The Rock. As mentioned earlier, there was a full release about the first match. Wisely WWE didn't include the first match, possibly in light of this and instead put their Q&A from 2013 in its place. The second match is included however. There isn't much said here that you can't hear said in pre-match promos or the match itself on the WWE Network.

- Buried (no pun intended) on the blu-ray exclusives are chapters about Cena's rivalry with CM Punk. If Edge was Cena's best feud, than Punk could have very well been his best opponent. The two had outstanding, even legendary matches and had an unmatched chemistry in the ring. Their amazing February 2013 Raw match is on the set, which saw the return of the piledriver to WWE programming. In addition to that, a November 2008 Raw encounter is also on there.

- It would have been nice to see some more tag-team related topics included on this set, notably his fantastic six-man tag team matches with The Shield from last year. While he was never a major cog in the machine that built The Shield, the group had a bitter rivalry with pretty much the entire roster. A few more blu-ray extras could have really set the second disc off as well. With so many interviews in the can, it seems like WWE could have had these opponents shown talking about their experiences with Cena.

This production houses some of the most classic matches over the past decade for WWE, and will give you a renewed appreciation of Cena's work. This isn't a documentary feature, so your perception of it will directly reflect that of your perception of Cena as an in-ring worker as it's a collection of matches. If you have the WWE Network you have many of these matches, but WWE did a good job of mixing in more obscure Raw and Smackdown matches as well.

Rating- **** (4/5)