'John Cena's Greatest Rivalries' Blu-Ray Review

John Cena's Greatest Rivalries is a walking tour, not a deep exploration, of Cena's biggest feuds.

The match-heavy documentary is a reminder of just how much Cena has contributed to WWE over the years. It zigzags across time, traveling from his days in WWE developmental to just this past year.

Along the way, he faces Hall of Famers present and future, names including Eddie Guerrero, Randy Orton and a host of others.

While John Cena's Greatest Rivalries covers his feuds with a total of 10 adversaries, it never delves that deeply into any of them. This won't offer a beginning-to-end retelling of how he become enemies with Triple H, Edge or Batista. It instead offers a sampler plate of all of Cena's rivalries. 

The collection is still fun, a treasure trove for Cena's biggest supporters. The film features nearly 20 matches and a single perspective—Cena's.

Format, Presentation

John Cena's Greatest Rivalries tackles one of Cena's foes at a time. The 15-time world champ offers insight into his relationship with each of these men and how they all affected his career.

The pattern is interview followed by match, interview followed by match, repeat. Each rivalry is told through two interview scenes and two matches.

The Rock is the exception. Instead of a second in-ring contest, the collection shows The Great One and Cena's verbal collision from Raw on March 25, 2013.

In an obvious homage to the Street Fighter video game series, each transition shows a pixelated opponent selection screen. A 16-bit version of Cena stands to the left of the screen as one of his many enemies is selected.

For the interview sections, Cena sits alone and opens up about his career and how men like Jericho and Edge shaped it.

These moments come off as genuine and intimate. It feels as if the audience has been given special access to Cena's inner monologue.

He talks about what Guerrero taught him, what made Shawn Michaels special, his favorite aspects of his bouts with JBL and what working with The Rock meant to him. It's not exactly a series of shoot interviews, but they are more revealing about the workings of the business than one would expect.

Matches

• John Cena vs. Eddie Guerrero: SmackDown-April 3, 2003
• John Cena vs.  Eddie Guerrero: SmackDown-Sept. 11, 2003
• Prototype (John Cena) vs. Leviathan (Batista): Ohio Valley Wrestling-Feb. 23, 2002
• John Cena vs. Batista: Extreme Rules 2010
• John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels: Raw-April 23, 2007
• John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels: Raw-March 10, 2008
• John Cena vs. Randy Orton: SummerSlam 2007
• John Cena vs. Randy Orton: Raw-Feb. 10, 2014
• John Cena vs. JBL: WrestleMania 21
• John Cena vs. JBL: Raw-June 9, 2008
• John Cena vs. Chris Jericho: Raw-Aug. 22, 2005
• John Cena vs. Chris Jericho: Survivor Series 2008
• John Cena vs. Edge: Raw-Oct. 2, 2006
• John Cena vs. Edge: Backlash April 26, 2009
• John Cena vs. Triple H: WrestleMania 22
• John Cena vs. Triple H: Raw-Oct. 19, 2009
• John Cena vs. The Rock: WrestleMania 29

This is John Cena's Greatest Rivalries' strength.

The sheer number of matches will entice many a Cena fan. A large percentage of these bouts are classics.

Cena vs. Michaels from April 2007 is arguably the greatest match in Raw history. Those two icons outdid their work from WrestleMania in a gripping, hard-hitting work of art.

There are two Last Man Standing matches (against Batista and Edge), Cena's famous Parking Lot Brawl with Latino Heat and three WrestleMania clashes. Including Cena's battle with Batista before either man had debuted on the main roster elevates the collection.

It is curious that his WrestleMania showdown with Michaels didn't make the cut. The same goes for Cena and Edge's TLC match at Unforgiven 2006.

And why not make the Q&A segment opposite The Rock a bonus feature and include their first WrestleMania match instead? The special features section of the Blu-ray could have used the boost.

Special Features

There is very little on the discs beyond the film itself.

Fans can check out a brief WWE 2K15 feature that shows Cesaro and Adrian Neville doing some motion-capture work for the video game. Cena narrates.

Exclusive to the Blu-ray version is a look at Cena's rivalry with Punk. In the interview segment, Cena talks about the parallels between the two vastly different men.

As for the in-ring action, the featured matches both come from Raw:

• John Cena vs. CM Punk: Raw-Nov. 23, 2009
• John Cena vs. CM Punk: Raw-Feb. 25, 2013

It's mighty surprising that WWE didn't go with Cena and Punk's instant classic at Money in the Bank 2011 or the excellent clash they had at Night of Champions 2012.

However, it's fun to see how far back Cena and Punk's rivalry goes, stretching back to Punk's long-haired days.

This is where the extras end. That's not the most enticing collection of bonus material. It will be the matches that compel folks to buy this instead.

Final Thoughts

The scope of John Cena's Greatest Rivalries doesn't allow it to dig deeply into any single feud. That results in more of an overview of a variety of rivalries.

Don't expect the depth of WWE: Greatest Rivalries-Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels. Don't expect the kind of inside info that documentary provided.

Instead, the look at Cena's greatest enemies offers earnest thoughts from Cena himself. It's an impressive compilation of matches, even if there are selections that many fans would trade out.

Other than insatiable fans of the megastar, this collection is ideal for fans looking for an introductory course in the history of Cena.