Ranking John Cena's Greatest WWE Feuds Ahead of WrestleMania 41 Match vs. Cody Rhodes

In betraying and brutalizing undisputed WWE champion Cody Rhodes at Elimination Chamber, John Cena not only turned heel but also rekindled a decades-long rivalry with WWE's rabid fanbase.

Throughout his time on top as a perennial main eventer, Cena was constantly at odds with a vocal segment of the audience. And now he has fully embraced the hate, he finally unleashed all of his pent-up frustration on his detractors in his return to Raw on Monday.

His abrupt attitude adjustment makes his match with Rhodes at WrestleMania 41 all the more interesting. Once their rivalry runs its course, it's entirely possible The American Nightmare earns himself a spot among Cena's greatest foes of all time.

The 16-time world champion has made many enemies over the course of his career, all of whom helped elevate him to new heights and become WWE's biggest babyface since “Stone Cold” Steve Austin at the peak of the Attitude Era.

Ahead of his upcoming clash with Rhodes, let's look back at Cena's most memorable feuds and who will go down as his ultimate adversary once his farewell tour comes to a close at the end of 2025.

Honorable Mentions

Triple H

Cena's first year as a headliner culminated in a match with Triple H at WrestleMania 22 where a good chunk of the build centered around The Cenation Leader having to prove he was on The Game's level. He did just that with a win that night, but the two continued to wage war in the years that followed and had excellent in-ring encounters every time.

Big Show

The biggest—both literally and figuratively—challenge of Cena's burgeoning career came at WrestleMania XX when he challenged Big Show for the United States Championship.

His unadulterated strength was on full display that night when he hoisted Show up for what was then called an FU, clinching his first taste of WWE gold in the process. The two men had further battles in 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2014.

Kevin Owens

Owens made an immediate impact on the WWE main roster by laying out Cena the night he debuted in May 2015. He subsequently defeated The GOAT in clean fashion at Elimination Chamber, and although he went on to lose their next two matches on pay-per-view, they had consistently exceptional chemistry inside the squared circle.

JBL

JBL deserves as much credit as anyone in getting Cena to where he needed to be as a main event attraction in the build to WrestleMania 21. The match itself was hardly spectacular, but their “I Quit” rematch at Judgment Day 2005 was one of the bloodiest bouts of Cena's career and established him as a force to be reckoned with, along with their other outings between 2008 and 2009.

7. Brock Lesnar

While Cena and Brock Lesnar are best known for the matches they've had since the latter returned to WWE in 2012 following an eight-year hiatus, many fans tend to forget they first faced off during the former's initial rise to superstardom in 2003.

Lesnar was already a proven commodity by then, having just regained the WWE Championship from Kurt Angle in the main event of WrestleMania 19 by the time they met with the gold up for grabs at Backlash 2003.

Cena was merely a rookie on the ascent with aspirations for bigger and better things, and the impressive outing he had that night laid the groundwork for the franchise player he'd soon become.

Fast-forward nearly a decade to the post-WrestleMania Raw in 2012 when Lesnar made his long-awaited return and wasted no time in decimating The Cenation Leader with an emphatic F-5.

Their short-lived feud combined with their outstanding Extreme Rules match at the same-titled event weeks later was far and away the highlight of an otherwise dull period for WWE creatively.

Lesnar later avenged his loss by squashing Cena in a masterpiece of a match at SummerSlam 2014 to become WWE world heavyweight champion.

The two were also involved in one of WWE's greatest-ever Triple Threats at the Royal Rumble in 2015 (along with Seth Rollins) when The Beast Incarnate reigned supreme.

6. Kurt Angle

From the choice of opponent to his promise of possessing "ruthless aggression," everything about Cena's June 27, 2002 debut was excellently executed. His hard-fought loss to Kurt Angle that night on SmackDown did way more to benefit him in the long run than a fluky win would have.

It wasn't until late 2003 that they reignited their rivalry on a major stage, and by that point, Cena had transformed as a performer. He was gradually working his way through the blue brand's midcard and was beginning to find his footing as the self-professed Doctor of Thuganomics.

Cena may have again fallen short to Angle at No Mercy 2003, but it was a similar story in that he was made to look credible in defeat.

Once the fall of 2005 rolled around, the roles were reversed: Cena was in the midst of his first reign as WWE champion and Angle was in hot pursuit of the prestigious prize.

As they had in the past, the longtime rivals went on to have a stellar series of matches where The GOAT pulled out the victory and retained his title on every occasion.

It was a true full-circle moment for Cena, who had at long last vanquished the one opponent he previously couldn't quite figure out for as long as he was in the company.

Had Angle's request to WWE management been granted, Cena would have been his final matchup at WrestleMania 35, but it wasn't to be.

5. AJ Styles

As soon as AJ Styles put pen to paper with WWE at the onset of 2016, Cena was the number one name fans wanted to see him face.

Their careers practically paralleled each other in opposing promotions, and the idea of them sharing the same ring was nothing more than a fantasy booker's dream.

Styles making the jump to WWE made that dream possible, and thankfully, it didn't take long for them to be paired off in a program together.

The night of Cena's return to Raw on the Memorial Day episode in 2016, Styles turned heel and attacked The Cenation Leader after showing him respect moments earlier. That led to them having their first-ever one-on-one encounter at Money in the Bank, a top-notch barn-burner that resulted in a massive victory for Styles.

All signs pointed to Cena avenging the loss when they ran it back at SummerSlam, and after the incredible match they had, Styles would have lost nothing in defeat. Despite that, he shockingly scored another win over Cena at the event—this time in clean fashion—to send him packing from WWE for the foreseeable future.

Their final faceoff at Royal Rumble 2017 was arguably the best of the bunch and, interestingly enough, not once did they touch the floor. Cena capturing his record-tying 16th world title that evening was a fitting end to their tremendous trilogy of matches.

4. The Rock

The Rock vs. Cena was another dream match that fans never thought would actually come to fruition due to The Great One's growing Hollywood commitments in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

The heated comments they had made in interviews about each other during Rock's time away from wrestling only added to the excitement surrounding a potential program.

When The Great One did decide to grace the WWE Universe with his presence again in early 2011, there was no one else he could target but Cena. Sure enough, he ensured The GOAT didn't leave the main event of WrestleMania 27 as WWE champion, helping The Miz to claim victory instead.

Then on the next night's Raw, they did the unprecedented by making their match for WrestleMania 28 official a full year in advance.

What followed was a year of animosity, resentment and personal shots that spanned social media and promos. Rock being gone between May and November put the build on ice temporarily, but tensions flared again when The Great One flattened Cena with a Rock Bottom moments removed from their successful team-up at Survivor Series.

There was a certain aura in the air when they went face-to-face in the opening moments of their match at WrestleMania 28, with the Miami crowd firmly behind The People's Champion from the get-go. Cena's cockiness costing him the win was the perfect story and gave him a much-needed redemption arc for the next year.

The quality of their rematch at WrestleMania 29 paled in comparison to the original—not to mention Cena conquering Rock to reclaim the WWE title was a painfully predictable outcome—but they did some of their strongest work on the mic the second time around by taking the serious route and emphasizing the importance of what it meant to win when it mattered most.

3. Randy Orton

Cena and Batista were believed to be WWE's new top two pillars when they ushered in a new era with their world title wins at WrestleMania 21. Both were mainstays in Raw and SmackDown's main-event scenes over the next three years, but in reality, Randy Orton was much more of an equal counterpart to Cena given the similar trajectory and longevity they ended up having.

Inevitably, they collided in the summer of 2007 and had a fairly average outing at SummerSlam, but it wasn't until their rematch at Unforgiven the next month that matters became personal between the two when Orton punted Cena's father in the head at ringside. Their bad blood escalated when Orton was credited with injuring Cena in storyline, sidelining him from action and forcing him to relinquish the WWE Championship.

That series of events spawned years of hatred that included countless gimmick matches, intense altercations and the top title being traded back and forth over the next seven years.

In 2009 specifically, they fought each other on four consecutive pay-per-views with each encounter being better than the last. From “I Quit” to Hell in a Cell to even Iron Man, it seemed no stipulation was out of the question.

Cena and Orton battled so many times that a majority of their matches had a sameness to them after a while, and it also wasn't overly exhilarating to see them dominate the world championship picture at a time when WWE failed to create future headliners.

Those who grew up on the product during that period will forever be nostalgic toward this feud, though there were two other rivals who brought the best out of Cena that much more.

2. Edge

Every aforementioned athlete played a pivotal role in cementing Cena as the face that ran the place for so many years, but Cena has helped elevate his fair share of Superstars as well and Edge was among the very first to experience that firsthand.

Edge's near-year-long stint as Mr. Money in the Bank culminated in an epic cash-in on Cena at New Year's Revolution 2006 and his first WWE Championship win. For as monumental of a moment as it was, WWE proceeded to squander any momentum he had by booking him to lose the title three weeks later.

That easily could've marked the end of Edge's stint as a main-eventer, but instead, he used the setback as motivation to bounce back more dangerous than before. After besting Mick Foley in a sadistic hardcore match, The Rated-R Superstar stole the WWE title from Rob Van Dam and embarrassed Cena at SummerSlam by beating him on his home turf of Boston.

Through his heinous antics, Edge became more and more menacing by the week and went so far as to invade Cena's childhood home and physically assault his father. Cena eventually gave Edge his comeuppance in a grueling TLC match at Unforgiven, this time in front of his foe's faithful fans in Toronto.

Edge and Cena recaptured that same spark when they renewed hostilities in the spring of 2009 over the World Heavyweight Championship. Had Edge not left for AEW in 2023, he and Cena undoubtedly would've crossed paths again during Cena's current retirement tour.

1. CM Punk

WWE fans have long referred to Cena and CM Punk as wrestling soulmates, as they've always brought the best out of each other in essentially every way imaginable whenever they've shared the squared circle.

Their first handful of singles matches from 2009 through early 2011 were entertaining enough that it was clear the potential was there for them to have a compelling program if the opportunity presented itself. Just as Punk was preparing to exit the company in the summer of 2011, they struck gold when Punk aired his grievances while sitting on the stage—what would later become known as the famous “pipebomb” promo—and incorporated his legitimate impending departure into their storyline.

Cena played his part as the corporate-backed champion remarkably well, despite him simultaneously portraying the babyface. Punk organically got over with the audience and received a rousing reception upon unseating Cena as champ but only after delivering an instant classic with Cena in Chicago at Money in the Bank that has successfully stood the test of time.

They never ceased to steal the show in any of their subsequent encounters, including at SummerSlam 2011 and Night of Champions 2012. They saved their best bout for last on the February 25, 2013 edition of Raw when Cena narrowly defeated Punk to secure his shot at The Rock's WWE Championship at WrestleMania 29.

Their most recent in-ring reunion at Elimination Chamber 2025 and the stellar sequence they created proved that they're just as capable of making magic today as they were in their prime, and that their next one-on-one meeting is guaranteed to be a must-see spectacle.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.