Ranking John Cena's Biggest Burials of WWE Stars

Few elite-level WWE Superstars in the modern era have been as synonymous with "burying" talent as John Cena has been over the course of his career.

As the face of the franchise for the better part of the past two decades, John Cena has been in a prime position to work with just about everyone on the roster, both past and present. There also aren't many main event stars he hasn't beaten at one point or another.

The GOAT has said many times he has had little say in his booking over the years and simply does as he's told, but perhaps that was part of the problem. There have been a number of high-profile matches where it wouldn't have hurt him to lose, yet his opponents were far worse off after coming up short against him.

At the onset of 2006, Edge was fresh off successfully cashing in the Money in the Bank briefcase to capture his first WWE Championship in what was a star-making moment for him, only for Cena to get the belt back from him three weeks later. Cena even infamously dethroned Rey Mysterio for the WWE title following a forgettable one-hour reign in 2011.

There have been countless instances of Cena stalling certain stars' momentum, but Edge and Mysterio were among those able to eventually bounce back. The same can't be said for several others who have battled the veteran and fell short.

If Dominik Mysterio again fails to defeat Cena for the Intercontinental Championship at Survivor Series, he too could be considered another one of his biggest burials.

7. Umaga

The post-WrestleMania Raw in 2006 is best known for featuring the WWE debut of Umaga, who went on a tear in destroying Ric Flair and aligning with Armando Alejandro Estrada.

He previously wrestled as a member of Three Minute Warning but was repackaged into The Samoan Bulldozer, running through everyone who stepped foot in his path of destruction.

After gradually gaining more traction throughout the year, he earned himself an opportunity at Cena's WWE Championship at 2007's New Year's Resolution pay-per-view and was portrayed as a legitimate threat to the title.

Despite that, Cena ended Umaga's undefeated streak with a measly roll-up to retain.

The indecisive finish was designed to protect Umaga in defeat but instead came off as anticlimactic. They had a much more memorable war when they went one-on-one in a Last Man Standing match at the Royal Rumble later that month. It was there that Umaga took Cena to his limit before falling to an STF Cena locked in using the ring ropes.

Although Umaga went on to represent Vince McMahon in a Battle of the Billionaires bout against Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania 23 and spent another two years with the company, he was nothing more than a midcard obstacle for everyone else to overcome with ease.

Beating Cena and holding the WWE title, if only briefly, would have done a ton of good for Umaga in the long term.

6. Damian Sandow

Unlike the rest of this list, Damian Sandow was never embroiled in a full-fledged feud with John Cena. That said, The Unseen 17 is still responsible in storyline for the biggest negative turning point of his WWE career.

Sandow was an entertaining act in the midcard following his 2012 debut, and while it can be argued he was never main event material, WWE should have capitalized on the momentum he had upon winning the Money in the Bank briefcase in the summer of 2013.

He was instead booked to lose almost every match he was involved in from that point forward, culminating in his grand cash-in on the Oct. 28 edition of Raw. He chose to challenge Cena for the World Heavyweight Championship one day removed from Cena returning from injury and taking the title from Alberto Del Rio.

Sandow had the distinct advantage over Cena but was booked to lose clean, nonetheless. To make matters worse, it marked the first time a Money in the Bank winner had failed their cash-in by pinfall.

Cena gave Sandow his best bout ever that night, but Sandow's strong performance hardly mattered. He was immediately relegated to enhancement status soon after and never really recovered.

5. Austin Theory

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The history books will show Austin Theory defeated John Cena at WrestleMania 39 in a United States Championship match. However, it's hard for fans to believe it even happened because of its awful execution and how horribly it was followed up on.

Cena vs. Theory made sense with the way Theory's early WWE career modeled Cena's. Theory's first title being the star-spangled prize—similar to Cena—made the match more appealing.

Their brief feud leading into WrestleMania 39 consisted of only one segment, and it was the night Cena returned to Raw in Boston.

During their face-to-face confrontation, Cena was relentless in his verbal evisceration of Theory, claiming he wasn't a character the fans cared about and the outcome of their clash was virtually irrelevant.

To say the segment did Theory no favors would be an understatement, as he hasn't been the same since.

Theory did beat Cena on The Grandest Stage of Them All, but the bout was as basic as could be. The action was uninspiring and A-Town cheating to win in fluky fashion didn't cement him as a big deal whatsoever.

Had the match been built better and had Theory not drastically dropped down the card past that point, it's possible he'd be in a much better spot than where he finds himself currently.

4. Baron Corbin

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John Cena hasn't had the best track record with the Money in the Bank briefcase and those who have held it, or so it seems.

Baron Corbin clinched the contract in June 2017, furthering his rise on the roster at the time. He had been impressive in his first year on the main roster and was ready to show what he could do at the main event level.

Mere days before SummerSlam, Corbin randomly cashed in the contract on then-WWE champion Jinder Mahal, only to get thwarted by Cena and pinned by Mahal in a matter of seconds.

Logically, that should have led to Corbin getting his revenge when they faced off at SummerSlam, but the exact opposite happened.

Following a fairly lackluster outing, Cena defeated Corbin clean with an Attitude Adjustment. That abruptly ended their rivalry, as Cena subsequently set his sights on Roman Reigns and Corbin faded into obscurity.

WWE dropped the ball with Corbin countless times, but not having him get one over on Cena was a major missed opportunity and caused him to never get beyond a certain level for the remainder of his run with the company.

3. Zack Ryder

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The year 2011 was very much the one when WWE reluctantly started to push several Superstars who were organically getting themselves over.

CM Punk's stock skyrocketed following his iconic "pipe bomb" promo, Daniel Bryan proved he was a world championship-caliber competitor, and Zack Ryder endeared himself to the audience through his goofy-yet-charming Z! True Long Island Story show on YouTube.

Ryder needed no help in standing out on his own, but WWE eventually aligned him with John Cena in an attempt to legitimize him. It was a fine idea in theory, but Ryder being made to look incompetent compared to Cena at every turn made it clear their efforts to elevate him weren't genuine.

The Ultimate Broski did get his moment at TLC 2011 by unseating Dolph Ziggler for the United States Championship, but that marked the peak of his push. WWE did everything to cool him off from that point forward, including by having Cena smooch his on-screen love interest, Eve, backstage on Raw.

Kane then targeted Ryder and sent him spiraling off the stage in a wheelchair because of his ongoing rivalry with Cena. Although Cena gave Kane his comeuppance at Elimination Chamber, Ryder fizzled out extremely quickly and saw his television time curtailed considerably.

Ryder returning to WWE as part of The Last Time Is Now Tournament on last week's SmackDown was a nice full-circle moment, but Cena never did right by Ryder when it mattered most.

2. Bray Wyatt

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Bray Wyatt made his main roster debut in the summer of 2013 and was almost immediately put on the fast track to superstardom by being paired off with Daniel Bryan at the end of the year.

His huge wins over Bryan and The Shield to start 2014 indicated he had a very bright future, especially when it became apparent he'd be working with John Cena for WrestleMania 30.

The story they told was that Cena would have to face his fears in order to overcome Wyatt and that he couldn't hide from the darkness within him. It made for intriguing television, but more importantly, it established Wyatt was a 'Mania-worthy rival for one of the biggest stars in the company.

The match quality was average at best, but it was all about the outcome.

Cena had won at WrestleMania many times before and didn't need to go over, whereas Wyatt had so much to gain from putting down a legend like Cena in his WrestleMania debut.

Ultimately, WWE had other plans.

Cena scored the three-count on Wyatt that night and their feud lost a lot of its juice as a result. Wyatt did beat Cena in their Steel Cage rematch at Extreme Rules but only after plenty of shenanigans, and Cena won the Last Man Standing rubber match at Payback, anyway.

Wyatt's mystique had taken a drastic hit by the time their storyline was over, and it wasn't until many years later that WWE corrected course with him. Wyatt avenging that loss at 'Mania six years later in a Firefly Fun House match, for what it was worth.

1. The Nexus

WWE's weekly product in 2010 was largely unwatchable until The Nexus burst onto the scene that summer and turned Raw on its head.

The rookies from the first season of NXT (at a time when it was still a competition-style show) essentially invading Raw and annihilating everyone and everything they saw was fresh, fun and exciting. It breathed new life into the flagship show for a few months and created rare intrigue among the audience.

John Cena was the most notable name they attacked the night they arrived and that set the tone for their feud heading into SummerSlam. The Nexus, led by breakout star Wade Barrett, were white hot at the time and were making the most of their aggressive push despite just starting out on WWE TV.

Cena served as the captain of Team WWE opposite The Nexus in a massive seven-on-seven tag team elimination match in the main event of SummerSlam and it had a big fight feel. For as stacked as Team WWE was on paper, there was zero reason for them to win and have it come at the expense of The Nexus.

Not only did Cena have his hand raised in victory, but he also eliminated both Barrett and Justin Gabriel after being on the receiving end of a DDT on the exposed concrete floor at ringside. The decision is every bit as mind-boggling today as it was back then.

There's no telling how much success the group would have had if they had stood tall to close the event, but that definitive defeat killed their hot streak and expedited their demise.

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.