John Cena's 5 Biggest Career-Defining Matches With WWE

There are certain matches in WWE history that one can look back at and recognize as the most defining of a given Superstar's brilliant career, and franchise star John Cena is no different.

Throughout his Hall of Fame run, Cena has wrestled some of the best matches of the last 20 years, working with different wrestlers of varying sizes and styles. But a great match and a defining one are two different things.

A defining match perfectly encapsulates everything about a character and the performer behind it. It may not necessarily be a five-star classic or an all-time great, but it is a match that, when revisited, tells the story of a Superstar's career, his personality and, most of all, is essential to his legacy.

It may not necessarily be that Superstar's best, but it is among his most important.

What better way to kick off this new, weekly feature here at Bleacher Report than with the franchise star of World Wrestling Entertainment, the leader of the Cenation and the 15-time heavyweight champion of the world?

Without further ado, here are John Cena's five most defining matches.

John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels (Raw, April 23, 2007)

For two years, John Cena listened to critics tell him he could not wrestle. "Cena sucks" and "You can't wrestle" chants became a common occurrence in every arena he stepped into—the lack of respect shown to him astonishing, especially considering how many classic matches he had already been part of to that point.

One night in April 2007, during a pre-taped episode of Raw, he silenced his doubters. At least for one night.

With all eyes on him and the legendary Shawn Michaels, Cena worked a 56-minute match on free television that proved he could not only wrestle, but he could keep the interest of the audience for nearly an hour while doing so.

Sure, he was in the ring with one of the greatest to ever lace a pair of boots, but to attribute the quality of the match solely to Cena would be irresponsible of fans and critics alike.

Cena lost that match, but it was a watershed moment that proved his worth between the ropes. Yes, he had wrestled many a Match of the Year candidate when he had the gimmickry of a Last Man Standing or I Quit match to lean on, but this was Cena's first real opportunity to flip his doubters the bird with a stellar performance in a normal, everyday singles bout.

"I Quit" Match for the WWE Championship: John Cena vs. John Bradshaw Layfield (Judgment Day 2005)

*Video may be NSFW

Speaking of those gimmick matches, John Cena's first major title defense after winning the WWE Championship back in 2005 came at Judgment Day, WWE's annual May pay-per-view extravaganza. There, he would battle former titleholder John Bradshaw Layfield in a violent "I Quit" match and, in the process, have his intestinal fortitude tested.

Bloodied and beaten down, his face adorned with the proverbial crimson mask, Cena fought through the pain and punishment he had endured throughout the contest to defeat JBL, threatening the millionaire Texan with a steam stack from an 18-wheeler.

The end of the bout may be a bit anticlimactic, but the rest of it is a thing of beauty, an exercise in brutality that dragged a nastier, meaner and tougher side out of Cena that fans had never seen before. It was the first chance he had to prove himself as a champion capable of carrying an entire show on his back, and the result was a brilliant, show-stealing contest.

John Cena vs. The Rock (WrestleMania XXVIII)

Dubbed "Once in a Lifetime," the match between John Cena and The Rock at WrestleMania XXVIII was the culmination of Cena's journey to immortality. For years, WWE had told its audience that the leader of the Cenation was an all-time great. On the grandest stage known to man, in the biggest match of his career, Cena had the opportunity to prove it against mainstream star and Attitude Era icon The Rock.

The contest, built for a year on WWE television, was hyped on the legitimate dislike each man had for the other, giving it the feel of a big-money prizefight.

And the Superstars delivered.

Cena was outstanding, carrying the early portions of the bout as his opponent gradually knocked off some of the ring rust he had incurred from years away from the squared circle.

As it progressed, the match got better and better, reaching its peak as a cocky and arrogant Cena attempted to mock Rock's People's Elbow, only to run right into a Rock Bottom and endure his biggest and most crushing defeat.

It was an important moment for Cena. Not only did the match, the hype, the circumstance solidify his position as one of the all-time greats, but it was also the first hint in a decade of what heel Cena would look like in today's WWE.

14-Man Tag Team Match: Team WWE vs. The Nexus (SummerSlam 2010)

"Overcome the odds" is a phrase that will forever accompany Cena in the history books, for better or worse, and no match is more indicative of that style of booking than the main event of SummerSlam 2010.

Nexus was a hot new faction comprised of young stars like Wade Barrett, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel and even a young Skip Sheffield (Ryback). For months, they terrorized WWE Superstars and employees, hellbent on avenging the mistreatment and humiliation they endured during the first season of NXT.

Their biggest opportunity to do so came at SummerSlam, when Nexus battled a ragtag bunch of WWE Superstars, most of whom hated each other in storyline.

Instead of a banner win for the group, one that firmly established them as the most elite faction in the business, they suffered a crushing loss that, in the long run, probably killed their credibility.

Cena fought back, the odds against him three-on-one, and picked up the victory. It was a moment that reminded the audience why it booed the franchise star in the first place and one that earned him, and WWE, harsh ridicule.

Not every match on this list is a celebration of Cena. This one, more than any, is damning evidence of what his character has done to the state of wrestling, with heels being built up for the sole purpose of being sacrificed to him in a big-match situation.

The Nexus never recovered, while Cena went on to even bigger and better things than he had accomplished to that point.

WWE Championship Match: John Cena vs. CM Punk (Money in the Bank 2011)

The clean-cut babyface champion versus the tattooed antihero, a molten-hot house in Chicago and the intrigue regarding the challenger's contractual status led to one of the most anticipated matches of the 2010s.

At Money in the Bank 2011, Cena defended the WWE Championship in a match against CM Punk that most believed would be the Straight Edge Superstar's final bout with Vince McMahon's promotion. For one half-hour, Punk and Cena wowed the audience with a display of high drama and athleticism, keeping the crowd on the edge of their seats, even though they were pretty sure of who would win.

Then it happened.

Punk blasted Cena with Go To Sleep and left with the title, running out the front door.

It was a beautiful match, in-ring artistry at its peak. All eyes were on Punk, and rightfully so, but their match was as much about Cena proving the growth he had made as an in-ring competitor as it was Punk's evolution into a legitimate main event star.

When all is said and done, fans may one day point to the classic Money in the Bank title defense as the best of Cena's career, of which there have been many great matches.