The Babe Ruth of WWE: John Cena's 10 Most Significant WWE Matches in History

John Cena may be the most polarizing  WWE Superstar of his generation, but he was also the face of the company at a time when it desperately needed it. Referred to as "the Babe Ruth of WWE" by Vince McMahon in a tweet issued Sunday by the CEO on Cena's 40th birthday, he was the franchise star for well over a decade.

Now in the staggering 12th year of his main event run, he remains one of the most prominent stars in McMahon's company, even if his days as a sustainable, full-time worker are behind him.

During his stint as the lead hero in wrestling's most storied promotion, Cena competed against the top stars the industry has to offer and in matches that have helped define an entire generation.

In honor of his milestone, and in the wake of McMahon's controversial declaration, relive these 10 matches essential to Cena's story. Not necessarily the best of his iconic career, they are the bouts that contributed to his climb up the ranks, solidified his status as the top attraction in WWE and earned him a spot among the most decorated and celebrated Superstars of all time.

10. I Quit Match for the WWE Championship: John Cena vs. JBL (Judgment Day 2005)

The above video is NSFW.

At WrestleMania 21 in April 2005, Cena defeated John Bradshaw Layfield to win his first WWE Championship. The match was a disappointment given the intense build; it was a basic wrestling match that really needed some sort of stipulation to adequately blow off the rivalry.

While it may have been a tad late, that stipulation came in the form of an "I Quit" match at the SmackDown-exclusive Judgment Day pay-per-view.

The brutal, violent match saw Cena bleed buckets as he endured a tremendous beating at the hands of the double-tough Texan, only to mount one of his Herculean comebacks and force the proud villain to cowardly exclaim "I QUIT!"

An arrogant babyface whose knack for insulting rivals with raps defined him early, Cena got credibility from that match with Bradshaw. It allowed him to portray a toughness that was missing from his character and establish himself as a legitimate main event competitor.

Most importantly, it gave him a Match of the Year candidate he could hang his proverbial hat on. At a time when there was still the very real question about his ability to succeed at the top of the card, it was a bout that earned him respect and accolades and made his integration into the main event scene an easier one.

9. WWE Championship Match: John Cena vs. the Great Khali (One Night Stand 2007)

One Night Stand 2007 served as John Cena's coronation as one of the elite performers of his generation.

For two years, fans questioned his in-ring ability. "Cena sucks" were as integral a part of WWE programming as the performers themselves. Fans across the internet regularly dissected his performances in an attempt to convince the masses that the musclebound native of West Newbury, Massachusetts, was a lackluster in-ring performer.

At that June pay-per-view event, he delivered a performance that far exceeded expectations.

His opponent on that night? The largely immobile Great Khali, a giant of a man from Punjab, India. Booked like a traditional wrestling monster, he was difficult to work with. Stiff, lanky and with a limited skill set, industry greats like The Undertaker, Kane and Rey Mysterio struggled to get a decent match out of him.

Cena, in one of his most miraculous performances, single-handedly carried Khali to an honest-to-goodness quality match. It took a ton of bells and whistles, including a Falls Count Anywhere stipulation, but Cena demonstrated what would become an innate ability to work with Superstars of all styles and still deliver a wildly entertaining match.

His harshest critics would continue to dump on him whenever the opportunity arose, but it was never more apparent then that Cena was an all-time great in the making and a far better worker than he would ever get credit for being.

8. 2008 Royal Rumble Match

The 2008 Royal Rumble match took place in the historic Madison Square Garden and featured stars such as Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Triple H, Batista, Umaga and Kane.

It was the final Superstar to step through the curtain that shocked the wrestling world and created an iconic and unforgettable moment.

Just three months after tearing his pectoral on Raw, John Cena returned to the ring long before a full three months before the earliest diagnosis.

He would win the match and go on to compete for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXIV, but his victory was not the biggest story to come from the bout. The franchise star of Vince McMahon's company had once again proved his toughness and determination to return from injury.

Over the course of his career, Cena would fight through injury or return from major surgeries quicker than expected, determined to return to the top of the industry and carry the company on his back.

From competing with an injured neck in 2008 to defending the WWE Championship against Daniel Bryan with a torn triceps, he consistently did what was best for business, even if it caused considerable pains to himself in the process.

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

"You can't wrestle" chant were commonplace in Cena matches in the years that followed his ascension to the top of the industry. Some genuinely thought he was incapable of producing between the ropes, while others found it to be the cool, hip thing to chant because every fan within a mile of a keyboard said so.

After an extraordinary performance at WrestleMania 23 against Shawn Michael, then-WWE champion Cena was slated to continue his rivalry with The Heartbreak Kid. On April 23, 2007, from London, the Superstars would clash in a non-title match on Raw.

What no one could have imagined was that the match would stretch 55 minutes and conclude when Michaels caught the leader of the Chain Gang with Sweet Chin Music.

Hours of television simply were not devoted to a single match in the new millennium. It was nearly impossible to expect fans to expend that much energy for a single match when they were so used to a frenetically paced product. The fans in London, though, hung on every near-fall and high spot the Superstars delivered and popped enormously for Michaels' victory.

In defeat, Cena once again found himself the victor, for it was his ability to hang with one of the most respected and celebrated professional wrestlers of all time that stood out more than the outcome of the match.

A Superstar who had repeatedly proved to the audience that he could deliver in specialty or gimmick brawls, he silenced the doubters by working a televised classic that came from out of nowhere to dazzle and awe.

6. WWE Championship Match: John Cena vs. AJ Styles

At age 39, John Cena headlined the 2017 Royal Rumble, challenging industry standard AJ Styles.

The match, another in a long line of classics for both men, wowed the 60,000-plus fans inside San Antonio's AlamoDome and ended with Cena capturing his 16th world championship.

That feat tied him with Ric Flair in WWE history for the most titles ever.

It is an accomplishment few have ever had the opportunity to come close to matching. It takes a considerable longevity to be in that position. With 12 years at the pinnacle of sports entertainment, he stayed relevant and good enough—and long enough—to reach that achievement.

Any question as to whether or not he deserved it was answered with a resounding "yes" when he delivered a five-star, Match of the Year-quality match with The Phenomenal One.

5. John Cena vs. Kurt Angle (SmackDown; June 27, 2002)

In his first appearance in WWE, John Cena answered former world champion and Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle's open challenge.

Citing "ruthless aggression" as the reason he thought he could defeat, the celebrated athlete proceeded to serve notice to the rest of the roster.

In a sprint of a match, Cena came close to upsetting Angle on several occasions as fans in Chicago's historic Allstate Arena erupted with every near-fall. Angle would catch the inexperienced Cena off guard and score a roll-up for the win, but there was a look of shock painted on his face as he fled the squared circle.

The Massachusetts native had exploded onto the scene, taken Angle to the limit and established himself as one of the most promising young performers on a stacked WWE roster.

While he would stumble in the weeks and months to come, lost in the shuffle on a show touting Brock Lesnar, Undertaker, Big Show, Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio, Edge, Eddie Guerrero and the aforementioned Angle, he would return to relevance thanks to a Halloween costume and some freestyle rap skills.

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

By the time 2011 arrived, Cena had been firmly established as the guy in WWE. He had competed against every major star the industry had turned out during his time on top and was the closest thing to a franchise player Vince McMahon had in his arsenal.

He was also willing to give back, using his star power and the credibility he had amassed during his time atop the company to put over fresh faces and provided that last push they needed to be recognized as a marquee attraction.

One such case was CM Punk, who was the hottest wrestler in the world that summer, thanks to a scathing "pipe bomb" of a promo he unleashed on an unsuspecting WWE Universe.

There was a great deal of uncertainty surrounding Punk, his contract status with the company and whether or not management was serious about presenting him as a Superstar on Cena's level.

In Chicago, Cena rose to the occasion, delivering a five-star classic that still resonates with fans today. Arguably the best WWE match of the 2010s, the contest spotlighted Punk but showcased Cena's understated greatness and underrated selflessness.

The biggest star in the industry allowed Punk to take center stage and enjoy the moment in front of his hometown friends and fans.

Furthermore, he dropped the title to Punk at a time when he could have balked at the idea, especially considering he was in the midst of a yearlong build to a showdown with The Rock at the following April's WrestleMania.

He did not, Punk was a bigger star for having worked with and beaten Cena, and WWE was hotter than it had been in a very long time as a result.

3. 7-on-7 Tag Team Elimination Match (SummerSlam 2010)

One cannot accurately discuss Cena's career with highlighting some of the negatives.

Perhaps no match more accurately portrays the issues surrounding Cena's booking over the years than the main event of SummerSlam 2010. A 7-on-7 Tag Team Elimination match, it pitted Cena's Team WWE against The Nexus. The heels, a group of talented young stars seeking pro wrestling domination, should have won the bout in impressive fashion, catapulting the rivalry with Cena forward.

Instead, Cena overcame a numbers disadvantage and captured the win by eliminating Justin Gabriel and Wade Barrett consecutively.

It was another instance of Cena overcoming the odds, a live-action superhero unfazed by the challenge of evildoers.

While the booking served to strengthen the babyface in the eyes of the young WWE faithful, it completely and utterly obliterated the credibility and legitimacy of Nexus. Never again would fans take the renegade group as seriously as it did during the lead-in to SummerSlam.

Unfortunately, it was a pattern that would repeat itself over and over again, much to the dismay of loyal, diehard fans who became fed up with the repetitive, damaging booking tropes.

For all that Cena has done for WWE and to ensure the industry is a healthy one, his booking has repeatedly proved detrimental to the company's attempt to build stars around him.

2. WWE Championship Match: John Cena vs. Rob Van Dam (One Night Stand 2006)

Cena had faced much scrutiny in his first full year as a main event performer, but never had he been met with the pure, unadulterated hatred that greeted him as he entered the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York for ECW One Night Stand 2006.

Slated to wage war with Rob Van Dam in the night's main event, he entered the area with his title held high and his head down, weathering the storm of jeers, curses and chants pouring from the stands.

With signs reading "if Cena wins, we riot" as well as spit and middle fingers flying his way, the WWE champion turned in one of the best performances of his young career.

Upon rewatching the contest, the argument can even be made he was the best wrestler in the ring that night, and though he lost his title to the delight of the rabid audience, he earned the respect of those critics who still questioned his credibility.

1. Once in a Lifetime: John Cena vs. The Rock

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is the biggest star professional wrestling has ever produced. He not only became a marquee performer for WWE, but he broke through into mainstream consciousness. A Hollywood A-lister whose films regularly bring in hundreds of millions of dollars every year, he is one of the biggest stars in the entire world.

His departure from the wrestling world created an opportunity for Cena to supplant him and go on to achieve the success within the industry that the third generation had before him.

Real life animosity between the two, building steadily for years, led to an intensely personal rivalry when the opportunity arose for Rock to return to the squared circle for another epic WrestleMania encounter.

The match, a year in the making, was recognition of Cena's status as the star on the level of his opponent. Rock was an industry icon, and in pairing him with the lead babyface of the current era, any question about Cena's place in history was erased.

He lost the match but hardly suffered because of it. After building a reputation for himself by working with the top stars of his generation, his place in history was secured via an epic dream match against wrestling's most electrifying man.