Cena's best feud/opponent to date.
 

Had a conversation the other morning and now I'm a bit curious what the general consensus on the matter is. Who is Cena's best opponent? A couple of the fellows I was with were keen on Edge/Cena but I'm more of a JBL/Cena type of guy. I feel I could probably tell a lot about a person based on what their favorite Cena feud was. Also, why was this your favorite?

JBL/Cena appealed to me because it basically signified a changing of the guard and kind of symbolized where WWE was and where they wanted to go. Also, they worked pretty incredible together, IMO. Cena and JBL aren't exactly the most over guys in the IWC but I thought all of their feuds were pretty solid. Obviously "JBL is poopy" left much to be desired but overall, their interactions were pretty great.

I've always thought that Cena has always had great matches with Chris Jericho and Alberto Del Rio and of course CM Punk.

The whole Edge feud was pretty good too. The matches were nothing to write home about, but the feud itself was good

Honestly, I've got a really terrible memory so a lot of stuff just kinda disappears from my mind but the first one that I thought of was definitely Edge. Mostly because it was during a time when Cena was never beaten and then along came Edge with his MitB cash in, which was exciting in it's own right, and we had a really good arch nemesis for Cena. The fact that Edge was smaller and wouldn't beat Cena in a straight fight, but used his tricks and cunning to beat him was really entertaining. Had a real Batman/Joker (or any other superhero/villain of that ilk) feel to it.

Also, the obvious one to point out as it's fresh in everyone's mind and was really good too is Punk. Probably his best series of matches anyway.

Punk is the obvious choice.

Though the "I Quit" match with JBL was awesome. I liked the way they worked together in the first feud they had on Smackdown. But I think Punk brings out the best in Cena.

Feel like I enjoyed his feud with Orton w/ Legacy but that's where my memory is a bit shit and I can't really remember any specific parts of it.

Edge until Punk came around.

And although it seems to be popular to shit on it, I think the Rock feud has to be considered when talking about his best. Unlike most feuds where they burn through the matches and promos in the span of a couple months, Rock being part-time has made it pretty special. They don't interact all the time and it's been basically building over the span of 3 WrestleManias instead of 10 episodes of Raw. I love it. It just feels "epic" to me.

If you really look at the history, Big Show has been his biggest rival over the years.

That's a good point. Didn't really think about it until now. Show pretty much made Cena in that US title WM match as well.

Umaga and Cena were a pretty awesome pairing as well.

Punk > Edge > JBL > HBK are my Top 4

No love for Jericho

Umaga IMO.

He had great feuds with Miz, & Christian too.

I really enjoyed the Cena/ Undertaker feud in 2003. Shame they haven't really gone near each other since.

For me, Punk and Rock have really been the only opponents who truly offered a threat to John Cena. Without that sense of unpredictability toward the outcome of the match, there's not much there to write home about. After Cena beat Triple H at WrestleMania 22 he pretty much became Super Cena and all of his feuds after that were ultimately one-sided.

Rock has proven to be the biggest opponent that Cena has ever faced - the one who truly looks like a challenge and looks like they could beat Cena clean. Even Punk can't say all that.

What Punk CAN say is that Cena is always more entertaining when they're feuding. Punk brings out the best in Cena in terms of both mic work and ring work.

Punk has beaten Cena clean, I also have to say that Nexus vs Cena has to be near the top.

CM Punk
Edge
Nexus/Wade Barrett
Pink Shirt Batista

These are the opponents who brought out the best in Cena.

JBL was great, but it was more JBL being great than anything Cena did.

Punk in regards to best opponent for matches but Edge for actual feuds.

Edge's "Rated R" character meshed really well with Cena's character at the time which gave Cena the rival he needed. Also meshed well with promos which is something that didn't occur again until Batista's feud with Cena.

On paper it should have been Orton-Cena as Cena's best but they never meshed well together which is why their feuds became stale and felt too forced.

Pretty much this. Don't know why Orton vs Cena never "clicked" it really seemed like an awesome pairing.

Didn't Cena always beat Edge?

Was really disappointed by their late 2008 feud.

It was the match that everyone looked at for a couple years as signifying the future. THE two guys who represented the next decade plus of wrestling. Seemed like everyone was looking forward to the eventual WrestleMania main event. Then they both ended up on the same brand and instead of looking long-term, they kinda blew their load on it and wore it out quickly and constantly.

Johnny Ace /thread

Without reading other results here are my selections in order:

1. Edge
2. CM Punk - Has taken over as his apex opponent.
3. Umaga
4. Wade Barrett
5. Chris Jericho
6. Batista
7. Shawn Michaels
8. JBL
9. Big Show
10.HHH

I'd say Edge, simply because Cena was so good that he elevated Edge to world championship staus, even if Edge was a transitional champ from one Cena reign to the next. Plus, it was genuinely fun to watch.

The feud with HBK was good, but because there was no chance HBK was going to carry the strap (his schedule had no house shows, IIRC) that took a lot out of it. I mark for HBK and just wanted him to win at WM23. Oh well.

The feud with Umaga is under-appreciated, and was solid work all around.

The feud with Punk has been good, and I have a feeling we'll revisit this one sometime in the next calendar year. This could the the Rock-Austin of this generation - I don't know where that leaves Orton, but I think Punk has supplanted him as #2 in the company.

JBL feud was fun, too. Big Show feud... meh. Show does nothing for me. He's funny, but much like Kane hasn't done anything of note to be taken seriously in about 10 years.

I take it everyone forgot about his feud with Kurt Angle?

It's good to see someone finally understands my insight.

Cena vs. Punk is my favourite. The two had some sort of chemistry together, both in the ring and when it comes to interacting. A lot of people will say Edge, but I always found their wars to be too one-sided.

JBL had a one-sided feud with Cena that I think could have been bigger had JBL been more of a Lex Luthor to Cena's rising Superman. I never really considered many of the other feuds mentioned by people as some of Cena's greatest, although each has been pretty important in their own way. Big Show and Kurt Angle have sort of served as "guardians" to different tiers that Cena has crossed (and both came back as rivals of sorts), and Triple H and HBK represented Cena becomign "that guy." He and Batista also had a pretty intense rivalry too, based on their placement as "WWE's biggest stars."

Cena's biggest feud is against the haters who hate him cause he sucks. Whenever he wins he goes up to them and smiles like a trollface. The lousy cunt.

CM Punk.

Since the very start of their main rivalry (since the original pipebomb), they've played incredible dynamics in character, with CM Punk constantly being allowed to play up the "Cena as WWE's Superman" angle whilst Punk is the guy that "shouldn't have made it".

Also doesn't hurt that the matches have been absolutely insane, and that the promos (especially during the Summer of Punk ones) were much more entertaining than any possible main event matches.

Always felt like Cena brought the best out of Edge in his heel antic promos and actions.