IWC Scum — On The Heels of Seventeen (Ranking John Cena’s World Title Reigns)
Welcome back to the column that puts the incessant whining and complaining in IWC. I’m a wayward writer named SkitZ who’s finally knocking the rust off his dusty keyboard. That shit spreads like a brushfire during these summer months.
Despite how it might read in the paragraphs below, yours truly has nothing but love for WWE’s self-appointed GOAT. Less so during his boom period when Cena served as the Tom Brady of WWE from 2005-2015. His excessive winning and endless string of World Championships annoyed the hell out of me during that period (mainly because he wasn’t one of my favorites). After dominating the company for a decade plus though, and especially later on once Mr. Movie Star became more of a part-time act, I grew to appreciate Cena’s greatness and everything he’s given to the business.
You hear it constantly, but the Mass-hole of a void left behind by the West Newbury native’s absence in recent years rings true to the old adage “you’ll miss him when he’s gone”. And now that John Cena’s rollercoaster of a retirement tour is nearing its end, I figured why not count down all of the landmark victories that caused us mental trauma and anger issues over the last quarter of a century? Brace yourselves… we’re starting from the bottom of this golden shower of a shitpile!
#17. Elimination Chamber 2010
Much like a modern Channing Tatum movie, blink twice and you completely missed this ever being a thing. Cena held the WWE Championship here for about as long as CM Punk did a few Saturdays ago, and thus it lands at the bottom of my list by default. John won and lost the title on the same night, just to regain it five weeks later at WrestleMania XXVI. Batista had recently beat up Bret Hart at Vince’s behest, and in return the boss rewarded Big Dave with the equivalent of a MITB contract that he cashed in right after Cena survived the Elimination Chamber. Classic heel tactic and a moment eerily reminiscent of VKM sticking the fork in his white meat babyface’s reign four years earlier.
#16. Night of Champions 2011 – HIAC 2011 (14 Days)
A period of angst and frustration for fans of CM Punk, who suddenly veered off his destined path to feud with a decrepit Kevin Nash, Triple H and Awesome Truth while Cena traded the WWE Title back and forth with Alberto Del Rio. The avid Make-A-Wisher added a couple really short reigns to the trophy room that year; this being the shortest at two weeks. Why would you ever book a pair of PLEs so close together? Oh right, that’s become the company’s new business model. And just in time for ESPN to take over and price gouge us to pay off Brock’s absolute theft of a contract.
#15. Money in the Bank 2014 – SummerSlam 2014 (49 Days)
Fresh off the heels of their lengthy feud, fans were already pissed about WWE’s Poster Boy flushing the fiendish cult leader’s momentum down the drain. There was some lingering optimism in regards to Bray regaining his mojo at MITB by capturing the vacant World Heavyweight Championship, but that quickly evaporated. Rather than test the belt on the company’s hot new commodity, Vince went with Ol’ Reliable who carried the gold for less than two months before suffering a historic Brock Lesnar squash that was meant for Daniel Bryan. Positive spin attempt: at least it wasn’t Wyatt getting massacred in the main event of SummerSlam?
#14. Hell in a Cell 2013 – TLC 2013 (49 Days)
Honestly, I felt kinda bad for Alberto in this scenario. After spending a few years struggling to acclimate and connect with WWE audiences, Del Rio found himself in a much better groove by 2013. This particular World Title reign kicked off with a spectacular double turn of a performance at Payback against Dolph Ziggler that isn’t mentioned nearly enough. Del Rio then spent the next four months putting on bangers with the likes of Christian and Rob Van Dam, only to drop the World Heavyweight Championship to a returning John Cena outta nowhere. Womp womp. ADR’s trajectory never fully recovered either. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
This reign was essentially executed just to set up a unification bout between Cena and his old rival Randy Orton (remember that infamous go-home promo the fans hijacked because they weren’t the least bit interested in these two wrestling again? Good times). It also featured a failed cash-in by uber underdog Damien Sandow, which remains a sore spot all these years later for fans who felt Cena should’ve done the favor that night.
#13. WrestleMania XXV – Backlash 2009 (21 Days)
As a raging Edgehead, I wasn’t too thrilled with Cena’s annoying habit of abruptly ending the former’s World Title reigns. In this particular instance, Cena had already been WHC heading into Mania season. He loses the belt in shocking fashion at Elimination Chamber, then regains it at WM25, only to drop the gold right back to Edge at Backlash… Rendering Cena’s reign here pretty pointless.
My guess is once Hulk Hogan wasn’t medically cleared and his rumored WrestleMania dream match with Cena went up in smoke, it forced the company to change directions. Their solution? Inserting Cena into the Edge/Vicky/Big Show love triangle. The widowed Guerrero is being a hobag, John Cena’s playing the Jerry Springer role, and we’re all watching this cringey trainwreck unfold before our eyes. In retrospect, Cena probably made that whole storyline a tad less unbearable, but his jorts were out of control by ‘09. Those baggy ass Ecko-branded ones were a goddamn tripping hazard.
#12. Survivor Series 2008 – No Way Out 2009 (84 Days)
Speaking of that timeframe, I couldn’t rank the title reign which preceded it any higher than this. Cena returned early from injury for a second time that year at the November classic, where he ended Chris Jericho’s run far too quickly and decisively. Y2J was on a career high in WWE; highlighted by his epic rivalry with HBK and a pair of World Title wins. Nothing too noteworthy from Cena, who feuded with JBL (yet again) before taking a L in the Chamber. It sort of felt like a lightbulb went off in Vince’s head where he went “hey my top draw hasn’t been champ in over a year and Survivor Series is in Boston!”. As if Cena ever had a firm crowd advantage in any city back in those days.
#11. July 25, 2011 RAW – SummerSlam 2011 (20 Days)
The only reason this 19-day title reign doesn’t rank lower is because it came during the Summer of Punk, and his headline grabbing program with John Cena. They treated us to must-see segments practically every week during that stretch. Vince and Hunter were in the mix without being overbearing. We seemingly had our guy going against the machine’s and pushing the envelope in the process. Those were wild times for us wrestling nerds.
On the flip side, the initial details surrounding said reign is what so often landed Cena in hot water with diehard fans. Their favorites in WWE would finally receive a big push or title run, only for Cena to rush in on cue and overcome them without much trouble, and that rubbed plenty of people the wrong way. Vince throws together a tournament to crown a new WWE Champion following CM Punk’s staged walkout. Rey Mysterio wins it, but doesn’t even get an evening to enjoy the huge accomplishment because Cena throws down a title challenge on the same show, and then proceeds to dethrone the new champ. Keep in mind also, John Cena had just dropped the belt eight days prior…
Each World Title reign of Mysterio’s was shorter than the last. Poor Rey. Even at the height of his fame, he was still getting belittled.
#10. WrestleMania XXVI – MITB 2010 (84 Days)
Building an entire storyline around Big Dave being the 1b to John Cena throughout his career? Sign me up. Sadly however, Cena spent most of this reign duct taping Batista’s legs together and attitude adjusting him off the roofs of vehicles. He did later put over Sheamus for the second time in seven months, so there’s that, but doesn’t The Nexus deserve most of the credit?
I must say retrospectively that heel Dave Batista rocked, and he deserved a longer run with the belt before leaving the company (definitely shouldn’t have lost all three matches to Cena). It may have taken four or five years to shake off the muscle head wrestler stigma, but it was obvious from Batista’s character work on the way out that he’d find success in Hollywood. Nobody could’ve predicted though that he’d become a far better movie actor than WWE superstar.
#9. Extreme Rules 2011 – MITB 2011 (77 Days)
That WrestleMania XXVII main event was plenty forgettable even before The Miz concussed himself on the concrete floor. I doubt anyone really recalls the following two matches Cena had with him either. R-Truth losing his marbles and manifesting Little Jimmy was amazing though. Dressing Truth up as a confederate soldier to promote a politically themed PPV in our nation’s capital is vintage Vince McMahon (Season’s Beatings, Great Balls of Fire, you get the gist). This reign climaxing with a rare five-star epic against CM Punk ramps it up a notch or two.
#8. Breaking Point 2009 – HIAC 2009 (21 Days)
Mmmm I’d place this one in the ‘Short and Sweet’ category. Cena only held the WWE Championship from PPV to PPV, but he and Orton had really hit their stride as performers by this point. I consider late ‘09 to be the apex of their rivalry. Not saying it’s on the same scale, but this stretch reminds me a lot of The Rock and Triple H playing hot potato with the WWF Title in mid 2000.
#7. Bragging Rights 2009 – TLC 2009 (49 Days)
Pretty much everything said above applies here. I more or less ranked this title reign one spot higher because of how much I loved Cena and Orton’s IronMan match. Well that and John shockingly dropping the strap to newcomer Sheamus, who at that time had been on RAW for less than two months. Sure, winning gold in a tables match is weaker than the tables themselves, but that’s not meant to be a knock on the spirited ginger. From one pasty Irishman to another, you had my support back then even when everyone else referred to you as utter shite!
#6. Royal Rumble 2017 – Elimination Chamber 2017 (14 Days)
A very transitional reign for the once dominant champion, but the historical significance of winning a sixteenth World Title catapults it forward. John Cena and AJ Styles made magic every time they locked up, and their outing at this Royal Rumble was no exception. Ric Flair attended the event for a paycheck, and you know that man was itching the scabs off his face for one more match against the new champ. Still bummed that we never witnessed a title program between those two around 2006-07.
The celebration of Cena tying Naitch’s record would be short-lived, as he dropped the strap to Wyatt inside Elimination Chamber the next month. Doing the job for Bray about three years too late in the minds of many people.
#5. Royal Rumble 2006 – ECW: One Night Stand 2006 (133 Days)
This reign often gets overlooked because it’s sandwiched between Cena’s first WWE Title run and his longest one to date. The nine plus months which preceded it brought with them plenty of growing pains, but those were nothing compared to the lumps and bumps John received from fans over the first half of ‘06. Between Edge’s trial reign as champ being cut drastically short and the crowd reaction for Cena/Trips dwarfing anything that happened between the ropes at Mania, there’s often a bad association attached to this one. And while even I was suffering a bit from John Cena fatigue at the time, his second World Title reign still sneaks its way into the top five.
Highlighted by the hostile environments he experienced at WrestleMania XXII and ECW: One Night Stand, this reign showed that Cena thrived with his back against the wall. It went a long way in gaining respect from critics, as well as the boys in the back. Meanwhile, Van Dam was gaining heat for taking his career high on the road and turning it into a real life Cheech & Chong movie with Sabu that proved costly.
#4. WrestleMania 41 – SummerSlam 2025 (105 Days)
Yeah, I’m just as surprised as you are that historic #17 landed this high given the level of scrutiny surrounding it. In true John Cena fashion, his last reign was under fire from the jump and offered a mixed bag of good and blah programming. And while The Rock deserves a portion of the blame for screwing up the Road to WrestleMania a second straight year, the majority of it falls flatly on Triple H and Nick Khan.
Elimination Chamber in Toronto wasn’t selling enough tickets, so they promoted The Rock’s return to fill the venue. And if The Final Boss is coming back, it can’t just be for a basic appearance so the company needed a major angle to close the show. “How about we turn Cody? No wait, let’s turn Cena heel 12 years too late!” As soon as John walked out in Brussels wearing the same shit and said “I’ve been in an abusive relationship for the last 25 years”, that sinking feeling of “ehhh this whole Cena heel turn is going to be both a stretch and a struggle” started to set in.
In many ways, 2025 has felt like the year of the unbelievable villain, and there’s been no better example over the past six months than the self-proclaimed last real champion. John’s simply far too nice and humble of a guy to be universally hated, which has led to a lot of unnaturally forced promos since mid-March. Maybe if Cena had tapped more into his douchey portrayal on Total Divas back in the day, but either way the fans weren’t buying it. Sometimes plain and predictable is the best course of action, and the truth of the matter is that given the current climate in WWE, turning Cena (or Cody) heel at this stage made very little business sense. In what world is an audience gonna boo an all-time great babyface during his retirement run? Not to mention writing yourselves into a corner come the end of the year when John’s down to his last few dates.
If Cena’s bipolar promo right before SummerSlam and accompanying performance at said event proved anything, it’s that Hunter & Co. overthought and miscalculated the entire thing. Imagine if we had gotten Cena/Cody II at WrestleMania 41, and how differently the next three months might’ve played out. That’s not to say there weren’t some fun moments of course; replaying the greatest hits with Randy, parodying Punk’s pipebomb promo, the stuff with Truth, etc. Passing the proverbial torch to Rhodes at the end was a nice touch, even if a babyface Cena dropping the belt to Drew or Gunther would’ve been equally as impactful in my opinion.
#3. WrestleMania XXIX – SummerSlam 2013 (133 Days)
It may have gotten off to a rocky start due to the poor reception towards Cena’s redemption story, but I really enjoyed his run with the belt after finally beating the People’s Champ. John triumphed in a couple of fun matches against Bully Ray Ryback, barely survived Mark Henry who gave his legendary “retirement” speech in the lead-up, and then put Daniel Bryan over cleanly at SummerSlam in a Match of the Year contender. A better reign than it had any right being at this phase of the game for Cena.
When comparing this run of his to the one that just ended recently, the similarities are uncanny. They were of relatively equal lengths, both got off to underwhelming starts at Mania, but had their moments in between before finishing with banger SummerSlam matches. Ultimately I gave the slight nod to Cena’s 2013 reign because well, 2025 turned out to be one big fucking flop of an experiment. Shame on us for thinking we had it so terrible back then.
#2. WrestleMania XXI – New Year’s Revolution 2006 (280 Days)
Ah the volatile combination of success and oversaturation exploding into scorn and ridicule. John Cena was ridiculously over in the early days of his inaugural reign as WWE Champion. Unfortunately, the basic blueprint to Cena’s presentation coupled with his feuds against superior wrestlers like Christian, Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle had diehard fans doing the about face. Hating on John Cena suddenly became the trendy thing to do, and crowds across the country were clamoring for him to drop the belt in the Elimination Chamber. They didn’t quite get their wish granted, but close enough!
Now having said all that, it’s impossible to overlook the length of this reign and its generational implications. The crowning of Cena and Batista at WM21 ushered in a new era, and John held his own against WWE’s top stars while becoming one in the process. Cena’s evolution from white rapper to cleancut marine didn’t exactly endear him to many adult fans, but his potential was more obvious than that slow-spreading bald spot.
#1. Unforgiven 2006 – No Mercy/ish 2007 (380 Days)
Cena’s TLC epic with Edge in Toronto is probably my personal favorite from their collection of matches. The latter was tired of hearing that Cena couldn’t wrestle and elevated his onscreen nemesis to another level. This title reign solidified him as the new golden standard in WWE. Not only did Cena defeat any and everybody over the course of that year not named Kevin Federline, but he delivered time and time again in the ring when it mattered most.
From a bloody Last Man Standing battle against Umaga, to going an hour in London with HBK, to a random scrum involving Mick Foley, to carrying Bobby Lashley to a damn good match at Great American Bash, John Cena definitively became that dude (let’s choose to ignore that feud with Khali in the middle of it). Dirtsheets suggest he was booked to drop the belt to Randy Orton at No Mercy anyways, but we’ll never truly know thanks to Mr. Butterfingers Kennedy.
Well, how does my list stack up against your own? Cena damn near had as many transitional title reigns as Edge, and half of them definitely reeked of stat padding, but those are the perks of being Mr. Consistent over such a long period. Did I rank #17 too high? You tell me, but the majority of John’s reigns were so void of redeeming qualities that I couldn’t justify placing it any lower. According to Google, Cena spent a combined 1,404 days as WWE/World Champion throughout his career… Seems low. I could’ve sworn he was champ straight through the entirety of my 20s.