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John Cena's Career Results at WrestleMania
John Cena is one of the biggest superstars in WWE history. A man who, although cannot be seen, has made a massive impact inside and outside the professional wrestling ring.
He's granted more than 650 wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, was the face of the WWE for nearly two decades and won 16 world championships.
At WrestleMania 41, he challenged Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship and made history.
Cena won the belt, his 17th world title, which is the most all time (according to the WWE). But even if he had come up short, this is the 10th championship match he's participated in at WrestleMania, which is also the most of anyone in the show's four-decade history.
So as his final WrestleMania approaches, let's take a look back at Cena's WrestleMania performances.
John Cena’s Complete WrestleMania Record
Cena is 10–6 at WrestleMania during his career, but his last victory was nearly a decade ago. Cena teamed with then fiancee Nikki Bella and defeated Miz and Maryse in a mixed tag match. Afterwards, Cena proposed to Bella (which ultimately didn't work out).
Cena has lost his previous three WrestleMania bouts, getting squashed by the Undertaker at WrestleMania 34, losing the Firefly Funhouse match to The Fiend at WrestleMania 36 and losing a United States Championship match to Austin Theory at WrestleMania 39.
Now, Cena finds himself in the main event of WrestleMania 41, challenging Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship.
John Cena’s Year-by-Year WrestleMania Matches
WrestleMania (Year) | Opponent (W/L) | Match Notes | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
WrestleMania XX (2004) | Big Show (W) | United States Championship match | 1-0 |
WrestleMania 21 (2005) | JBL (W) | WWE Championship match | 2-0 |
WrestleMania 22 (2006) | Triple H (W) | WWE Championship match (main event) | 3-0 |
WrestleMania 23 (2007) | Shawn Michaels (W) | WWE Championship match (main event) | 4-0 |
WrestleMania XXIV (2008) | Randy Orton, Triple H (L) | Triple Threat WWE Championship match | 4-1 |
WrestleMania 25 (2009) | Edge, Big Show (W) | Triple Threat World Heavyweight Championship match | 5-1 |
WrestleMania XXVI (2010) | Batista (W) | WWE Championship match | 6-1 |
WrestleMania XXVII (2011) | The Miz (L) | WWE Championship match (main event) | 6-2 |
WrestleMania XXVIII (2012) | The Rock (L) | 'Once in a Lifetime' match (main event) | 6-3 |
WrestleMania 29 (2013) | The Rock (W) | WWE Championship match (main event) | 7-3 |
WrestleMania XXX (2014) | Bray Wyatt (W) | Singles match | 8-3 |
WrestleMania 31 (2015) | Rusev (W) | United States Championship match | 9-3 |
WrestleMania 33 (2017) | The Miz & Maryse (W) | Mixed Tag Team match | 10-3 |
WrestleMania 34 (2018) | The Undertaker (L) | Singles match | 10-4 |
WrestleMania 36 (2020) | The Fiend (L) | Firefly Funhouse match | 10-5 |
WrestleMania 39 (2023) | Austin Theory (L) | United States Championship match | 10-6 |
John Cena's Most Iconic WrestleMania Matches vs. The Rock
While Cena has taken on plenty of legends over the course of his career, his matches with The Rock are undoubtedly the biggest.
Granted, these might not be his best-received matches (that nod typically goes to either his WrestleMania 23 match with Shawn Michaels or his WrestleMania 36 Firefly Funhouse match), but they are the biggest events of his career.
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The story went like this: WrestleMania XXVII featured Cena challenging The Miz for the WWE Championship in the main event. The match "ended" in a count out before the event's host, The Rock, came out and restarted the match while making it a No DQ affair. He then interfered in the match, hitting Cena with the Rock Bottom.
The next night on Raw, the pair announced they would be headlining WrestleMania XVIII the following year. The match was built as "Once in a Lifetime." Rock and Cena traded barbs throughout the rest of 2011, ended up teaming together for a match at Survivor Series against The Miz and R-Truth. In 2012, as the build to the show intensified, we saw a number of memorable moments.
Not the least of which was Cena returning to his "Dr. of Thuganomics" gimmick for one night.
The two finally squared off at WrestleMania XXVIII, with Cena losing. However, even though it had been billed as "Once in a Lifetime," the company knew the main event of the following year's WrestleMania would also be Rock vs. Cena.
So now, the next chapter in the story was a sort of redemption arc for Cena. He admitted the loss to The Rock weighed heavy on his shoulders, but things got a bit wonky when Brock Lesnar returned to the WWE for the first time in eight years.
Lesnar and Cena ended up having a match at Extreme Rules that Cena would win. Then, Cena got on the microphone and cut a promo. Depending on who you believe, this match was originally planned to be won by Lesnar. Then, there were claims that Cena was supposed to win the match and then be stretchered out of the arena.
Either of those outcomes seems to make more sense in the overarching story, but it's not like Vince McMahon was known for excellent, sensical storytelling.
Which sort of brings us to the next major step in the story, which came at the 2013 Royal Rumble where Cena won the rumble match and The Rock pinned CM Punk to win the WWE Championship. This was a point of contention for many at the time, with a large portion of fans believing a Triple Threat match at WrestleMania 29 was the better option.
However, that wasn't going to happen. Cena chose to face the reigning WWE Champion at WrestleMania. At Elimination Chamber, The Rock retained his title against Punk and then Cena defended his right to challenge for a title against Punk on the Feb. 17, 2013, edition of Raw.
Cena vowed to gain redemption by defeating The Rock and winning the WWE Championship, which is exactly what he did. After the match, the two embraced as a sign of good will.
Fast-forward 12 years and it appears the two are on the same side once again heading into WrestleMania 41.
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Nathan Cunningham is a writer for Sports Illustrated and Minute Media. Throughout his career, he has written about collegiate sports, NFL Draft, Super Bowl champions, and more. Nathan has also been featured in FanSided and 90Min. Nathan loves colorful uniforms, mascots and fast-break pull-up 3-pointers. He graduated from BYU in 2016 with a degree in journalism.