The Best John Cena WWE Match Every Year During The 2000s

John Cenais one of the most accomplished and one of the most popular wrestlers of all time. He has had such a career that despite him being a part-timer and rarely appearing on wrestling shows, people still talk about him all the time.

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Cena made his WWE debut in the year 2002. The path to stardom wasn't easy for Cena, and he had to go through gimmick changes to gain the fans' support. By the time we finished the 2000s decade, Cena had become a top star in WWE and had created a great legacy. Let's take a look at the best match of his from every year of the decade.

8 2002: Vs. Kurt Angle - SmackDown, June 27th

John Cena and Kurt Angle had a great feud with many great matches during the Ruthless Aggression Era. Their first encounter took place at the June 27th episode of SmackDown in 2002. Kurt Angle had issued an open challenge, to which a debuting Cena answered.

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When Cena dropped the phrase "Ruthless Aggression" and slapped Kurt Angle in the face, everyone knew he was going to be a big star in the future. The match was quite good and even though Cena lost, he looked very strong in a great debut.

7 2003: Vs. Kurt Angle - No Mercy

Fast-forward a year from his debut, Cena faced Kurt Angle once again. This time the clash took place at the No Mercy PPV. In fact, this was the first time John Cena and Kurt Angle faced off on a PPV.

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Angle and Cena showed great chemistry together, and this match was arguably their best match together. The match had great storytelling. Kurt Angle obviously carried the match, but Cena also kept up with him despite being very new. Cena tried his heel tactics to get the victory, but he got outlasted by Angle who won the contest.

6 2004: Vs. The Undertaker - SmackDown, June 24th

John Cena and The Undertaker are two iconic wrestlers. The two men wrestled during the same time period, but it is quite surprising that they didn't have a proper rivalry with a series of matches. However, the two did have good bouts.

In 2004, on the June 24th episode of SmackDown, United States Champion Cena battled The Undertaker in a grueling 22-minute non-title contest. Cena wasn't at his peak yet, nor was 2004 a great year for The Undertaker, but the two wrestlers did a splendid job in the ring. This match is often overlooked, which is sad, as it was actually a solid affair.

5 2005: Vs. JBL - Judgement Day

John Cena had defeated JBL to win his first WWE title at WrestleMania 21. The result was great and everyone was happy seeing Cena win, but the match was quite mediocre.

The two men got a chance to redeem themselves, when they faced off at Judgement Day in an "I Quit" match. The match was obviously expected to be crazy, but no one expected it to be as brutal as it turned out. In fact, this contest is one of the bloodiest WWE matches ever to take place.

4 2006: Vs. Edge - Unforgiven

Edge is easily one of the best rivals of John Cena. The two men showed great chemistry every time they clashed, and had some great matches. One such great match between the two took place at Unforgiven 2006 for Edge's WWE Championship.

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It was a TLC match, and had Cena lost, he would be forced to leave Raw. The match had many crazy spots, and the two men gave their best in the match. In the end, we saw Cena deliver an Attitude Adjustment on Edge through multiple tables to secure the win.

3 2007: Vs. Shawn Michaels - Monday Night Raw, April 23rd

John Cena had successfully retained his WWE Championship against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 23. However, that wasn't the only time the two faced each other that year. On the April 23rd edition of Raw, we saw the two collide once again in the United Kingdom.

The contest went for nearly an hour, but it didn't feel boring at all. They managed to top their WrestleMania clash, and had a more memorable bout here. Michaels won the match this time. This match is often considered to be the best match ever to take place on Monday Night Raw.

2 2008: Vs. Batista - SummerSlam

When two top stars in John Cena and Batista face off, you would often expect it to be a title match. The two did have many title matches, but when they collided at SummerSlam 2008, it was a non-title bout, and not really the most important match of the show.

Despite the stakes not being very high, the two wrestlers didn't compromise on quality. In fact, the bout ended up being one of John Cena's best matches at SummerSlam. It wasn't a great technical match, but the two men pulled off big moves, which got the crowd invested.

1 2009: Vs. Edge - Backlash

It isn't surprising to see Edge once again on the list, given his awesome chemistry with Cena. After Cena successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Edge and Big Show at WrestleMania 25, Edge got another opportunity for the title at Backlash.

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This time, the two clashed in a Last Man Standing match, and delivered once again. The match had a lot of drama, and was more focused on storytelling than being a spotfest. In the end, we saw Big Show chokeslam John Cena through a spotlight, which helped Edge win the match and the World title.

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