There have been few wrestling superstars as polarizing as John Cena. The 16-time WWE world champion recently celebrated his twentieth anniversary with the company in 2022. His decorated career includes big victories over legends like Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, and Kurt Angle.
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Most fans know John Cena did not enter the WWE as a huge superstar. After he evolved past his "The Doctor of Thuganomics" and "The Prototype" personas, he was an unstoppable force in the ring. By his prime, Cena suffered very few "clean losses" (a loss with no interference). This list will examine ten forgotten clean losses of John Cena's, future WWE Hall of Fame, career.
10 Rikishi (SmackDown) - Aired On November 7, 2002
Only a few months after his debut against Kurt Angle, John Cena faced another WWE legend, Rikishi. This bout, on an episode of SmackDown, was the first time the two ever crossed paths in the ring and the match itself is pretty underwhelming.
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Rikishi dominated the match and Chokeslammed the future champion like he was a jobber. Cena actually turned heel for a short time after this loss (one of the forgotten mini-heel turns of his career).
9 Reverend D-Von (SmackDown) - Aired On August 29, 2002
Cena and D-Von have had matches dating all the way back to WWE Velocity. In their first televised match on SmackDown, the two legends had a quick match that ended in a clean victory for D-Von.
He hit a reverse DDT that took Cena out in less than five minutes. The two wouldn't compete on SmackDown again until 2004. Cena dominated the rematch en route to his first WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 21.
8 Ryback (Payback) - June 16, 2013
During Ryback's 2013 push, he earned a massive win over John Cena at Payback 2013. Although this was a Three Stages of Hell match and Ryback didn't end up winning the WWE Championship, he still did score a clean win in their first stage, a Lumberjack match.
Ryback hit a Shell Shocked on Cena and earned a quick fall early. The win wasn't enough to put Ryback over, as the victory did very little to move the bar for him.
7 Vs Nexus (Raw) - August 30, 2010
The history between the Nexus and John Cena is often remembered as one of the biggest creative blunders in the history of the WWE. A group that was supposed to be as powerful as The Shield ended up being another simple obstacle for Cena to topple.
Many forget that during their feud, Cena lost a few matches to the Nexus. Justin Gabriel scored a pinfall win in a Nexus vs Team Raw tag team match. It was elimination style and came down to Gabriel and Cena meaning Cena did technically lose clean. Gabriel beat him with no interference beyond legal tag team involvement. A huge win for the Nexus (that amounted to nothing).
6 W/ Edge Vs Eddie And Chavo Guerrero (SmackDown) - Aired On September 12, 2002
Although Eddie Guerrero and John Cena were the faces of SmackDown for many years, they only competed in four singles matches on the program. Chavo Guerrero never scored a singles victory over Cena in a singles match but did win clean during a tag team bout with Eddie.
In a rare pairing of Cena and Edge, The Guerreros won the tag team match with no interference. This clean loss is interesting when you remember the Guerreros were notorious for their dirty wins.
5 Vs Alberto Del Rio (Hell in a Cell) - October 25, 2015
This loss still rubs a ton of fans the wrong way. By 2015, John Cena could kick out of everything from an Elimination Chamber bump to a Tombstone Piledriver. In his Open Challenge at Hell in a Cell 2015, Alberto Del Rio (of all people) defeated John Cena in eight minutes ending his US Championship run.
Del Rio was often built up as a supposed huge talent, but nobody ever bought it. This clean loss was clearly another attempt to make him look "powerful." This loss is also one of the strangest booking choices of Cena's entire career.
4 W/ Batista Vs Ted DiBiase Jr. And Cody Rhodes (Raw) - Aug 11, 2008
This clean loss is not only shocking because Legacy scored a clean pinfall, but also because Cena's tag partner was Batista. Yes, in 2008, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr. scored a clean tag team match win over John Cena and Batista.
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Although Legacy (DiBiase and Rhodes) did have a great run, it feels improbable that the two would be enough to defeat stars at the level of Cena and Batista with no outside help.
3 Shinsuke Nakamura (SmackDown) - Aired On August 1, 2017
Not only is Shinsuke Nakamura one of the very few people to gain a clean win over John Cena, but he's also undefeated against the former Franchise Player. In a clear passing of the torch match, Nakamura and Cena clashed for the first time ever on an episode of SmackDown.
In a main event #1 contender's bout, the two put on a great match that showed a lot from Nakamura. It was less than three months after Nakamura's debut on the main roster, and he would go on to lose to Jinder Mahal at SummerSlam.
2 Great Khali (Saturday Night's Main Event) - June 2, 2007
One of the worst rivals of John Cena's entire career was The Great Khali. Cena's skills in the ring were finally starting to greatly improve by 2007. Despite the growth, he lost to a person who could barely move in the ring, Khali.
At Saturday Night's Main Event, Khali not only defeated Cena, he obliterated him. This loss is one of the most embarrassing of John Cena's entire career. In less than six minutes, one of the worst wrestlers on the roster defeated the face of the company. This one is often forgotten for good reason.
1 W/ Dawn Marie Vs Billy Kidman And Torrie Wilson (Rebellion) - Oct 26, 2002
A lot of Cena's early career gets forgotten, because he became such a different wrestler in his prime. Billy Kidman is not a name often associated with Cena's legacy, but he did get a clean win over the 16-time world champion in 2002.
Kidman is most remembered for his cruiserweight run in WCW. In the WWE, he feuded with Cena, which lead to an intergender tag match between where he teamed up with Torrie Wilson against Cena and Dawn Marie. The match was very average, but Kidman hit a Shooting Star Press and pinned Cena clean. The four were so low on the card that many fans forget this match and feud ever happened.
