10 John Cena WrestleMania Matches (And Who He Should Have Faced Instead)

John Cena has a deep list of WrestleMania appearances over the past two decades. WWE booked Cena in important matches almost every year for the biggest show of the year, but that doesn’t mean that he was always booked in the perfect scenario. Most fans fantasy book to some extent when wondering who would have the best matches on the biggest stage.

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There were some WrestleMania shows that could have been improved with Cena having a different opponent. Cena certainly has a positive track record and does not need any chances to have been more successful, but other options could have provided stronger memories. The following ten WrestleMania matches of Cena should have featured another opponent.

10 John Cena Vs Big Show - WrestleMania 20 (Should Have Faced Brock Lesnar)

The first official WrestleMania match for John Cena came at WrestleMania 20 defeating Big Show for the United States Champion. WWE wanted Cena to have a big moment while saving the bigger crowning moment for the following year if he kept progressing.

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Big Show still didn’t feel like a strong enough name to have a match with Cena at this page. Brock Lesnar choosing to leave WWE after his contract expired following this show would have made for a better story if the young Cena sent him packing instead of Goldberg, who left as well.

9 John Cena Vs The Miz - WrestleMania 27 (Should Have Faced CM Punk)

One of the WrestleMania matches to get the most complaints more and after was John Cena main eventing WrestleMania 27 vs The Miz. The bigger story was The Rock costing Cena the match to set up their bigger WM match the following year.

Miz deserves a lot of credit for having a great career, but he clearly wasn’t ready for a WM main event looking back at that match. CM Punk in the same role would have worked way better given how much momentum he had just a few months later becoming the hottest thing in wrestling.

8 John Cena & Nikki Bella Vs The Miz & Maryse - WrestleMania 33 (Should Have Faced Bray Wyatt)

John Cena and The Miz had a better story going into their mixed tag match with their significant others at WrestleMania 33. WWE booked this match solely to create a moment where Cena could propose to Nikki Bella after their victory, but they didn't even end up getting married.

The match ended up being a waste of time since Cena has only wrestled one traditional WM match since then. WWE rushed the story of Bray Wyatt winning the WWE Championship earlier that year in an Elimination Chamber match. A singles victory over Cena on the biggest stage would have improved his title reign and made Wyatt a bigger star moving forward.

7 John Cena Vs Triple H - WrestleMania 22 (Should Have Faced Edge)

WWE had a tough decision to make at the start of 2006 for the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 22. The original plan was always John Cena beating Triple H to retain the WWE Championship, and it went through as expected.

However, Edge cashing in Money in the Bank earlier that year should have changed plans. The ratings and general interest in Edge’s short title reign warranted him moving into the WM main event plans. WWE instead had Edge drop the belt after three weeks and return to the title scene later that year.

6 John Cena Vs Bray Wyatt - WrestleMania 30 (Should Have Faced Batista)

WWE took a risk by having John Cena work with a younger new star heading into WrestleMania 30. Bray Wyatt leading the Wyatt Family got over strong for the previous eight months since their debut on the main roster that previous year.

Cena facing Bray should have helped the latter more, but it felt like just another Super Cena win. Batista returned around the same time and had the audience turning on him since they didn’t want him in the title picture. WWE could have had a more well-rounded card by putting Cena in another program with Batista to play off their prior feud.

5 John Cena Vs Big Show Vs Edge - WrestleMania 25 (Should Have Faced Jeff Hardy)

Many fans would have been more than fine with John Cena and Edge having their first WrestleMania match against each other at WrestleMania 25. Unfortunately, the addition of Big Show to make it a triple threat and his relationship with Vickie Guerrero took away from the program.

RELATED: Buried By John Cena: 5 Wrestlers Who Recovered (And 5 Who Never Did)Even though Edge being involved was a good thing, there was another better match to book. Jeff Hardy dropped the WWE Championship a few months before this show to feud with his brother Matt. WWE fans were giving Jeff pops that rivaled Cena now that he was a main eventer, and this could have been a huge draw using the top face vs top face story.

4 John Cena Vs Rusev - WrestleMania 31 (Should Have Faced Daniel Bryan)

Rusev was a dominant heel United States Champion when moving into a feud with John Cena. WrestleMania 31 was the most memorable night of their feud, but it felt like a mistake after ending. Rusev taking a loss in his biggest match hurt his momentum, and Cena should have had a bigger match.

Daniel Bryan was entering a similar scenario as Cena competing for a mid-card title on the same event after his main event run ended due to injury. WWE having one of the two win their mid-card title before this show and having them steal the show with a classic match would have been the dream.

3 John Cena Vs The Rock - WrestleMania 29 (Should Have Faced The Undertaker)

The first WrestleMania 28 match between The Rock and John Cena set a PPV box office record, but the rematch one year later felt like overkill. WWE marketed their first match as “once in a lifetime” to make fans question the rematch with a lot less praise for it than the original.

WrestleMania 29 may have been the perfect stage for Cena to finally face The Undertaker during his undefeated streak. Cena was by far the biggest active wrestler to not challenge the streak, and Undertaker was coming off his epic four-year story with Shawn Michaels and Triple H. CM Punk did well against Undertaker, but this would have been a much bigger match for both men.

2 John Cena Vs The Undertaker - WrestleMania 34 (Should Have Faced AJ Styles)

WWE finally booked The Undertaker vs John Cena at WrestleMania 34 with a unique build. Undertaker had already lost two matches to end his streak after putting over Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. The appeal of Cena threatening the streak no longer existed.

Many fans don’t even view this as a match since it was designed for Undertaker to squash Cena and look stronger after a few big losses or just bad performances. Cena challenging AJ Styles to rehash their rivalry and selling the story of him trying to break Ric Flair’s record would have been the best-case scenario that year.

1 John Cena Vs JBL - WrestleMania 21 (Should Have Faced Kurt Angle)

WWE booked WrestleMania 21 as the crowning night for both John Cena and Batista becoming the faces of the company. JBL had a long WWE Championship solely to build heat and put over Cena on the biggest stage.

The match ended up being a huge disappointment, and few fans ever point to this night as that important for Cena. Smackdown’s Kurt Angle having the same lengthy reign as JBL would have made Cena’s moment even bigger. WWE did book a great Angle vs Shawn Michaels match, but the better Cena option would have been a showdown dethroning Kurt.