Every John Cena Vs Brock Lesnar Match, Ranked From Worst To Best

Over the years, John Cena and Brock Lesnar have created one of WWE's greatest rivalries. They both made their debuts around the same time, and have gone to war in numerous matches over the following two decades. Both have gotten key victories over the other and, when they step into the ring as opponents, every fan knows that it is special.

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While Cena and Lesnar often put on great matches, they have also been across the ring from each other for some sluggish affairs. With these two, no two matches are ever the same, so it's worth seeing which of their matches were the worst and which were the best.

Updated on August 26th, 2021 by Kevin Pantoja: The recent return of Brock Lesnar to WWE at SummerSlam has fans everywhere reminiscing about The Beast Incarnate. They're looking back at his best work and he's often associated with one man. Though Brock's next big match is seemingly with Roman Reigns, it is Roman's SummerSlam opponent, John Cena, who Brock has typically been at his best against. They've faced off plenty of times in both Brock's initial run with the company as Cena was on the rise and after Brock returned and Cena was already WWE's biggest name. It's also interesting to see John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar's record against each other.

10 SmackDown (September 19, 2002)

On the September 19th, 2002, episode of SmackDown, John Cena and Brock Lesnar went to battle for the first time. But, they definitely did not have chemistry from the start. At this point, Lesnar was ahead of Cena in his development, and the way this match unfolded displayed that.

This ended up being a very lengthy and boring squash match. Brock spent the majority of the contest pummeling Cena. At the end of it, Cena got a little bit of offense but Lesnar quickly snuffed it out and delivered the F5 to get the pinfall victory.

9 SmackDown (November 13, 2003)

By the time this match rolled around on the November 13, 2003, episode of SmackDown, Lesnar and Cena had competed against each other multiple times with Lesnar always getting the win. So, he looked to get his first victory of their rivalry when Cena teamed with Chris Benoit to take on Lesnar and Big Show

Nothing really great or exciting happened in this match until the closing sequence. After being picked apart by Lesnar and Show, Benoit made the tag to Cena. After a bit of melee, Cena knocked Big Show out with his chain and got the pinfall victory.

8 WWE Backlash (2003)

At Backlash 2003, Lesnar defended his WWE Championship against Cena in their first-ever PPV match. They were both relatively new to the company around this time so they were given a lot of responsibility.

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The issue was that Lesnar had already reached the top as WWE Champion while Cena wasn't on his level yet. This match went on for way too long with it being mostly uninteresting throughout.  It was Lesnar who took home the pinfall victory after delivering the F5 to Cena in a one-sided affair.

7 SmackDown (February 12, 2004)

Cena once again went to war against Lesnar and Big Show in tag team competition, this time with Eddie Guerrero as his partner on the February 12, 2004 episode of SmackDown.

This match was better than the previous three but not by much. A lot of the action was based around Lesnar and Guerrero who were feuding at the time. There was also no real build-up to the finish, as it just kind of happened. Guerrero hit Lesnar with a low-blow with Cena's chain and got the pinfall victory, being sure to lie, cheat, and steal.

6 SmackDown (January 22, 2004)

On the January 22, 2004 episode of SmackDown, John Cena and Chris Benoit once again teamed together to take on the team of Lesnar, Matt Morgan, and Rhyno in a three-on-one handicap match.

This ended up being a fine back-and-forth affair but it was definitely nothing special. The match started with Cena quickly getting caught in Lesnar's corner, but after a while, he was able to tag Benoit so that they could rally. Midway through the contest, Lesnar walked out, effectively leaving the matchup. The finish came after Cena hit Rhyno with an AA.

5 SmackDown (February 13, 2003)

The best Cena vs Lesnar match of Lesnar's original run with WWE was their second ever one-on-one match on the February 13, 2003 episode of SmackDown. Lesnar was in the middle of a red hot feud with Kurt Angle at this time, and Cena was trying to work his way into the WWE Title picture.

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This was a good entertaining matchup with Lesnar kept trying to get Cena to stay down only for Cena to keep rallying. It actually looked like Cena had a chance at one point when he rocked Lesnar with his chain. But, Lesnar ended up getting the pinfall victory after delivering an F5 to Cena.

4 Night Of Champions (2014)

After Brock Lesnar made his return to WWE in 2012, he and Cena took their matches to another level. After being destroyed by Lesnar at SummerSlam 2014, losing the WWE Championship in the process, this match was all about redemption for Cena.

It looked like he would get it when he locked the STF on Lesnar for the fourth time in the match, but Seth Rollins interfered and attacked Cena with his Money In The Bank briefcase. This caused Cena to win by disqualification but Lesnar retained the title. Cena's better effort after getting squashed in their previous outing was big for him.

3 SummerSlam (2014)

The SummerSlam 2014 clash between Cena and Lesnar for the WWE Championship was a shockingly terrific affair. Lesnar was dominant throughout this match, manhandling Cena like no one else ever has.

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This match told a great story that kept fans both shocked and amazed throughout. Cena had small spurts of offense but nothing that he sustained for a long period. 16 suplexes and two F5's later, Lesnar defeated Cena to become the new WWE Champion in a lopsided but masterfully done match.

2 Extreme Rules (2012)

On the Raw after WrestleMania 28, Lesnar made his highly anticipated return to WWE and attacked Cena. This set up the first match between the two since 2004 at Extreme Rules 2012.

This match was an absolute bloodbath. Lesnar spent much of it absolutely dominating Cena before the tides turned when Cena hit Lesnar with his chain. To close out the highly intense and brutal affair, Cena delivered an AA to Lesnar onto the steel steps to get the pinfall victory.

1 Royal Rumble (2015)

Lesnar and Cena's most recent and probably last match of their rivalry was also their best. At Royal Rumble 2015, Cena challenged Lesnar for the WWE Championship in a Triple Threat match also involving Seth Rollins. Rollins' involvement only helped make this a memorably fantastic affair.

This was an intense match with nonstop action. Lesnar was put through a table at one point, missing a bit of the fray but returned just in time. Cena and Rollins put on a classic while he was down and him joining them turned out to be a fantastic addition. Lesnar caught a flying Rollins with the AA to retain.

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