Every John Cena WWE Midcard Title Reign, Ranked

John Cena won more world titles than any other wrestler in WWE history – only two of Ric Flair’s reigns took place in WWE. Therefore, Cena obviously is (and always will be) associated with the WWE Championship, particularly his custom-made spinner belt that became as polarizing as the man himself.

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But before Cena’s WWE Title wins, he’d won the WWE United States Championship multiple times during his run as The Doctor of Thuganomics. Cena won more midcard title reigns throughout his career, including four tag team title runs and two final runs as U.S. Champion. What was Cena’s best midcard title reign? Let’s find out!

9

WWE Tag Team Championship (2nd Reign)

With David Otunga

The Nexus storyline had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, WWE ended up overbooking and eventually flopping the whole thing. At one point, John Cena himself became a member of The Nexus after losing to Wade Barrett, the group’s leader, at Hell in a Cell.

At the next PPV, Bragging Rights, Cena was forced to team up with fellow Nexus member David Otunga. They challenged Cody Rhodes & Drew McIntyre for the WWE Tag Team Championship and won. The next night on Raw, Wade Barrett ordered Otunga to lose to fellow Nexus members Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel!

8

WWE Tag Team Championship (1st Reign)

With The Miz

Just a few months later, John Cena got another random WWE Tag Team Title shot against his former Nexus “buddies” Slater & Gabriel, who were already members of The Corre over on SmackDown by this point. Cena’s partner was none other than his WrestleMania 27 opponent – reigning WWE Champion, The Miz.

This was an example of WWE’s “can they co-exist” booking trope that resulted in a title win. Their reign was over before it even got started, as Wade Barrett (now the leader of The Corre) ordered Slater & Gabriel to invoke their rematch clause immediately. They regained the belts after Miz delivered the Skull Crushing Finale to Cena.

7

World Tag Team Championship (2nd Reign)

With Batista

A few years earlier, John Cena had a similar tag title reign alongside Batista. After three years on separate brands, the two biggest stars of the final years of the Ruthless Aggression Era were finally scheduled to meet in a huge showdown at SummerSlam 2008.

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But before we got there, they (for some reason) challenged future Legacy members Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase for the World Tag Team Championship. Batista & Cena won the belts, only to lose them back to the youngsters one week later on Raw.

6

WWE United States Championship (2nd Reign)

Cena’s Shortest United States Championship Run

John Cena dominated SmackDown’s midcard scene in 2004. However, Cena actually lost the United States Title a couple of times between WrestleMania 20 and his final loss to Orlando Jordan. After then-General Manager Kurt Angle vacated the belt and Booker T won it, Booker and Cena engaged in a Best of Five Series over the strap.

Cena won the final match at No Mercy to win the series 3-2, capturing the United States Championship for a second time in his young career. Unfortunately for Cena, he was challenged by the debuting Carlito Caribbean Cool on the very next episode of SmackDown; Carlito cheated to become the new champion.

5

WWE United States Championship (5th Reign)

Cena’s Last U.S. Title Reign Was Shorter Than People Might Remember

Everyone remembers (and loves) John Cena’s run as United States Champion in 2015. After more than a decade as the face of WWE and multiple WWE World Title wins, Cena turned back the clock and regained the title that launched his career over a decade earlier. However, Cena’s reign was actually interrupted.

Seth Rollins had a brief U.S. Title reign after the Winner’s Take All Match at SummerSlam 2015, with Cena winning it back at Night of Champions. While the open challenges continued, his fifth reign only lasted a month and can’t be compared with his fourth reign. Plus, its ending (against Alberto Del Rio) left a lot of people disappointed.

4

World Tag Team Championship (1st Reign)

Cena Won His First Tag Title With Shawn Michaels

John Cena & Shawn Michaels were opponents heading into WrestleMania 23 when they won the World Tag Team Championship. The run didn’t set the world on fire by any means, but it stands out compared to Cena’s other tag title runs. Cena became Michaels’ unlikely partner after Triple H got injured in January 2007.

They beat Edge & Randy Orton to become the new champions one night after the Royal Rumble. They actually made it to WrestleMania 23 still as champions, with Cena retaining his WWE Championship over The Heartbreak Kid. One night later, an angry Michaels eliminated Cena from a battle royal for their belts, which The Hardy Boyz won moments later.

3

WWE United States Championship (1st Reign)

Cena Defeated Big Show At WrestleMania 20 To Win His First Title In WWE

Before the sixteen WWE World Title reigns, the glory and the fame, John Cena was WWE’s fastest rising star as the Doctor of Thuganomics. Cena was the underdog when he challenged United States Champion Big Show at WrestleMania 20. The 26-year-old John Cena won his first title when he delivered a huge AA (then known as the FU) to The World’s Largest Athlete.

From that point on, Cena engaged in title defenses against the likes of Rene Dupree and even bigger names such as Rob Van Dam and Booker T. As we mentioned earlier, Cena unintentionally “attacked” SmackDown’s General Manager, Kurt Angle, who vacated the title on the July 8 episode of SmackDown. The first title reign of Cena’s WWE career was a big success.

2

WWE United States Championship (3rd Reign)

Fans Knew Cena Was Ready To Become A Main Eventer

Cena’s first and third United States Championship reigns are tough to rank. On one hand, Cena’s priority was the title in his first run and, as we just saw, he defended it more often. On the other hand, though, Cena was a much bigger star in late 2004/early 2005 and was ready to become a main eventer. This was also the title reign that featured the short-lived U.S. Title spinner belt.

The infamous 2005 Royal Rumble Match finale happened during Cena’s third U.S. Title reign, and he also beat Kurt Angle at No Way Out 2005 to become the number one contender for JBL’s WWE Championship while still U.S. Champion. Cena finally dropped the gold to Orlando Jordan weeks before WrestleMania 21 – where Cena would win his first WWE Championship.

1

WWE United States Championship (4th Reign)

Everyone Loved Cena’s Open Challenges

Seriously, was there really any other option? This title reign is not only considered the overall best of Cena’s career by many, but also quite possibly the greatest United States Championship reign in wrestling history. In 2015, Cena’s U.S. Open Challenges were usually the highlight of Monday Night Raw each and every week.

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It allowed many midcarders (and even some undercarders) to have a big title match with Big Match John. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn made their WWE main roster debuts during this reign, while Cesaro stole the show with Cena two weeks in a row. Cena’s run eventually came to an end at SummerSlam, losing to WWE Champion Seth Rollins after Jon Stewart interfered.