John Cena has been the face of the WWE since the mid-2000s, but his matches at WrestleMania have not always been the most important ones on the show. (Photo by Michael N. Todaro/Getty Images)
Michael N. Todaro - Getty Images
John Cena has been the face of the WWE since the mid-2000s, but his matches at WrestleMania have not always been the most important ones on the show. (Photo by Michael N. Todaro/Getty Images)
With the gigantic John Cena vs. The Rock WrestleMania 28 match coming up Sunday (April 1, 2012), it's as good of time as any to take a look back at their prior matches on the grandest stage of them all.
We've already examined The Rock's history at Mania; today is a review of John Cena's WrestleMania matches.
Cena's seemingly done it all at WrestleMania, from pre-show to curtain jerker to main event: He won his first singles title and his first WWE title; topped both members of D-Generation X; battled each of his top contemporaries; and lost to a former member of the "The Real World."
Let's take a trip down Memory Lane.
Star-divide
WrestleMania 19: John Cena vs. "Jay-Z" and "Fabolous"
John Cena begins his illustrious WrestleMania career during the pre-show in a battle rap with rappers Jay-Z (in an Austin Powers outfit) and Fabolous (in a Mini-Me outfit).
Perhaps some explanation is needed as to why this rapping was necessary: After a hot debut match almost beating Kurt Angle in June 2002, Cena quickly foundered as a generic, vanilla good guy (much like his WrestleMania 28 opponent).
He first showed some life in a Halloween episode of Smackdown, doing a Vanilla Ice impersonation that changed the course of his career (only in wrestling, or perhaps in the impersonation business, could a sentence like this be uttered).