Despite being two of the most popular faces in WWE history, the amount of matches John Cena has had against Rey Mysterio is criminally low. The main reason was because the two appeared on different brands for most of their careers and stood on the same side of the face/heel divide, as the forever good guys who never faulted from their values.
In this article, we’ll look through every John Cena vs Rey Mysterio match and rank them from worst to best.
Every John Cena vs Rey Mysterio Match
Monday Night Raw – July 25th, 2011 (WWE Championship)
The most recent match between John Cena and Rey Mysterio has to go down as the worst one. It is the worst match between the two because of how it was used to screw Rey Mysterio out of his one and only WWE Championship and make John Cena look like the biggest hypocrite in the world.
The match came just after Rey Mysterio had won a tournament to decide the new WWE Championship. He defeated The Miz in the middle of Raw in a decent match, winning his first and only WWE Champion of his career, a milestone moment for one of the greatest wrestlers of alltime.
After the match (which was inexplicably right in the middle of Raw), the roster celebrated with Rey Mysterio and sprayed him with champagne. It was a joyous time, only interrupted by former champion John Cena greeting him with a handshake, before the celebrations continued.
However, Mysterio would not have long to take in his win. WWE booked a title defence for later that night – hardly fair for the Ultimate Underdog who had only just got his hands on the gold. Vince McMahon booked him in the main event to defend this newly-won title against John Cena in a match that seemed entirely.
Despite being tired and probably drunk from all the celebrations, the Lucha Libre Legend put on a good show against Cena. At times he looked like he could steal the win over Cena, but the 16-time champs power became too much for the diminutive Mysterio. He eventually fell to an AA, being pinned by John Cena and losing the WWE Championship before he even knew he was champion.
The match itself was very good. Both men were on the top of their game and Mysterio really worked to become the WWE Championship he knew he could be. Except he couldn’t be because John Cena needed the belt. The match would’ve been one of the best main events of the year in Mysterio had gone over and retained his title. Sadly, WWE needed to be the man to feud with the returning CM Punk and held onto the title until their winner-takes-all showdown at Summerslam 2011.
Friday Night Smackdown – April 11th, 2003
The first time Rey Mysterio wrestled against John Cena was in the beginning of both men’s WWE careers. It took place on Smackdown in 2003, where a fresh-faced Cena was still finding his gimmick and Mysterio had just seen off his WCW contract and was ready to compete again.
The match began with a staple of John Cena’s early gimmick. He had recently transition to his new “Doctor of Thuganomics” persona, a rapper-turned-wrestler who used his rhymes to insult his opponents. It is one of the few times that John Cena has been a heel in his career, with this brief spell helping propel him into the main event, something he would never leave once he got there.
The match is the classic “David vs Goliath” bout that fans will have seen many times. Cena was the bigger and stronger bad guy and used all his power to get one up on Mysterio. He beat him down for the first few minutes and wouldn’t give the masked star an inch.
Mysterio managed to get the upper hand using his quickness to counter with some kicks. He hit some Lucha Libre moves on Cena before nailing him with a West Coast pop and a 619. However, Cena hit the ref and countered an aerial move, allowing him to hit the FU to end the match.
The bout lasted around five minutes but really could’ve been more. It was a preview of what could have been, as these two could have main evented Wrestlemania against one another had things gone differently in their careers.
While it was shorter than the previous John Cena vs Rey Mysterio match, it did not leave such a bad taste in your mouth. For this reason, it is ranked the best match between John Cean and Rey Mysterio, although you can let us know down in the comments in your disagree.