WWE.com’s published ranking of John Cena’s greatest rivalries names Randy Orton, Edge, Brock Lesnar, Batista and The Rock as its first five, in that order. The article appeared on August 29, 2014, and is titled “John Cena’s 10 greatest rivalries”—not a standalone five-rival list. A separate 2024 ranking by Khel Now chose a different top five, so the lists should not be conflated.
WWE’s first five, in order
WWE’s 2014 article ranks ten rivalries. Its top five are:
- Randy Orton
- Edge
- Brock Lesnar
- Batista
- The Rock
The ranking is WWE’s editorial ordering, not an objective or universal measure of greatness. The article’s remaining entries are CM Punk, “The WWE Universe,” Triple H, Kurt Angle and AJ Styles. The audience entry is a rhetorical inclusion, not another wrestler. Read WWE’s 2014 article.
Why WWE included these five
1. Randy Orton
WWE connects Cena and Orton’s rivalry to their shared training at Ohio Valley Wrestling and their WWE debuts in 2002. Their clashes continued for more than a decade. WWE highlights their SummerSlam 2007 match, the “I Quit” match at Breaking Point in 2009, and the TLC match in 2013 to crown the first WWE World Heavyweight Champion. The 2014 article describes their combined championship tally at that time as “nearly 30 World Championships”; that is a historical figure from the article, not a current total.
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2. Edge
The feud’s defining early turn came at New Year’s Revolution in 2006, when Edge cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to take Cena’s title. WWE’s account also emphasizes how the storyline became personal, including Edge confronting Cena’s father. Khel Now’s 2024 article likewise describes their rivalry as centered on the world title and the pursuit of it.
3. Brock Lesnar
WWE points to two starkly different encounters: Cena’s narrow win over Lesnar at Extreme Rules in 2012 and Lesnar’s dominant performance against him at SummerSlam in 2014. The contrast helps explain why the rivalry stands out in WWE’s list.
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4. Batista
The rivalry revolved around the WWE Championship in 2010. WWE cites their encounters at WrestleMania XXVI, Extreme Rules and Over the Limit as key parts of that program.
5. The Rock
WWE frames the Cena–Rock rivalry as a major program spanning 2011 to 2013. Cena defeated Rock for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 29, which WWE describes as closing the program. Khel Now later placed Rock first in its own five-rival ranking.
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A separate 2024 ranking chose different names
Khel Now published its own top five on March 12, 2024. It orders the names differently and includes Triple H and CM Punk in place of Lesnar and Batista:
| Rank | WWE.com, August 29, 2014 | Khel Now, March 12, 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Randy Orton | The Rock |
| 2 | Edge | Triple H |
| 3 | Brock Lesnar | CM Punk |
| 4 | Batista | Edge |
| 5 | The Rock | Randy Orton |
Khel Now’s ranking is its own, not WWE’s. It also reports 77 Cena–Orton matches, 52 Cena–Edge matches and 29 Cena–Punk matches. Its accessible article does not explain the counting method, so those totals should be treated as Khel Now’s reported figures rather than independently verified statistics. Read Khel Now’s 2024 ranking.
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What “WWE reveals” can—and cannot—mean here
The verifiable WWE ranking is the 2014 top ten and its first five entries. An indexed description for a 2019 video says WWE’s Instagram team had published a five-rival list with Orton at number one, but the complete list and original post could not be confirmed from the available material. It is therefore not possible to identify that Instagram list’s other four names reliably.
For archival viewing, WWE has an official John Cena’s greatest rivals playlist. The playlist page establishes a viewing-content destination, not a ranking, and its current catalog availability may vary by region.
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