10 Wrestlers Whose WWE Careers Were Derailed By John Cena

10. Rusev

From 2014 to early 2015, Rusev was en route to become WWE’s alpha heel. An excellent worker who’s built like a truck and comes packaged with the most easily detestable gimmick in the company, Rusev and his valet Lana were on a roll with the United States Championship.

After a series of anti-USA rivalries with Jack Swagger, Big Show, Mark Herny, and noted American patriot Sheamus (what?), Rusev ran into John Cena, and that’s where his problems started.

The feud was little more than a crass regurgitation of Rusev’s prior stories, and not only did Cena take his belt at WrestleMania 31, he went on to “crush” Rusev three more times.

In a row.

Oh, WWE...

This sparked a long period of irrelevancy and failed storylines for Rusev, who’s only recently started recovering some of that lost heat. Rusev will likely go on to have a long, successful WWE career, but losing to Cena set his development back several years.