9. John Cena vs Rob Van Dam - ECW One Night Stand, June 2006
This match is on the list not for the brutality of its content, but of its atmosphere. Rarely has the WWE seen such an outpouring of hatred from a crowd than for John Cena in New Yorks Hammerstein Ballroom. Admittedly it was predictable. Cena stood for everything the ECW faithful hated: popular, handsome, successful, clean-cut. He also stood in the way of a true ECW alumnus, the beloved Rob Van Dam, so the poisonous air was a surprise to nobody that night. On an evening in which Randy Orton had already been punched by a young child on the way to the ring, Cena found himself greeted by a wall of noise not exactly the cheers he was used to on Raw. As the now-infamous If Cena Wins We Riot sign waved in the background, the WWE champion removed his t-shirt and threw it into the crowd. It came almost immediately back to him. He tried again, and again it was returned with interest. The message was clear: we dont want you here, youre not our kind. Thankfully he didnt win; there was no riot. Instead he masterfully took everything the crowd threw at him and used it to goad them further, each successful manoeuvre greeted by a groan or boo, until RVDs eventual victory threatened to blow the roof off. Although the antithesis of everything ECW stood for, Cena must be held majorly responsible for bringing the promotions sense of danger and violence back to mainstream wrestling. Even if he did so by being absolutely despised.
