10 John Cena Matches You Should Watch Again

9. Vs Shawn Michaels - WWE Raw 2007

john cena cm punk
WWE.com

Wrestling for nearly an hour in London completely without warning, John Cena and Shawn Michaels went to war in spectacular fashion back in April 2007, eschewing restholds for the entire duration of the gripping contest which is another of Raw's very best ever.

The marathon match was a sensational advert for both the physical fitness and technical ability of both men, and managed to outclass their excellent Wrestlemania 23 WWE Title main event that had taken place just weeks earlier.

Masterfully lead by Michaels and equally well-followed by Cena, the bout borrowed liberally from the Wrestlemania 12 Iron Man Match (but without the criminally dull portions), as the two took turns controlling the flow of the match and utilised the generous time allowance to establish strong periods of dominance before heading to the finish.

After a gripping final ten minutes where 'HBK' would survive an STFU, the climax came as an exhausted Michaels collapsed on top of Cena after hitting his second Sweet Chin Music on the WWE Champion.

A non-title match, Shawn's post-match gesturing suggested the rivalry between the former Tag Team Champions had much further to go, however Michaels would instead use the momentum to put Cena's next entirely different challenger over (more on that later).

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett