10 Most Heated Matches In WWE History

7. John Cena Vs. Rob Van Dam - ECW One Night Stand 2006

Cena Rob Van Dam II
WWE

ECW rose to counter-cultural prominence in the mid-1990s because the DayGlo aesthetic of the WWF was beyond passé. The stale wrestling landscape gave rise to the revolutionary blood and guts league, the love for which remained so strong that it compelled WWE to revive it following the success of the Rise And Fall Of ECW DVD and the supposed one-off 2005 event of the same name.

The 2006 sequel was headlined by John Cena defending his WWE Heavyweight Title against Rob Van Dam. Their hatred of the champion was so palpable that he wasn't so much entering a wrestling ring as walking to the gallows, having committed some unspeakably awful crime. Many overrate the match - it is comprised almost entirely of botches - but it's difficult not to. You could transplant the audio to a late 2000s Kane Vs. Big Show match, and it would approach something resembling excitement.

Cena didn't just symbolise the evil, corporate WWE machine - he was perceived by the Hammerstein faithful as a retrograde dismissal of the progressive league's influential work. With his basic, hulked-up offence, he recalled a time before ECW existed. They rejected him at record volume because, with his regressive style, WWE had, in effect, attempted to erase them from existence.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!