10 Wrestlers John Cena Couldn't Get Over

3. Bray Wyatt

Tensai John Cena
WWE.com

John Cena's most recent drama with a more fiendish Bray Wyatt might have done wonders in reviving the prestige of the rapidly fading psychological terror, but the 2014 vintage gained absolutely nothing from his association with the Face that Ran the Place.

Still in his debut year on the main roster, the then-cult leader was being heralded as one of WWE's finest new characters in a generation (slim pickings, admittedly). His momentum was such that, positioned opposite Cena at WrestleMania XXX, some actually believed the latter's shovel would be left at home for this one.

Nope: Cena's toolshed was thoroughly unlocked, and he picked up a handy victory in New Orleans. The pattern of babyfaces starting programmes with victories was well underway even back then, and by the time of Bray's spooky Extreme Rules cage match win, the balloon had already burst. It pathetically flopped to ground for their third match at Payback, which Cena of course won. Three months later, Cena was murdered at the hands of Brock Lesnar, rendering the Wyatt affair even more counterproductive than it first seemed.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.