10 Wrestlers John Cena Couldn't Get Over

2. Kane

John Cena Kane Ambulance Match Elimination Chamber 2012
WWE

Who could ever forget the Big Red Machine constantly encouraging John Cena to “embrace the hate” back in 2012? What initially started as an intriguing angle quickly turned into a painful experience for those fans forced to endure this edition of the annual “quick, let’s insert Kane into some B-show main events” tradition.

At one point in time, Kane was one of the hottest stars in the business and was very much a top tier talent. But by 2012? Not so much so. Fans had lost interest in Kane due to the constant babyface and heel turns executed by the Devil’s Favourite Demon – not to mention the various masks or lack thereof that the character went through.

While this Cena/Kane feud was done as a way to tease Big Match John joining the dark side after being booed out of one too many buildings, the other objective of this rivalry was to re-establish Kane as a genuine main event act.

By the time this feud came to a close at that year’s Elimination Chamber PPV, Cena had indeed managed to resist the urge to embrace the hate, fans were still not interested in Kane, and then there’s the whole subplot of John Cena looking like a complete d*ck to his BFF Zack Ryder – Cena smooching Ryder’s crush, Eve, and then showing barely any real concern at a wheelchair-bound Ryder being pushed off the Raw stage by Kane. Woo woo woo, indeed.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

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 and Presenter, 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 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 and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.