10 WWE US Title Matches You Should Try To Forget
3. John Cena Vs. Rene Dupree - Judgment Day 2004
In mid-2004, John Cena was well on his way to rising to the very top of World Wrestling Entertainment. He still had a long, long way to go in terms of match quality, but he as the Doctor of Thuganomics he was as popular as any other individual on the roster.
Whilst it has worked out alright for WWE in the end, they would have been well-served by putting him in a program or two with some WWE veterans, to continue his development between the ropes.
Instead, an even less experienced WWE competitor was chosen as the first challenger for his United States Championship. WWE seemingly had high hopes for Rene Dupree, the young Canadian who had experienced brief success as part of the La Resistance tag team.
The problem here was that both Dupree and Cena were void of experience, and as such the 10-minute bout was a methodical affair in the worst sense. Dupree clearly wasn't ready for a big singles push, and Cena needed an experienced hand to help him through the early stages of his first reign.
On the same show, Rob Van Dam, Rey Mysterio, Hardcore Holly, Billy Gunn and Charlie Haas were all in meaningless tag team matches. All could have had a decent match with the Cenation leader.
Yes, I'd have even taken John Cena vs. Billy Gunn over what we got.