11 Popular WWE Stars John Cena Has Tried To 'Steal' Heat From
7. Cesaro
Similar to Damien Sandow, Cesaro was a rising star who was drawing a great reaction on the undercard. Like Sandow, Cesaro also was/is really popular with the more seasoned wrestling fans who appreciate his in-ring work. Cesaros tough, brawling style and downright brute strength elevated him in fans eyes, even while he toiled in a midcard tag team, the Real Americans. In February, Cesaro was on an upswing, having defeated Randy Orton heading into the Elimination Chamber PPV. He squared off against Cena in a 20-minute Raw bout that stole the show, but unlike the Orton match, Cena came out on top against Cesaro. Cena would also get Cesaro to tap out in the chamber a week later. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jymC3UkMuGU Although this seems like a one-off deal to show that Cesaro can hang with Cena, it didnt really help the Swiss Superman in any tangible way. The match did show that Cena can take a physical thrashing from a guy who had just beaten Orton days earlier and still emerge victorious. Like Sandow, Cesaro was put in a no-win position against Cena, which was counter-productive if WWE was trying to build him up (which they clearly were since he won the Andre the Giant battle royal at WrestleMania XXX).
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
