25 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE Ruthless Aggression PPV

16. John Cena Worked Miracles With Khali

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WWE.com

Take a bow, John Cena.

The legend's career came to a close at the tail end of 2025 when he tapped out (with a smile) to Gunther at Saturday Night's Main Event. Now, John can only look back at a wealth of epic moments from one hell of a WWE run between 2002-2025. He's proud of a lot, but one of the things he'd be right to brag about is carrying The Great Khali to some of his best matches.

Cena wrestled Khali at both Judgment Day and One Night Stand in 2007. Anyone claiming JC couldn’t work at the time needed a reality check, because he dragged the lumbering giant kicking and screaming to a decent bout at JD then to a wonderful ‘Falls Count Anywhere’ clash at ONS. 

Hardly anyone else on the roster could get much of anything out of Khali, so Cena deserved a medal for this efforts. He fought from underneath against someone with prawn crackers for knees, and he portrayed somebody who had the speed advantage but knew he'd be cooked if Khali cornered him.

Even throwing decent looking punches was a chore for The Great Khali in 2007, so God only knows how Cena managed to make the most of these back to back PPV brawls. Excellent bouts with Randy Orton, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Edge and many more spotlighted the 'Ruthless Aggression' era for JC, but he should shout from atop a mountain somewhere that he pulled the best from Khali.

That would've been like Triple H squeezing a 5-star classic from The Ultimate Warrior in 1996.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.