7 Matches Where John Cena Went FULL WORKRATE

Hilariously, some folks began calling John 'Indy/Indie Cena' during his US 'Open Challenge' days in 2015. The aforementioned match vs. Sami Zayn was top notch, but then Cena only went and topped his own work by inviting a personal favourite of his to work back-to-back wonders on Raw. Cesaro beat JC by DQ on the 29 June episode of Raw, and it was so fun that WWE decided to press the repeat button on the 6 July flagship.

This time, Cena and Cesaro went 30 pulsating minutes.

Again, like with Zayn battle, it's important to remember the era being discussed here. WWE were scrambling for fresh ideas and new stars in 2015, sure, but they weren't prone to promoting 30-minute straight up wrestling matches in the main event slot on Raw every other Monday. If they did push something lengthy onto TV at the time, then it probably didn't feature a mid-to-upper-midcard name like Cesaro.

He was given the floor to exhibit all the strengths fans who'd enjoyed his work in ROH and elsewhere had loved for years though. Credit where it's due: Cena did have ye olde working boots on, of course, but he laid out at times and let Cesaro's strength become the bout's focal point. That was classy.

One minor mini-botch on a springboard stunner aside, this was a flawless match that had plenty of action and showcased just how adaptable Cena could be when he was motivated. This 2015 run truly was a golden period for him; he was largely out of the main event scene and seemed eager to elevate rather than dominate.