Every Wrestler Who Defeated John Cena For The WWE Title (And How They Did It)
7. Rob Van Dam
The inarguable highlight of both of Rob Van Dam's full-time runs with WWE, his emotional victory over John Cena at June 2006's 'One Night Stand' was a year in the making after his impassioned promo hobbling on crutches one year earlier.
A great night for Champion and Challenger, Cena's coping strategy opposing the unparalleled hatred he received from the biased crowd was sensational.
Playing up to all expectations as a loathed heel, he raised tensions early on by repeatedly throwing his t-shirt back to a crowd that just didn't want it, over and over again.
Meanwhile, Van Dam portrayed his typically excellent cocky-babfyface-in-peril role to perfection, sustaining a match-long beatdown interspersed with his occasional aerial comebacks, heightening the drama and even allowing himself to look overmatched at times against 'The Doctor of Thuganomics'.
The finish wouldn't be without controversy, as RVD was only able to score the decisive victory following a spear from Cena's arch-rival Edge (more on him later) and a three-count registered by ECW head honcho Paul Heyman, but the thunderous response from the New York faithful in the Hammerstein Ballroom nullified any cheapness surrounding the conclusion.