Every Wrestler Who Defeated John Cena For The WWE Title (And How They Did It)

5. Randy Orton

Cm Punk John Cena
WWE

Based on the amount of matches between the two over the past fifteen years, it shouldn't come as a shock that Randy Orton has twice taken the WWE's top prize from John Cena.

However, despite lengthy wars between the two in 2007 and 2008, it took 'The Viper' until 2009 to score a title-winning victory over 'The Champ'.

Fought inside Hell In A Cell as a co-main event of the eponymous October Pay-Per-View, the match was the third of four consecutive singles encounters that year, and climaxed when Orton scored with his devastating punt kick.

The two would reconnect for all the marbles in late 2013, when WWE finally elected to re-unify their two World Titles years after the original Brand Extension had lost all meaning.

Taking his World Title into a 'Champion of Champions' TLC battle against Orton's WWE Title, Cena was dragged off the ladder by 'The Apex Predator' straight through a table, allowing Randy time to scale it himself and become the first ever Undisputed WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

With titles again divided in the wake of the the 2016 Brand Extension, a title match between the two has been mooted again should Cena ever regain the gold recently lost to Bray Wyatt.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett