Ranking John Cena's WWE SummerSlam Matches From Worst To Best

This isn’t quite the high point of the Cena/Punk rivalry, but it benefitted from taking place while their feud was still red hot, even if WWE’s bonkers decision to insert, of all people, Kevin Nash into the mix demonstrated that they somehow didn’t have faith in Punk being the guy going forward.

The two simply have magnificent chemistry together, and they play on their shared history with great sequences of counters, including an uncommon (for Cena) chain of submission exchanges. Indeed Cena seems to relish the chance to prove that, contrary to fan chants, he can wrestle, especially up against Punk.

This was an uncommonly measured feud, with the two acting as great rivals while never really losing mutual respect. The match is fiercely competitive and has plenty of sports entertainment flourishes but it never feels cartoonish, no mean feat for 2011-vintage John Cena.

Triple H’s presence as guest ref is pretty pointless and there’s a dodgy finish (Hunter missing Cena’s leg under the rope for the pin) before Big Sexy ruins the Summer of Punk and del Rio steals the belt, but ultimately it’s Cena vs Punk - it’s going to be pretty good at least.