Who REALLY Carried WWE Every Year (1985-2026)

Time for a repeat!

Cena's top form continued into 2007, and it means someone snags back to back spots on the list for the first time since Bret Hart in the early-90s. That really speaks volumes. John was injured in October and missed the rest of the year before sparking a memorable/quick return at Royal Rumble 2008, but before that...he was on fire.

JC worked stellar bouts vs. Umaga, Shawn Michaels at 'Mania 23, The Great Khali (of all people) at Judgment Day and One Night Stand, then Randy Orton at SummerSlam. On top of all that, he also produced a 60 minute scorcher vs. HBK in London, England on the 23 April '07 Raw that remains one of WWE's greatest ever matches.

It was standing ovation material, and a sure sign that Cena could do it all. The tragic thing here is that some folks began to resent him around this time. Maybe people were just growing sick of the guy, and that'd become a real problem once WWE went PG the following year and John began performing like the company's very own walking, talking, grappling Barney The Dinosaur (complete with brightly-coloured and garish purple, orange, yellow, blue, green, red etc t-shirts).

Between the ropes in '07, at least, he was world class. No offence intended to Khali-lovers worldwide, but you know someone's a good worker when they can pull multiple watchable bouts out of the lumbering giant with the bad hips/knees/back.

No-one was as vital to the WWE machine as 'Super Cena'. Then '08 came along, reimagined an old star and the rest is history.