John Cena is getting ready for the final match of his long WWE career. During his farewell run, Cena has done it all. He turned heel, won the WWE Championship, lost it at SummerSlam, and faced some of the toughest stars in the company. Now, his last match is expected to be one of the hardest tests of his career, as he goes up against Gunther.
Gunther is known for his powerful sleeper hold, which has put many opponents to sleep. Even so, John Cena is not easy to break. In his 23 years in WWE, Cena has tapped out only four times. That alone shows how mentally and physically strong he has always been in the ring.
Here are three WWE Superstars who managed to make John Cena submit during a match.
3. Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho became one of the first wrestlers to make John Cena tap out. This happened in 2003 on an episode of Friday Night SmackDown when Cena was still new in WWE. At that time, Jericho was already an established name, while Cena was still trying to find his place on the roster.
Jericho forced Cena to submit with the Walls of Jericho, proving the gap in experience between the two. Cena later got his revenge by defeating Jericho at WWE Vengeance. Years later, Cena even paid tribute to Jericho during a match with AJ Styles at Crown Jewel. Although Jericho is currently outside WWE, rumors suggest he could make an appearance around Cena’s final match, making the story even more interesting.
2. Chris Benoit
Another superstar who made John Cena tap out was Chris Benoit. The match took place on SmackDown in 2003, during the Doctor of Thuganomics phase of Cena’s career. Benoit applied his famous Crossface submission, and Cena had no choice but to give up.
The history between Cena and Benoit is quite one-sided. They faced each other four times in singles matches between 2003 and 2007. Benoit won three of those matches, while Cena won only once on Monday Night RAW in 2007. One of Cena’s losses came by submission, while the others ended with pinfalls.
1. Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle is the only wrestler to make John Cena tap out twice in WWE. The first time happened at WWE No Mercy in 2003, where Cena submitted to the Angle Lock. The second time came at WWE No Way Out in 2004, once again through Angle’s deadly submission hold.
Angle also played a huge role in Cena’s early WWE journey. In 2002, Angle issued an open challenge on SmackDown, and John Cena answered it. That match marked Cena’s first televised WWE bout, and although he lost, it was the start of a legendary career. Years later, Cena returned the favor by inducting Kurt Angle into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017.
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