Raw to the Extreme: Spotlight on John Cena Part 2

Welcome back to the Spotlight on John Cena. Let’s pick up from where we left off, shall we?

Upon making his Raw debut, Cena feuded with Eric Bischoff after the former refused to help in the war against ECW roster. At Vengeance, Cena would defend his WWE Championship against Christian and Chris Jericho, retaining in the process. Chris Jericho would be the hand picked opponent for Cena by Eric Bischoff moving forward. Bischoff has vowed to make Raw difficult for Cena.

It was during this time that the crowd started booing Cena on a regular basis, despite being a face. This was prominent going until SummerSlam, where Cena was booed and Jericho was cheered, as Cena retained his title. On Raw the night after, Cena would defeat Jericho again in a You’re Fired match.

Kurt Angle would be the next hand picked contender. They would feud until the night after Survivor Series. Cena would retain every time in 3 matches against Angle, including a triple threat also involving Shawn Michaels. This feud also saw Cena start using a submission hold as a finisher (the STFU, a stepover toehold facelock).

At New Years Revolution, Cena would defend his Championship in an Elimination Chamber match, retaining the title by last eliminating Carlito. Moments after the match, Edge would cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase successfully. This would kick-start what many consider to be the best rivalry in Cena’s career (myself included).

3 weeks later, at the Royal Rumble, Cena would invoke his rematch clause, successfully winning the WWE Championship for a second time. Cena would move onto feuding with Triple H heading into WrestleMania 22, with Cena retaining. The feud would continue to Backlash where Cena retained the Championship in a triple threat match against Triple H and Edge.

Shortly after, Rob Van Dam announced he was going to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase at ECW One Night Stand ahead of the event. Cena would face the most boisterous booing of his career at the event as the crowd was predominantly made up of original ECW fans. RVD would go onto to win the championship with the help of Edge and Paul Heyman (who made the the count, later stating that it was ECW and that’s how ECW worked).

A month later, Cena and Edge would both challenge RVD in a triple threat match for the WWE Championship (RVD had been suspended for being arrested alongside Sabu for possession of marijuana). Edge would win this and the Edge vs Cena would be reignited. They would have multiple matches over the next 2 months, with Edge retaining using underhanded tactics.

Cena would challenge Edge to a match of his choice at a location of his choice. Edge would choose a TLC match to take place at Unforgiven, which took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Edge’s hometown. There was the added stipulation of if Cena had lost, he would have to join the SmackDown roster. Cena would win the match and the Championship.

Come back next week as we look further into the career of John Cena