John cena how many times wwe champion

Thankfully for Cena, Batista's reign was short-lived, as he was about to take his first extended break from WWE and try to make it in Hollywood, in a move that would eventually see him play Drax in the MCU.

Cena and Batista clashed at WrestleMania 26 , with Cena coming out on top, resulting in him picking up his third world title win at a WrestleMania event. Miz held the gold for days, even retaining against Cena at WrestleMania , before losing to him at Extreme Rules in May as part of a cage match also including John Morrison.

In the storyline, Punk was threatening to take the title and leave WWE, as his contract was up. Punk did just that, but only for a few weeks. By then though, Rey Mysterio had won a tournament for the vacant title, then had to defend against Cena the same night. Rock and Cena then had a rematch of their WrestleMania match from , which Rock won, with Cena winning this time out.

Daniel Bryan won the title in a triple threat against Orton and Batista at WrestleMania 30 in , but Bryan was later forced to drop it due to injury. Cena's WWE schedule had become part-time in the years since his reign, as he moved further into Hollywood.

He lost the belt one month later, to Bray Wyatt in an Elimination Chamber match. Cena's 16 reigns ties him for the all-time record, at least according to WWE, but in reality, Ric Flair is a time world champion, a record John Cena is unlikely to equal.

Michael Kennedy is an avid movie and TV fan that's been working for Screen Rant in various capacities since In that time, Michael has written over articles for the site, first working solely as a news writer, then later as a senior writer and associate news editor.

While both wrestlers have held the top prizes in the business 16 times, there is a wide gap between the prestige of their individual reigns. In fact, the difference in numbers between the two men is staggering. Flair was world champion almost two-and-a-half times longer than Cena has been. Why does this matter? Because it showcases just how much more Cena would have to do in his career for his title reigns to truly match up to the legacy of Flair.

This is not as much an indictment of Cena as a showcase of just how incredible Flair's world championship legacy is, defined by much more than just one number The wrestling business has changed significantly since Flair debuted in The role of champion was that of the headliner, traveling all over the world to face the best in the business.

However, Flair did not exclusively reign as champion in the early 80s as he held world championships in three separate decades, earning his 16th championship in In his final full-time run atop the business, WCW was quite generous with their world championship to a degree even more pronounced than WWE today. These days, the rate of title changes have gone down, but the saturation of WWE television still dictates the need for frequent title changes.

Even while The New Day reigned for an unprecedented days this past year as tag champs, the WWE Championship changed hands eight times at an average of two months per title reign. Longevity as champion has changed in meaning over the years, but it still showcases who the top stars are in WWE. Ric Flair's own championship record has been often been misrepresented.

This is also not including six unofficial title changes across the world. During those official reigns as champion, Flair held a world championship for days. In comparison, Cena's 16 championship reigns total days. It would be one thing if the match itself was excellent, but it was anything but. There were a few storytelling bits that were done well—such as playing off spots from their first match, with Cena going for the People's Elbow and whatnot.

But for the most part, it was a flurry of finishers with both men constantly kicking out of everything the other guy hit him with. Up until this point, Cena hadn't held the strap in over 18 months, yet it felt like nothing had changed once he was declared the new champion. Undertaker was the only truly tremendous match on the card because the two top title matches failed to meet the lofty expectations of fans. Going into the event, the story surrounding the World Heavyweight Championship was that Edge and Big Show were involved in a love triangle with Vickie Guerrero.

Meanwhile, Cena just wanted the world title back in his possession, making it all the more predictable he was winning the Triple Threat match. Despite the obvious outcome, they had a chance to produce a fun title match, but they fell flat.

Cena, Big Show and Edge all took turns hitting their signature spots on the others, working a relatively safe, standard Triple Threat match. The story was weak, and the in-ring action wasn't much better. Cena lifting both Edge and Big Show up on his shoulders for a double Attitude Adjustment was a WrestleMania moment, but other than that, this was hardly a world title match worthy of occurring at WrestleMania, much less after Undertaker vs.

During their on-and-off rivalry that ran from to , John Cena and Alberto Del Rio never failed to contest compelling matches together. Almost all of their encounters were either good, great or tremendous, but some had better backstories than others.

Granted, they had history, but this was Cena's first match back from injury, and he was seemingly granted a shot at the strap for no reason. Nevertheless, that didn't stop them from going out there and contesting one of the better bouts of the night. They just had a natural chemistry as opponents, and this match in particular featured plenty of back-and-forth action that captivated the crowd and kept it engaged throughout.

Del Rio had barely been booked as a credible champion up to this point, so Cena taking the title from him was the best thing for the belt. It also marked Cena's first World Heavyweight Championship reign in over four years. Cena had been gone for months dealing with a neck injury but returned ahead of schedule at Survivor Series. And again, he was granted a title shot despite not earning one. It had been years since Cena and Chris Jericho last did battle, but they quickly proved they were as capable as ever of delivering a delightful main event match with the title on the line.

Jericho had been firing on all cylinders as Raw's lead antagonist, so it wasn't surprising he once again brought his best to his clash with Cena. Meanwhile, Cena hardly showed any ring rust and fed off the adulation of the "hometown" fans in Boston he's from West Newbury, Massachusetts , who were happy to see him back in action. As a result, Cena emerging victorious with the title in tow was a triumphant moment and the beginning of a new chapter in Cena's career.

Needless to say, John Cena vs. Thankfully, they had a chance to redeem themselves the following month at Extreme Rules. John Morrison's presence in the championship match added another element to the story, playing off the history they had as friends-turned-rivals.

Additionally, without being entirely focused on The Rock this time, Cena was more motivated to capture the championship, which would be his first world title in nearly a year.

The three opponents worked well with each other, and the steel cage surrounding the ring added to the excitement of the match, with each of them frantically trying to escape the cage.

Morrison didn't feel out of place in his first WWE title pay-per-view main event, and R-Truth's interference allowed that feud to be furthered as well. Cena announcing afterward to the live crowd that the United States had killed Osama bin Laden was a feel-good moment to end the evening with. When you're talking about the greatest Elimination Chamber combatants of all time, how can you not include John Cena in the conversation?

Over the course of his career, he has survived three Elimination Chamber matches, with only Triple H surpassing him with four victories inside Satan's Prison.

At Elimination Chamber , Sheamus had the tough task of defending his title against five of Raw's most elite athletes, and the likelihood of him retaining his title was not good. But what made this such a quality Elimination Chamber match was the abundance of stories that were told.

Sheamus and Triple H planted the seeds for their match at WrestleMania, The Legacy was falling apart at the seams and Cena was hungry for his next world title. Similar to any other Elimination Chamber match, it was a brutal bout, with each of the Superstars inflicting punishment on one another via the unforgiving steel and chains. With three fresh faces involved in the match Sheamus, Ted DiBiase and Kofi Kingston , one of them should have been the last remaining competitor alongside Cena instead of Triple H, but it was an enjoyable outing nonetheless.

With Daniel Bryan sidelined with a serious injury, it was announced an eight-man ladder match would be held at Money in the Bank to determine a new WWE world heavyweight champion.

Thus, it was a healthy mix of the old guard and the talent of tomorrow. Everyone involved was allowed to shine at one point or another, with spots such as everyone crashing down from atop the ladders. Each individual had his own motivation for wanting to win the coveted championship, and you can never go wrong with so much star power vying for one world title.