When megastars like The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Brock Lesnar and Goldberg began leaving WWE one after another, the company urgently needed to fill their void with a new superstar. John Cena he fit that role perfectly and carried WWE on his shoulders as the company’s poster boy during his time as a full-time wrestler. But that kind of commitment comes with a downside, as the 16-time WWE Champion had to put his body on the line in high-profile matches on a regular basis. This led to Cena sustaining various injuries over the years, some of which were near-professional and life-threatening.
However, there have also been several instances where Cena had to sell fake injuries in the storyline to add more drama or to take time off to deal with his other commitments. Some examples of such fake injuries include his 2019 ankle injury, 2004 stab injury, and the featured Chokeslam he took from The Big Show in 2009. With that said, let’s take a look at every major injury from The Big Show’s career. John Cena in detail. .
7/7 Torn pectoral muscle – 2007
The first major injury John Cena sustained in his wrestling career was a torn pectoral muscle he suffered in 2007. Cena sustained the injury during a match with Mr. Kennedy when he attempted to execute a hip throw.
He underwent surgery to repair the damage the next day and it was revealed that his pectoral muscle was completely ripped from the bone. WWE announced that John Cena would take six months to a year to rehab from the injury, but the 16-time WWE Champion’s “never give up” attitude saw him make a triumphant and surprising return at the 2008 Royal Rumble.
6/7 Disc herniation – 2008
After a miraculously quick recovery from his torn pectoral muscle, John Cena looked to make up for lost time by working harder. As usual, WWE booked him in high-profile storylines, and he was set to be one of the contestants in the 2008 World Heavyweight Championship Scramble match. unforgivable pay-per-view
But things took an unexpected turn when he was pulled from the match after suffering a herniated disc in his neck during his match against Batista that year. summer festival pay-per-view This type of injury requires a long period of rest to heal on its own, but Cena opted to undergo fusion surgery with Dr. Joseph Maroon, who is the current WWE Medical Director. Similar to her comeback in 2008 royal rumbleJohn Cena underwent a quick healing process and was back within two months of surgery and competed against Chris Jericho in that year. survival series pay-per-view and won his first World Heavyweight Championship.
5/7 Arm injury – 2012
After his WWE Championship match against CM Punk in 2012 Champions Night PPV, which ended in a double pinfall draw, John Cena was sidelined from the in-ring action once again with a legitimate arm injury. Cena had to undergo another surgery, and the procedure was done to remove bone chips from his elbow. WWE revealed that the recovery time would be between six and eight weeks, and it was the first time that John Cena had stuck to the original recovery schedule.
After being on the sidelines for two months, John Cena returned to in-ring action in 2012. survival series pay-per-view, where he competed in a triple threat match for the WWE Championship against CM Punk and Ryback, but ended up losing the match.
4/7 Achilles tendon injury – 2013
After suffering a loss at the hands of The Rock in WrestleMania 27John Cena made sure to take on The People’s Champion one more time, finally making it happen at WrestleMania 28 after winning the 2013 Royal Rumble and booking a matchup with The Rock, who had won the WWE Championship from CM Punk at the same event.
John Cena managed to defeat The Rock at the event and win the WWE Championship, but Cena was unable to enjoy the victory as he injured his Achilles tendon during a match with Ryback during his European tour. Speculation about Cena’s possible recovery timeline began to mount, but he put all that to rest by continuing with his usual duties and granting wishes in New York as part of the Make A Wish Foundation and also returned to in-ring competition shortly. later and even defended his WWE Championship against Ryback at Extreme Rules 2013.
3/7 Triceps Strain – 2013
In the weeks leading up to 2013 summer festival PPV, John Cena chose Daniel Bryan as his opponent for his WWE Championship at the event. Cena ended up losing the title to Bryan in summer festival and also suffered a torn triceps in the process.
Cena had to undergo surgery to repair the damage and it was speculated that he would be out of action for six months. But as usual, she recovered quickly and returned two months later to the Hell in a cell pay-per-view and defeated Alberto Del Rio to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
2/7 Broken Nose – 2015
During his feud against then-authority in 2015, John Cena was the reigning United States Champion, and heel authority figures had him defend the title against Seth Rollins. The match took place on the July 27, 2015, episode of Raw, in which Cena successfully retained the title. But the victory came at a great cost as Cena suffered a legitimate broken nose during the match and had to undergo surgery to repair the damage.
However, Cena only took two weeks off when he accepted Rollins’ challenge to a Winner Takes All match for both the WWE and United States Championships at summer festival 2015, where he ended up losing to Rollins.
1/7 Shoulder injury – 2016
The closing days of John Cena’s fifth and final run with the United States Championship saw him lose the title to Alberto Del Rio in 2015. Hell in a cell pay-per-view After a brief hiatus, John Cena again challenged Del Rio for the title, but was unable to regain the title as the match ended in a disqualification.
After that, Cena had to undergo another surgery as he had to undergo a procedure to repair a shoulder injury in January 2016. WWE did not reveal John Cena’s return schedule after the surgery and simply stated that would remain out of action. for an undisclosed period. However, it is John Cena we are talking about, and similar to his past miraculous comebacks, he made his return to WWE in WrestleMania 32, where he helped The Rock fend off an attack by The Wyatt Family. He then made a full return on the Memorial Day edition of Raw in 2016, which was four months earlier than it normally takes to recover from surgery.