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Time of India

John Cena vs. The Anoa'i Family — A WWE rivalry that crossed generations

Image via WWE John Cena has had rivalries with the Anoa'i family across various generations. John Cena has been a part of WWE since 2002, and his career has spanned over two decades. In such a lengthy tenure, Cena has battled multiple opponents, who have been top names in the business. Interestingly, The Unseen 17 has a list of illustrious foes who share the same lineage and are part of one of the greatest wrestling families: the Anoa'i Family. John Cena has had altercations with various members of the Anoa'i Family in WWE WWE Universe saw the debut of John Cena in 2002, when he answered Kurt Angle's Open Challenge for a match. Sometime later, when he debuted his popular gimmick, The Doctor of Thuganomics, his first rival from the Anoa'i family was Rikishi. The duo shared their ring for segments and matches, which were crucial for Cena's rise as a top star. Next up on the list to feud with Cena from the wrestling family was late WWE legend Umaga. The Cenation Leader and The Samoan Bulldozer engaged in a heated feud over the WWE Championship, with Cena managing to retain his title in multiple matches. However, Umaga gave him some of the hardest-hitting and physically battering matches of his career. After that, it was a clash of two of the biggest stars of their respective generations, The Rock and John Cena. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Wrinkles? No. Philips Garment Steamers Book Now Undo Cena's feud with one of the most accomplished superstars from the Anoa'i family led to two huge WrestleMania main event matches that were a spectacular sight to witness. As John Cena took up a more part-time schedule, his next foe from the Anoa'i clan was the biggest star of this generation, Roman Reigns . While Cena managed to defeat The Rock once, he has never beaten The OTC in the two singles showdowns they had in 2017 and 2021. On the other hand, the 17-time World Champion even had altercations with The Usos, years later, after his feud with their father, Rikishi. He shared the ring with them as well, but never in a singles contest. The last superstar that Cena feuded with, who is a part of the Anoa'i family, is Solo Sikoa. This came in 2023, when Cena returned for a brief tenure. However, Solo won the rivalry with a dominating performance at the WWE Crown Jewel event. This has made 'The Last Real Champion' one of the few stars to have such a lengthy rivalry with one of the most respected wrestling families in history. Also read: John Cena set to wrestle on WWE SmackDown for the first time in nearly three years