5 Stars John Cena buried in WWE

John Cena has often been accused of burying emerging talent in WWE, but the accusations were heaviest during his prime. Those were the days when Cena was the face of the company and the superstar who registered record merchandise sales. However, as he started to bring the curtains down on his career, Cena began putting younger talent over more often.

This topic once again caught steam during his promo with WWE Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes on the latest RAW. Confronting The American Nightmare, Cena said that he doesn't bury talent but buries mediocrity, and he's going to bury Cody just like that at WrestleMania 41.

However, the fact of the matter is that Cena has indeed stalled the momentum of some talented superstars. Let's take a look at five such cases of John Cena burying talent in WWE.

#5. The Nexus

Before The Shield, The Wyatt Family, or any other heel group, The Nexus in 2010 was the hottest thing in the promotion. Led by Wade Barrett, The Nexus was a group of emerging superstars who were all buried, by Cena himself, all alone at SummerSlam 2010.

Cena was accused of changing the outcome of the match by former superstar Chris Jericho. In his podcast with Edge, Jericho revealed that although he wanted The Nexus to win at SummerSlam, it was Cena who changed the result of the match to declare himself the winner. And that hurt Barrett and the young faction big time.

The Nexus's fortunes in the company took a hit after this loss, and they could never recover from it. Y2J also mentioned that Cena confided to him that defeating The Nexus was indeed a big mistake, but it was too late. The Nexus was soon split, and the faction that could have been a top heel force died a slow death.

#4. Late WWE Superstar Bray Wyatt

Bray Wyatt was another hot ticket backed massively by the fans, but unfortunately, he was buried not once but twice by two superstars. First, John Cena put a break to Wyatt's soaring fortunes by defeating him at WrestleMania 30. Next, it was Goldberg beating The Fiend at WWE Super ShowDown in 2020.

The rivalry between Cena and Bray Wyatt took off on a good note but ended up terribly with Cena decimating the entire Wyatt Family at Mania. Bray did defeat Cena in a match at Extreme Rules, but that came with help from a child. Then, the rivalry was ended at the Payback PPV, with Bray taking another defeat in a Last Man Standing match.

#3. Rusev

Rusev was a burgeoning threat in WWE from 2014 to 2015. His anti-American stance worked marvelously for his character, and he went undefeated for nearly a year.

All was going well for The Bulgarian Brute until he crossed paths with John Cena. And that was the end of his joy. Rusev's anti-American rhetoric brought him into conflict with Cena, and the 16-time WWE Champion defeated him at WrestleMania 31, winning the United States Championship in the process.

However, that loss wasn't something that cost Rusev his career, as a screw-up from Lana was the reason for his defeat. It was three back-to-back losses at the hands of Cena after Mania that ultimately buried him in WWE. His credibility took a severe beating, and that impacted his career to the point where he never truly recovered.

#2 Jack Swagger

He might not have been the best man on the mic, but Jack Swagger was a decent performer inside the ring. WWE did take a chance to elevate him in the company by getting him to win the Money in the Bank contract, but it was the hero, John Cena, who allegedly refused to fuel Swagger's career in WWE.

The former AEW star revealed it while speaking on Talk is Jericho in 2020. He said that John Cena had refused to drop the WWE Championship to him in 2010.

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"The night before [Hager's cash-in on Jericho], I teased it on RAW where I would almost hit Cena with the briefcase," Hager said. "I snuck up on him and then we had one of his brilliant promo segments. Later come to find out he refused to do the job for me for the world championship, but we won't talk about that." [H/T: Wrestling Inc]

Therefore, Jack Swagger could never cash in his contract against Cena, and he instead did it against Chris Jericho. They had a few singles matches on RAW, but Swagger never got the win. Soon, he was reduced to a mid-carder in the roster and left the company in 2017.

#1. Wade Barrett

The Nexus leader could have been great in WWE, but that loss at the hands of Cena at SummerSlam severely hurt his career. He was a commanding force and a top heel in the company in 2010. But his engagement with John Cena right at the beginning of his career ended up being everything for him.

Even though he continued his heel character for the next few years, turning up as Bad News Barrett, that wasn't enough to save his sinking career. In 2016, he was released by WWE. Today, Barrett works as a ring announcer on Monday Night RAW, and he was ringside when John Cena talked about burying talent in WWE.

It remains to be seen if the 44-year-old former superstar will ever address his career trajectory in the Stamford-based promotion after crossing paths with John Cena.

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