Both Edge and John Cena are without doubt among the greatest performers in WWE history. While John made his debut about two decades ago in the early 2000’s, Adam Copeland had a 25-year-long association with the Triple H-led promotion, which is surely an extremely special feat for any professional wrestler.
Even though The Rated R-Superstar left the Stamford-based promotion in 2023 to join AEW, his last run with the company was truly memorable. The veteran was involved in some of the most important storylines throughout the last phase of his tenure, as he even defeated younger talents. But, the same cannot be said for The Cenation Leader’s run in the company.
John Cena also has just his last few years left inside the ring, but he hasn’t enjoyed a lot of success in recent feuds, as he has even lost to young generation stars. In fact, this stark difference between Edge and John’s final stage is pretty baffling, as the final stages of their careers could have been more different.
John Cena has taken a toll on his success to push next-generation WWE stars
John Cena‘s recent record in recent years has been way lower than his standards because it has taken a toll on his success to push next-generation WWE stars. The Cenation Leader was once the most safely booked guy in the promotion. But with time, the company’s booking decisions surrounding the 16-time Champion have changed drastically, as he has lost a lot in the last few years.
Cena has been working part-time since 2018, and this move hasn’t been a great one for his success inside the ring. If his recent records in the Triple H-led promotion are considered, they’ve been really bad, as the veteran has lost a number of high-profile encounters in recent years, which isn’t what fans used to witness when he was in his prime.
John lost to Austin Theory at WrestleMania 39 in a United States Championship match. In fact, it took a massive toll on Cena’s reputation, as he lost to a mid-card superstar like Theory on The Show of Shows. Additionally, he also suffered a defeat at the hands of Solo Sikoa at the 2023 Crown Jewel PLE.
What stood out from this match was that Solo absolutely destroyed The Cenation Leader, and fans never expected John to suffer such a defeat after doing so much in his career. Such losses have impacted the reputation of the 16-time WWE Champion badly, but it is all an attempt by the veteran to help the youngsters rise up in the charts, and it has surely been a great thing by John Cena.
Edge has taken a different route from John Cena
The Cenation Leader has taken huge losses to push new stars in the Triple H-led promotion; however, the same can’t be said about Edge. In fact, The Rated R-Superstar has taken a different route from John Cena in his last phase with the promotion. Copeland won even against younger stars who could have benefited from winning against him.
But as he did things oppositely, the young generation stars weren’t able to rise up higher in the ranks, despite battling a legend of the stature of Adam. Among the young generation stars he defeated in the last few years, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Jey Uso, Damian Priest, Grayson Waller, and Finn Balor are some of the most popular names.
At different phases of his last run with the Triple H-led promotion, Adam defeated these professional wrestling stars in the Stamford-based promotion. But if the results had been different, it could have been more beneficial for the guys who lost to The Rated R-Superstar.
After leaving the company in September 2023, Adam Copeland is now seen performing in All Elite Wrestling, where the story has been pretty much the same. In his short career with the promotion, the veteran has already defeated guys like Buddy Matthews and Malakai Black. On the other hand, John Cena hasn’t been very active in the wrestling industry.
But The Cenation Leader made his presence felt during the main event of WrestleMania XL Night 2, as he came out to help Cody Rhodes. With John not being a part of on-screen programming in the organization, it remains to be seen when he makes another return to the company to possibly go one-on-one against another young talent in the WWE.