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John Cena was positioned as the babyface who would lead the company through the new era. He was one of the more popular wrestlers after the departure of Brock Lesnar, the Rock, and Goldberg and some fans even proclaimed that Cena was the second coming of the Great one himself.
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From the superstar look to incredible mic skills, Cena had every attribute to make it to the top and for a period of time, he was hailed as the most popular superstar in the company. Sure, Batista main-evented WrestleMania 21 over John Cena and JBL but in terms of pure reaction, Cena elicited far more cheers on a daily basis, and in the aftermath of WrestleMania, the company decided to move forward with Cena as the leading man.
Things Went Wrong For Cena Early On
Unfortunately, things went south when fans turned on the intended franchise player mere months into his run as the top guy. The negative reactions continued week in and week out and during this time period, WWE remodeled Cena as the modern-day superhero, as the guy who fights for justice and the guy who never gives up.
The commentators were tasked to sell the narrative that Cena never tapped and never gave up, but truth is, Cena has tapped out numerous times, and to more than one wrestler but his more profile tap-outs came against the submission machine himself, Kurt Angle.
Kurt Angle and John Cena go way back. The Olympic hero was the debut opponent for John Cena and back then, Angle was the heel and John Cena was a generic babyface. A year later, the roles were reversed and John Cena was the villain, and he pissed off the babyface Kurt Angle with his constant displays of disrespect. He also rapped about Angle from time to time and that served as another to irritate the veteran wrestler.
In his most high-profile match up till that point, Cena faced Angle at No Mercy 2003 and Angle carried the rookie to a great match, easily the best of his career in the end, Angle made Cena submit to the ankle lock in the middle of the ring. Chris Jericho had made Cena submit in 2002 but this was a tap-out that actually mattered.
Cena and Angle clashed again one year later, during the Road to WrestleMania 20. This time around, Cena was the babyface hero and Angle was on the cusp of a heel turn and he would go on to cement his villainous character just a few weeks later.
Kurt Angle and John Cena were feuding over the contendership to the world title and Big Show was in the mix as well, but as a third wheel at best. The bulk of the intensity was carried by Cena and Angle and despite both being faces, there was quite a bit of tension between them.
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The triple threat match began at a breakneck pace and went on for 12 minutes. Cena was made to look strong but it was Kurt Angle who carried the entire match-up and towards the end, he slammed Big Show out of the ring and applied the same submission to John Cena in the middle of the ring. Unlike the first time, Cena tried to fight it off but in the end, he tapped out yet again and Angle earned the right to face Eddie Guerrero at WrestleMania 20.
Cena Tapped Two Times To Angle
Cena was on the cusp of superstardom and he was only 2 years into his career as a full-time wrestler. Vince McMahon, at that point, probably considered him as one of the next big stars, but it was still a little too soon and Angle was the more seasoned wrestler and had already headlined WrestleMania. At No Way Out 2005, Cena finally got his revenge on Kurt Angle and defeated him with the WWE title shot on the line.
There you have it. Cena has tapped out a total of four times and twice to Kurt Angle. During the years of Super Cena, this myth was repeated each time Cena went against someone who had a submission as a finishing move. In fact, Batista invented the Batista Bite, just so he could be the first one to make Cena tap out.
Perhaps this was done in an attempt to tarnish the reputation of Kurt Angle when he went over to TNA. Regardless, revisionist history at its finest but what would you expect from WWE? During his feud with the Rock in 2012-2013, Cena actually pretended that he had never turned his back on the WWE fans.
In the canon WWE universe, Cena has never tapped out, and he never turned heel in 2003.
