John Cena vs. The Big Show

[6.0] "A solid, watchable 6/10 opener that accomplished its exact booking mission without overstaying its welcome. Bell-to-bell, this was a fairly standard big-man vs. underdog formula--Big Show tossing Cena around and landing heavy strikes for six minutes before Cena mounted a quick comeback. While the in-ring mechanics were basic, the atmosphere inside Madison Square Garden elevated everything, and watching Cena hoist Big Show up for the FU was a genuinely memorable visual that made him look like a future world champion overnight. Short, clean, and effective for a curtain-jerker."

[4.0] "This match is the perfect microcosm for John Cena's career. A below average match where he easily "overcomes the odds" to win a title."

[6.0] "The opening match to WrestleMania XX has John Cena and The Big Show going at it. Funny endind, with cena wanting to cheat, distracting the ref, and then cheating anyway. Good start to the show."

[5.0] "[**3/4] A pretty simple big man vs. underdog babyface template for a match that works as a perfectly fine opener, crowning a new champion in a very well-liked John Cena at this point in time. The babyface cheating to win is always a bit weird to me, but I guess for this version of Cena and this moment in WWE history, it kind of works, and the crowd clearly loved it. If anything, it's just a bit too by-the-numbers and slow at times. Nothing to write home about, but nothing too bad either. Just a serviceable opener."

[5.0] "An okay opener to warm up the crowd. People only remember the finish from this match and that this was Cena's first US title win."

[6.0] "John Cena's first wrestlemania match, it's a pretty simple big man vs underdog babyface match, but it's well done."

[3.0] "Very slow pace with Show on offense. Cena did a good job with the comeback. The crowd was into the match, so it was the right choice for an opener. Cena went on to bigger things after this obviously. Cena beat Show a lot in their careers. Vince loves feeding his top face a big man and Show was the guy for Cena for many years."

[7.0] "A crowning moment for Cena winning his first title, he and Show have decent chemistry, mostly cause they are good and Cena is very expressive seller, makes big men look good.. its better than some of their earlier ones, the finishes are too similar, but Big Show worked harder than usual. The FU kickout would have worked if it hadn't already happened multiple times. it accomplished its goal but also was prob too short."

[7.0] "This has to be one of the greatest openers in Wrestlemania history. Not a crazy match but still very enjoyable, seeing how everyone loved Cena and most important, his first title victory. Big Show played heel role very good."

[8.0] "Gran combate, primer Wrestlemania de John Cena y primer título de su carrera, que manera de empezar su carrera consolidándose contra tal vez el mejor gigante de la historia. No se puede desmeritar tampoco el gran trabajo de The big show siempre ayudando a crecer carreras muchos de los luchadores considerados hoy leyendas en algún momento tuvieron o cruzaron su carrera con The big show."

[7.0] "A surprisingly fun match, nothing too long and it did what it needed to do. Big Show kicking out of the F-U was fantastic as it was a first time thing so it made it feel actually special. Not a classic but a great opening match."

[6.0] "Decent opener for the card, match was dominated by Show until Cena hits him with the brass knuckles and hits a second F-U to get the win, nothing to write home about but it got the crowd hyped and didn't overstay it's welcome, it did it's job"

[6.0] "Good platform for giving Cena his first title. Typical match for this kind of purpose - an okay opener."

[4.0] "Cena's AAs are the only thing you remember after ending the match. Big Show's dominance was followed by a Super Cena worthy comeback, but it was too slow in my opinion. I didn't appreciate the dirty win either, in my opinion Cena was supposed to win this clean. At least his win was a good win to warm up the crowd into WrestleMania, but I find this a weak opener."

[8.0] "Huge way to kick off the show, crowd were SILLY red hot for John Cena, his rap hasn't aged well, but his ring work was fairly decent and aside from it being your typical Big Show match it was fairly fun and had me going back then, as well as even now."

[7.0] "A hot crowd and a very character-driven match. It's mostly just your basic Big Show match but I think the atmosphere and the fact that both guys are very good at this formula, translates well. The difference between this and Cena's matches with Big Show in the late 2000s (other than Big Show leaving his prime) is that this got 9 mins and didn't really overstay it's welcome. This type of match going 20 would've been rough but just under 10 is the sweet spot. Great finish with Cena showing a lot of personality too. The US title felt like a big deal in this match."

[5.0] "Cena was so incredibly over. That's what makes this match. He was honestly just as, if not more over than many of the top guys, even though he was winning a mid-card title here. The fans at MSG were absolutely ready to pop for Cena's big win, and they were hot and stayed supporting him the whole way through. Big Show just took too much of this match for me. He took the majority, and it was pretty stock offense. I think the match needed some more back and forth to really elevate itself. The finish is also a lot of fun. When the bell rings, this is a perfectly serviceable match, but aside from it being Cena's first singles title win and the crowd being electric, there's not too much more to this one."

[5.0] "It's a fine enough match and opener to the show with a decent babyface vs heel dynamic and a nice way for John Cena to win his first ever title in WWE."

[5.0] "Decent opener, as a match it was mediocre but the crowd was into it. The face and heel dynamic was decent and showed how over Cena really was at this time of his career."

[6.0] "A pretty solid opener that the crowd was really into. I really enjoyed the finish as well as it showed how well Cena is over and can work heel or face when he cheats to win the United States Title and the crowd still loves it. Show also looks great here and doesn't usually get the credit he deserves. 3 stars."

[6.0] "A very good choice for an opener with Cena who was on the rise and was getting great reactions from the crowd. Big Show was working slowly on him, but his facials and some impressive moves from a big guy were keeping it interesting, plus John's selling was pretty good. The finish was also nicely done with Cena engaging fans even more there."

"The first Wrestlemania match of John Cena. As the opening booking it is entertaining, somewhat electric (all the credit goes to Cena for his entrance), and the match itself is good."

[8.0] "Really good opener, that amazing New York crowd was so into John Cena. To me, it may be the best Cena vs Show match ever ( and we saw a ton ). I really like the finish too, Cena doing the you can't see me to the ref when he wanted to cheat with his chain."

[6.0] "Crowd were right into it and right behind Cena. Bit slow for the first 7 minutes, but the finish is pretty decent and gets a good pop."

[9.0] "This match was so fun to me. To me, this match was the definition of peak ruthless aggression and peak midcard Cena. It wasnt a mat classic but it was fun overall and it had a hell of an ending. The crowd was super into it and was one of the defining moments of Cenas early career."

[3.0] "Is kinda ass. Crowd is into it, Cena also lifts the big show and somehow does not get the pin, which was funny, and uh, that is pretty much it. both had no ring hability"

[5.0] "Crowd behind Cena. Logical construction of the match for a match like this and a good finish very well received by the crowd. (2*3/4)"

[6.0] "Pretty basic match to be honest, but Cena winning his first ever title was a special moment and the crowd was red hot for it. It's a bit played out these days, but Cena overcoming the odds against the Big Show was a solid way to book the match and him hitting two 'FU's' was a great feat of strength, plus the cheating with the chain and brass knucks was very creative."

[5.0] "This match will forever go down in history as the match were Cena won his first of many titles in WWE. Is the match good though? Definitely not, but it's not the worst thing ever. Cena gets dominated by Show for 90% of the match, getting in a few hope spots, but always being shut down, until he eventually hits Show with an FU to get a 2 count. He then hits Show with his brass knuckles behind the referee's back and then hits a second FU to get the win, which the crowd popped massively for. A decent match overall, but outside of the 2 FU's at the end, there's basically nothing else memorable about this, and the crowd were basically silent until the final minute as well. **1/2"

[6.0] "The story of this is rather simple, but this accomplished its goal and we got a solid Mania opener. Big Show gets in most of the offense, and Cena got in some hope spots here and there before getting cut off. Cena's offense is decent here but the crowd absolutely loves him so it doesnt really matter. After an FU fails to put Show away he uses the brass knucks and another FU puts him away.***"

[7.0] "This was an almost perfect opening match for a WrestleMania. This was a rare time in John Cena's history where he was basically universally loved by the fans. He got to have his opening rap, a character moment where he used the chain against the Big Show - which protected Big Show - and set up a WrestleMania moment with Cena's feat of strength of picking Big Show up on his shoulders and planting him with the FU."

"This match is honestly pretty overhated. The Big Show does his job pretty well as he doesn't play fair. I can see why it can be a bit boring, but I personally am fine with it. I also really like Cena getting his first WrestleMania moment by winning the title. I also don't hate that Cena didn't win fair because although he was a face at the time, he was bordering being a tweener and face. Overall I would give this a 7/10 rating and personally like the match."

"[2.0] "Match is slow and boring, the best part is cena getting his wm moment, although not very face like to cheat to win.""

[2.0] "Match is slow and boring, the best part is cena getting his wm moment, although not very face like to cheat to win."

[6.0] "A somewhat formulaic but nonetheless enjoyable match, these two would go on to have countless more matches following this but the work on display here was still fun. Big Show looks incredibly strong in defeat, his run as US Champ was a rather underrated one as a whole, and it's an absolute spectacle to see John win his very first belt in WWE, one that he would help define and bring to new heights in time."

[6.0] "I thought that the story told in this match, while simple, was done very well by both Cena and Show. The pace of the match may be slow, and both Show and Cena [around this time of his career] aren't quite high work rate performers, but they managed to keep the crowd immersed as the opener of the biggest WWE show of the year. Speaking of the crowd, they are 100% behind Cena during this time; no anti-Cena fans, just a New York crowd who are fully behind the strong babyface that is Cena. Before the match as well, he hypes up the crowd and cuts a pretty good promo on Show; he hits all the notes that he's supposed to, and is able to fully have the crowd's backing from start to finish. Once the match starts, he tries to use his speed and agility to wear out Show in the beginning, but soon Show manages to overpower Cena and put his momentum into a halt. This becomes a constant in this match, as Show is able to knock down Cena whenever he's able to get another wind. Cena tries to regain the advantage with a flying crossbody but to no avail. Show tries to aggravate Cena's entire body with a massive bear hug, but John uses his high pain threshold to survive the submission and continue in the match. After then breaking out of a cobra clutch, he manages to dodge Show's striking and wear the giant out; he then proceeds to hit an insane Attitude Adjustment on Show. For how small Cena was and for how big Show was around this time, this really is a feat of strength that kind of gets overlooked quite a bit in WWE history. After Show kicks out of the AA, Cena tries to go for his chain as a weapon against him; the referee, however, notices Cena's plan and tells John to put the chain down. Cena then throws it to the side, but as the ref goes to collect it, he sneaks a brass knuckle onto his right hand and clocks Show with it without the ref noticing, and hits another crazy AA to finally secure the pinfall victory. Cena claims his first of many titles, and becomes United States Champion. While Cena's strategy can be considered heelish, I don't think it harkens on his character as it kind of carries a similar vibe to Eddie Guerrero, where it's more about smarts than about being devilish. It works against Show as well, who is clearly the strong heel of the match that the crowd is firmly against. So overall, nothing incredible, just a fun well-told opener by both men, with two classic moments as well with Cena's AA, and his first title victory. (***1/4)"

[7.0] "Good for what it is. It brought some variety to the show, had a fun ending, and has the historically significant moments of being Cena's first title win in WWE."

[5.0] "Cena winning his first title was a great moment but the match that preceded it wasn't that interesting."

[1.0] "The first win of Cena at WrestleMania and his first title, but the match himself is absolutely boring and awful in my opinion."

[4.0] "Good moment for Cena but this match is pretty lame, big show with a lot of uninteresting work on top, Cena did great to make him look like a beast tho. Nice crowd, ending was weird with Cena needing a shot with the brass knucks, protecting big show, but crowd loved it. **"

[6.0] "A decent match, far from amazing but it accomplished what it needed to, putting Cena over once again as a rising major star and allowing Big Show to make him look as good as possible."

[5.0] "A historic match given that it was Cena's first Mania match and title win. Nothing special as far as the work goes but Cena was very over and it's amusing to see him beloved and heelish just a year away from his big babyface push and world title win."

[5.0] "A solid match carried by the hot MSG Yorkers. This was design to put Cena over as a star and it did exactly that, evidence from the crowd reaction and everything. Not a good match by any means, but it succeeded in what it had to do, and that is all you need sometime. [**1/2]"

[6.0] "Big Show is huge here and he moves around at a snail's pace, but it's no big deal as Cena is incredibly over with the MSG faithful and everything Show does feeds into Cena's eventual comeback. Show uses some of the rarer moves in his arsenal, such as the Hog Lock and the Cobra Clutch. After an FU isn't able to put away the big man, Cena cheats by using his padlock and winning his first-ever title. This was a good meat and potatoes match. Not everything has to be fancy for it to work."

[5.0] "This was a solid opener, a sort of sequel to their beef from No Way Out a month prior. The crowd was thoroughly behind Cena, who managed to overcome the odds and defeat Big Show. Big Show managed to kick out of the FU, but eventually lost after Cena knocked his ass out with the chain. Pretty cool. **1/2"

[8.0] "The match that created a star in Cena. The crowd was so hot for this, such a great opener with a killer ending."

[5.0] "I am really not a fan of this match, the ending is just awful, the kickout of finisher is not my favorite thing but not even of what happened after. The in ring himself is not bad, but it really felt random. **1/2"

[5.0] "A pretty boring match all things considered, but Cena getting two FUs to the Big Show is very impressive. Cena is incredibly over here, and is a sign to what's to come for the future of the WWE. You can skip this match but it has a very large importance to the career of John Cena."

[5.0] "This was purely to get Cena over as a credible main guy for the next generation, and Big Show (who hadn't completely been devalued yet as a main event threat) is one of the guys who can kinda universally work with any guy for a decent match, so it's a good tune-up in concept. Pretty basic layout, with Cena trying to wear down the bigger foe with rather awkward punches and strikes, as well as some wear-down spots. Crowd is massively over for Cena and know he's gonna get the win so this was more about getting him over than anything else. Big Show is functional but as per usual nothing worth much beyond some basic offence. The AA/FU finish and comeback got the crowd crazy, but apart from that, this was a pretty basic match you could have on any card and I don't think anyone would notice. Cena is still quite green (and it shows in how he wrestles) and Show even at this point is far away from his early days. Functional but very skippable."

[6.0] "A very basic and simple match. Cena's punches look really bad and comprise the majoity of his offense here. Big Shows offense is plodding and unremarkable. This match worked really well for those in attendance, some very big let's go Cena and big show sucks chants and they got solid reactions for a standing leg drop and a vertical suplex from Show. The crowd came to life in a big way for Cena simply putting on a headlock from a piggyback position and absolutely exploded for the first AA and for the finish. Nothing ground breaking but they really had the crowd invested in the match so this was an effective opener. Sometimes a clinical wrestling classic isn't needed. This match did its job well."