Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena

[8.0] "I liked this match a lot even if it isn't on the caliber that their later matches were, and in general this is the elementary stage of what they would become. They go for that level of violence but it's just presented in a very different way. Regardless the dynamic of this match is perfect for what it is. Cena was just always meant to be a babyface because even though he's a shithead kinda heel and cheats and gets heat and whatever, he's so easy to get into and want to root for because he's just so ambitious. Seeing Brock as a face against heel Cena is pretty perplexing but the way they're able to put the elements together that realistically shouldn't work into a pretty solid heel/face match was impressive especially with how early they are in their careers"

[6.0] "John Cena has not yet ascended to the top of the card, but Brock has, so this was kind of one-sided. But Borck does get a little bit of color. I didn't hate this, but it was fine for what it was supposed to be..."

[8.0] "Vous êtes fous ? Premier match vraiment mémorable de la carrière de Cena, je trouve que c'est sur ce match qu'il devient une star, la foule tourne organiquement et veut voir ce visage chez Cena, malheureusement on va bouffer ce visage pour le reste de sa carrière, mais là en 2003 voir un Cena heel combatif et affamé c'est trop bon. Et puis putain comme toujours l'improvisation bestiale de Lesnar dans le ring c'est un délice. Le match est vraiment cool allez vous faire foutre. En plus voir Cena tenir la sleeper avec ses jambes autour de Lesnar pendant plus d'1min te fais forcément penser à sa dernière minute dans un ring. Par contre la fin c'est vraiment con."

[6.0] "Totally fine world title match. Also cool looking back on it as cenas first world title challenge of his career. Cena at the time and his character at the time was a good first challenge for Lesnar coming off winning the belt at mania. Isn't a memorable match but it's a fine match. (***1/4)"

[5.0] "5.5 This isn't an awful title match really, has its bright moments, but its two young guys that still don't know quite what they're doing, so it obviously had to lean on a few things to make it passable. Right from the start, you do a feud where Cena is attacking Brock, busts him open and then when the match starts, Brock turns his back for some dumb reason allowing Cena to jump him. I've never liked that trope but it only works if you don't have blood heat before After that, it settles into a fine match where Brock gets control and then loses it, cut opens again.. What hurts the match is that nothing really interesting happens in Cena's control and it seemed like Brock got blown up, and then spots became very clunky towards the end. They would go on to have a way better match but I do wonder what that would have looked like in their athletic primes when they had things figured out."

[4.0] "This match had its moments but the majority of it was a bore to watch. Lesnar should've demolished Cena but for some reason Cena dominates the match, ponderously battering Lesnar and keeping him in holds that last too long. Not a strong victory at all for the champ and a match probably worth skipping."

[7.0] "This was a great match between two guys early in their careers. Cena plays the heel well, but you can already see why they turned him face because the crowd was already behind him. They told a great story in this match, made both guys walk alway strong, make Brock look like a problem of a WWE champ and built two stars. May have rushed Cena a bit, but it was entertaining."

[8.0] "This is absolutely mental to look at in 2025, 22 years before Cena was a megastar and Lesnar was just starting out. Some exciting stuff but we saw these take it up a notch later in their careers."

[7.0] "Lesnar bleeds as Cena had attacked Lesnar's head in the build-up so I will allow it here. It plays into the story of the match as Cena works the cut on Lesnar's head to keep him down and take control of the match. Brock does come back with his awesome power move-set. Cena really got in a lot of offense here and was made to look like a strong contender. There is a super long resthold mid-match with Cena locking Lesnar in a sleeper hold, it goes a bit too long. There also was a couple of iffy moments but nothing noticeably awful. There was a good nearfall when Cena low-blowed Lesnar and rolled him up for a 2, we also saw Cena hit his Throwback move which he hasn't done in years, he should bring that back. Lesnar wins with the F5 waaaaooh. It was a pretty fun match and for 2003 Cena was really good, he would continue to improve in the following years but he can look back and be proud of this match."

[5.0] "Definitely felt like a bit too early to put Cena in the main event scene. And those rest holds were brutally long and really killed the middle of this match, unfortunately. There's certainly been worse, but this was very underwhelming."

[4.0] "It always hurts a match when the ending is this predictable. Cena at this stage just doesn't feel like a credible threat to Brock in a title match. This had some okay moments but overall is a very vanilla title defense that honestly felt more like a smackdown main event"

[5.0] "They just killed my with that endless Headlock from Cena. They were having something here as Cena got this weird reaction from the crowd who partly cheered for him as he was in his hometown and they made Cena being in control believable due to Lesnar being busted open, plus the last few minutes were pretty good, but that longass rest hold absolutely murdered me."

[5.0] "**3/4. Ends strong enough but Cena is really bad here. Face Lesnar is strange going up against cowardly heels because you need him to go through some adversary - so they did it with the cut and a bit of cheating at the end, but Cena getting heat and working Lesnar down is just stupid and totally unbelivable. I've been working my way through all of Brocks PPV matches and seeing Lesnar have a stereotypical wrestling comeback was so strange, since up to this point Lesnars matches have been so much more formless, even when he was a heel the faces rarely had a comeback. Strange strange match. Did i mention cena was bad here? really clunky, stuttering, just not fluid at all."

[4.0] "This match shows why youth doesn't beat experience. Both of these guys had the drive, had the passion, and put in the effort, but didn't have the experience needed to drive the match home. It is so clear they're trying to steal the show. Brock is very giving to a young Cena, but still keeps himself looking strong. There's a lot of good power moves and slams in the match, and the passion and effort they're giving makes you want to get into it. But the middle of the match has a significant amount of rest holds that stop it dead. The ending sequence of the match has a BUNCH of incredibly sloppy sequences and missed timed moves. And above all else, the match had very little in terms of drama or storytelling. They were performing moves, but really didn't show a purpose for why they were doing them. Cena showed promise, but was green. And while Lesnar is obviously a beast of an athlete, and had great instincts in the ring, he was still too young to be able to be a general in there and help Cena through it. The end result is a match full of energy and passion, but those qualities feel scattered and misplaced. It's not a bad match, but it's a disappointing one. One that you can feel was so close to being special."

[7.0] "Pretty good first title shot for Cena where even thought it was obvious he wasn't going to win, he looked strong particularly because of the way Lesnar was selling and it was pretty obvious Cena had a big future ahead of him. Lesnar bled pretty badly in this one as well which kept Cena in control of a lot of it before Lesnar's comeback win. I enjoyed Cena's heel tactics in the match too where you had the low blow near fall and how his inexperience cost him where the ref caught him with the chain. It's a very different match to the more famous matches a decade later and it's certainly fun to look back on."

[6.0] "I thought this match was structured perfectly. Cena jumps Lesnar at the start of the match to gain an advantage, but eventually, Brocks strength/power allowed him to take control of the match, and Lesnar gets to show off for a bit. Cena takes back control after sending Brock into the steps and ended up getting color on him. Cenas heat segment was good outside of that headlock which felt like it lasted forever. Lesnar's comeback unfortunately wasn't the best but this was a solid match.***"

[7.0] "Real good match. Early Cena can be hit and miss but he put it all on the line in this match and wrestled really well. Lesnar? s bumping was great too, making Cena look like a star in the match, making some fiery comebacks. Awesome title defence. ***1/2"

[4.0] "This felt like a filler title defense and there wasn't one moment where I thought that Cena was going to win. Brock felt like too much of a bully during the opening exchanges for a babyface. Cena is able to take control of Lesnar by countering a whip into the steel steps, which cuts Lesnar open. The fans get restless once Cena locks on a rest hold for over two minutes. Lesnar makes it to his feet and does that spot where he runs into the corner with Cena still on his back. We've seen Lesnar do that spot a few times now and it wasn't enough of a satisfying pay-off after having to sit through that long and dull Cena control segment. Lesnar makes a comeback using STOs and clotheslines, but there are plenty of awkward mishaps along the way. I found this to be disappointing given how great their later matches would be."

[6.0] "The first half seemed too messy to me with the usual set of techniques. But then Dr. Thuganomics became more decisive in his actions and seized the initiative due to his dexterity, and even Brock Lesnar in some moments did not seem so invincible, but still he is a beast in the flesh and withstood all the blows. I would give the match *** 1/2."

[7.0] "I don't understand why this match gets ripped on as bad as it does. Cena is sloppy and a bit tentative but he has great charisma and his heel persona is actually entertaining. Brock has a much better moveset in 03 and is still putting serious effort into his performances. I actually liked it more than some of their later matches."

[3.0] "Cena was not buried by the almighty rookie Lesnar, who sold Thuganomics' dirty tactics like he could have been in serious danger, despite winning with relative ease. Problem is, John was still green at the time and two years shy of a serious push (they understood it well then), so this dragged a lot."

[6.0] "A satisfactory match, but this is not the best performance from the competitors, and the ending is strange to me, Cena being the character in a match whose novels are a little excellent, but it is a somewhat satisfying match"