15 WWE superstars snub John Cena when naming their all-time wrestling GOAT after WrestleMania
John Cena may have made history with his WrestleMania 41 win over Cody Rhodes on Sunday but a slew of WWE superstars overlooked the 17-time WWE champion when selecting their wrestling GOAT.
Cena, who is retiring from the ring at the end of the year, beat Rhodes in the main event to break Ric Flair's record world title tally after turning down the dark side for the first time in 22 years and selling his soul to The Rock.
With a new attitude and a surprise bitterness towards the fanbase who have largely cheered him on for two decades, the 48-year-old referred to himself as the greatest of all-time live on Monday Night Raw - just seconds before taking an RKO 'outta nowhere' from long-time rival Randy Orton.
Everyone has an opinion who the best ever to step in between the ropes is and over the course of the WrestleMania festivities, SPORTbible spoke to 15 top WWE superstars and got their answer to the burning question - with plenty of left-field choices thrown up.
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Even though he is once again at the top of the industry whilst also a major Hollywood star, Cena did not get a single mention.
Who is the wrestling GOAT?
Jey Uso: Roman Reigns
“I think the wrestling GOAT is my cousin Roman Reigns, the Tribal Chief. He elevated the old business, elevated the way we work and elevated the way everything is produced - how we do what we do in the ring. He’s the GOAT and he’ll be the GOAT for a minute.”
Xavier Woods: 2 Cold Scorpio
“Why are people surprised every time I say that? Because on all the pictures you see they don’t put 2 Cold Scorpio on, he must not be good? It’s the industry, don’t believe the industry. Spotify is not your friend.”
Kofi Kingston: Shawn Michaels
“He was on all the banners. What we do here, we cover all the bases. That’s a baseball reference for you.”
Big E: Goldberg
“I will go with my personal GOAT who means a lot to me and that answer is Goldberg. He was my favourite wrestler as a kid. He was like a superhero to me. I was a big WCW guy, Goldberg was the man.
“It’s no surprise I grew up to be a big muscular man because as a kid I liked big, jacked dudes like Scott Steiner and Goldberg. I liked the larger than life men and Goldberg was definitely on the top of that list.”
Dominik Mysterio: Liv Morgan
“Why is she not the wrestling goat? She’s the greatest women’s champion of all time. She’s the greatest four-time women’s champion of all time with Raquel (Rodriguez). She’s Saudi champ (WWE women’s Crown Jewel champion).
“She’s the best, are you kidding me? I don’t even know why you’re questioning me."
Liv Morgan: Dominik Mysterio
“Because he’s a smart man on so many levels. One, because he chose me over Rhea Ripley and two, because he is the greatest Intercontinental champion of all time on top of already being the greatest Mysterio of all time.
“He’s in the greatest faction of all time in WWE history and has the hottest girlfriend in the entire world.”
Raquel Rodriguez: Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez
“I would have to say Liv and Raquel, the greatest tag team of all time. First and only four-time tag team champions. Those two women, they just don’t stop. They give it their all. They’re hot, they’re beautiful and they’re strong.”
Stephanie Vaquer: Rey Mysterio
“He’s like the complete superstar. Amazing wrestler, amazing career and an amazing person too. So yeah, Rey Mysterio.”
Lyra Valkyria: Sami Zayn
“I just think he’s the most incredible of all time. He really makes me feel every time I watch him.”
Ludwig Kaiser: Kurt Angle
“To me personally the first guy that comes to me is my father (Axel Dieter Sr) but if we stick to WWE times I would probably say Kurt Angle. His background, making that transition from being such an amazing amateur wrestler, winning that gold and then making the transition to professional wrestling and being so perfect at it. In-ring, just an absolute machine. I would probably say Kurt Angle.”
Maxxine Dupri: Nikki Bella
“I am obsessed with her. She is the definition of beauty and strength. I think time and time again she proves that. Everything she’s done with her life, the business, the hosting. Her aura is so special. I got to meet her a few months ago and when people say never meet your heroes, they’ve never met Nikki Bella because she’s even better in person.”
Shayna Baszler: Meiko Satomura
Zoey Stark: Becky Lynch
"I actually got to work with her and I learned a lot from her. I hope to continue learning from her sometime down the line but she's phenomenal. She knows exactly what she's doing in the ring, outside the ring, character work. She's amazing and I think she''s the GOAT for this generation."
Chelsea Green: Gail Kim
“She is the GOAT. She always wrestled like a man before wrestling like a man was a thing and I love her. I will stay loving Gail Kim.”
Roxanne Perez: AJ Lee
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Topics: WWE, John Cena, Spotlight, WrestleMania, Wrestling, Kurt Angle
Josh Lawless