Mr. WrestleMania
At WrestleMania XX, John Cena became United States Champion. At WrestleMania 21 he became WWE Champion. At WrestleMania 22 he proved his run was not a fluke, dethroning Triple H. But at WrestleMania 23, John Cena fought what many consider his first real "dream match," stepping into the ring with Shawn Michaels.
Up until this point, Cena had faced a number of high profile opponents. Brock Lesnar, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, John Layfield, and Edge, to name a few. Triple H was his greatest achievement, signalling a changing of the guard. But Shawn Michaels was the first true "greatest of all time" test that John Cena had to step up against. Everyone knew that Cena could win big matches, but could he beat the Showstopper? The Heart Break Kid? Could he beat Mr. WrestleMania at WrestleMania?
The answer was "yes", obviously.
To me, this match was the last test Cena had left. When he beat Big Show he was the next big thing. When he beat JBL he was a main event star. When he beat Triple H he was the new guy on top. But when he beat Shawn Michaels on the biggest stage of them all, the talk changed from "can this guy carry a company?" to "is this guy the next Hulk Hogan?"
