5 ways Brock Lesnar squashing John Cena changed WWE
August 17, 2014.
The date that has now been etched into every pro-wrestling fan's memory as being one of the most important moments in WWE history. On this night, something happened that ended up changing the company in more ways than one. Something that is now regarded by many as an incredibly impactful incident that changed our perception on a lot of things.
The main event of SummerSlam 2014 pitted former rivals John Cena and Brock Lesnar against each other for Cena's WWE World title. The WWE Universe came in expecting a hard-fought battle, with both Superstars delivering another classic brawl, much like their past encounters.
Instead, Brock Lesnar hit Cena with a whopping 16 German Suplexes and 2 F-5s, and completely squashed him to win the match and the title. Today, this historic moment turns 5 years old, so let's dive down memory lane and look at five ways it changed WWE.
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#5 The German Suplex suddenly became one of the most destructive moves in WWE
The German Suplex had been previously used effectively by several Superstars, including Brock Lesnar, but this was the night it turned into one of the most dangerous moves in WWE history. The match saw Lesnar hit Cena with German Suplexes one after the other. Cena was thrown on his back a total 16 times! Couple this with two thunderous F-5s, and Cena was done at this point, enabling Lesnar to pin him with ease and win the belt.
The consistent use of the move by Lesnar soon resulted in WWE coming up with the moniker of "Suplex City", with his WrestleMania 31 bout against Roman Reigns being responsible for the coining of the term. They made sure they didn't forget to promote it with "Suplex City" merchandise. As time passed, Lesnar began using the move on a regular basis, and it helped him bag a long list of victories in the coming years.