WWE Summerslam 2014: Why Cena vs Lesnar will always be a must-watch rivalry
There are not many superstars who can make Cena look like a shadow of his invincible self. John Cena has been the official face of the WWE for the past 10 years. That means he has been the marquee guy and the most marketable guy in the wrestling industry for that long. Every young, up and coming superstar who gets to face John Cena get to live the meaning of the saying “Don’t fly too close to the sun” otherwise they will get burnt. Over the 10 years of his supremacy only a few have been able to fly too near his ever-shining status. Two of them are CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. While CM Punk and Cena’s rivalry can be considered the best of this era which might have had a premature end, Bryan’s rise to superstardom took a whole new level when he actually beat Cena clean at last year’s Summerslam.
But Brock Lesnar is different from all of them. He does not need to defeat Cena clean to actually prove his worth and importance to the WWE and that is why Brock Lesnar will always be a great nemesis for Cena.
Two Different Journeys
Brock Lesnar came at a time when the WWE management and the fans were getting ready to say their goodbyes to Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. He came at a time when Hulk Hogan lifting Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania 3 was the closest anybody had ever come to picking up a giant. He also came at a time when John cena was just beginning to make his mark as superstar in the WWE.
Lesnar and Cena are both the same age and they started out in OVW (which was like NXT a decade back) and both of them debuted in 2002. But both of them had a different journey. Cena faced Kurt Angle and lost but he did not go down without a fight. Lesnar, on the other hand, went on to win the King of The Ring tournament. Lesnar stayed in the WWE for 2 years only but in those 2 years he had dominated almost everybody on the roster and became one of the most popular stars ever, main evented Wrestlemania and cemented his position from “The Next Big Thing” to “The Beast Incarnate”.
Been There, Done That
While Lesnar was obviously the star of the moment, Cena had turned heel taken up a new gimmick of a rapper and his promos were always spoken in the form of rhymes and was clearly no match to the growing presence of Lesnar.
They did have a feud during which Cena named his finishing move as ‘FU’. This was clearly supposed to be a variant of Brock Lesnar’s ‘F-5’. Of course, the ‘FU’ adjusted to WWE’s change in business model of programming to PG-13 and became known as the ‘Attitude Adjustment’.
But the Doctor of Thuganomics was never at par with Lesnar. And this little history they have can’t be deleted and it is there for all to see online.
A Must-Watch Rivalry
It is because of this indelible mark of domination that makes Lesnar an opponent whom Cena will have a tough time dominating with his infamous five moves of doom. And in all seriousness, this is a match where Cena will always look like the underdog, even though there is a strong chance he’ll come out of it the winner. That is because Lesnar’s presence far outgrows Cena’s legacy.
And anybody who pays their money and spends time to watch this match will be expecting Lesnar to bring a fight. And he isn’t someone who can be ticked down as another one who bit the dust against SuperCena. He’s beaten the Undertaker at Wrestlemania. That alone brings the unpredictability of the result for this match.
Lesnar might as well become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. And maybe, John Cena will be unanimously cheered towards the end of the match.