10 Great Wrestling Matches (That Ruined Everything)

4. John Cena Vs. Brock Lesnar - WWE SummerSlam 2014

Cringe Undertaker Thumb
WWE

This was the pro wrestling equivalent of the Sickos Haha Yes meme.

For years, many, many millennial wrestling fans wanted to see something like this. They wanted to see John Cena lose cleanly and decisively - preferably via degrading humiliation, but that was inconceivable. As long as he lost without some spooky child scaring him more than a grown skilled man ever did, that was more than enough. In an unreal match, those fans pressed their bodies up against the window as Cena was smashed to kingdom come with no reply as a result of a brutal, one-sided barrage of German suplexes. It was a stunning and bold elongated squash enhanced immeasurably by Lesnar's cackling body language.

The Suplex City match layout suffered dire diminishing returns beyond 2014, and with the exception of the odd match against a super-worker Lesnar actually respected, the match was his artless, obnoxious go-to. WWE booked themselves into a corner - why would the prizefighter Lesnar character wrestle in any other way, when he had found the easiest and most efficient means of winning? - and it suited his selective levels of motivation just fine.

Many of the wrestlers Lesnar was programmed with wouldn't have fared particularly well regardless, but countless PPV attractions were so redundant that it was difficult to see what they paid him for.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!