10 Ups And 8 Downs From WWE SummerSlam 2016

2. A Star-Making Victory

During their phenomenal match that had fans on their feet, AJ Styles and John Cena continuous teed off on each other and made you wonder: Was this going to be another match where Cena takes his opponent’s best shots, kicks out and then wins with a simple Attitude Adjustment?

We’ve seen it multiple times in the past, with Cena absorbing punishment in a very good match, but ultimately kicking out of multiple finishers to win yet again. And that’s fine to some extent, but you’d be forgiven if you were left wondering when he’d really put an opponent over.

We got that Sunday night, when Cena made Styles. Yes, AJ already is an international star with a great reputation, but on Sunday, he beat a more-than-game Cena, trading move-for-move with the WWE legend.

There were a lot of great moments in the match, but probably the best counter sequence came when Cena sidestepped AJ’s Phenomenal Forearm attempt and slapped on an STF, which Styles reversed to a crossface, which Cena powered into an AA, which AJ rolled through into a Calf Crusher, which Cena turned back into an STF… which Styles then turned into a pin attempt.

At the end, Cena delivered a Super AA from the middle rope, only for AJ to kick out and Cena to stare in disbelief. A couple minutes later, Cena was looking at the lights for a three count in an incredible match. Kudos all-around.