One MIND-BLOWING Secret For Every WWE SummerSlam

12. 2014 | So That’s Why That Happened

brock lesnar john cena summerslam 2014
WWE.com

WWE botched Brock Lesnar’s return. 

His first match against John Cena at Extreme Rules 2012 was violent in such an unprecedented way - for WWE - that a lot of people simply ignored the terrible result. Cena won. That was bizarre. But the match was so great that, weirdly, it didn’t seem to matter. Then Triple H appeared. 

WWE booked a dire trilogy. The methodical, boring matches did little for Lesnar because the idea was for Triple H to generate sympathy through a teased retirement at SummerSlam 2012. This failed dismally, since the match was so badly lacking in emotion. Lesnar won the Steel Cage rubber at Extreme Rules 2013 that nobody remembers because Triple H had to go over at WrestleMania 29. Lesnar needed a reset. WWE went through with that, and how, by having him end the Undertaker’s streak at WrestleMania 30. Vince McMahon seized this platform to put Lesnar all the way over as an invincible mega-heel when booking him to squash John Cena at SummerSlam 2014. This protracted massacre, in which Cena got nothing, was one of the most astonishing WWE matches ever. 

It was a profoundly effective subversion of everything you thought you knew. Cena did not lose. That he got humiliated here was as bold as it gets. The match only begins to make a lick of sense when you learn that, before he went down due to injury, Daniel Bryan was first meant to go 16 minutes without being in the match for a moment. 

Vince probably fell in love with the layout somewhere along the way, and Cena by his own admission never said no to anything. 

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick (Creative Writing BA Hons) is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over a decade of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential UK 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 AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and 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!