Back in October 2020, I wrote a column for this very site that looked at who can lay the claim to being the greatest performer in WWE history.
Looking at the criteria that would be needed to figure something like that out (titles won, match quality, longevity, what the business was like at their peak, and so on), I made the claim that John Cena was my choice. Here we are, 20 months later, and I stand by my selection. I’m not going to get into that entire discussion again. If you missed that column the first time, here’s a link:
As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Cena’s WWE debut, I’ve been thinking about his career a lot. When he first debuted, I didn’t quite know what to make of him. I had heard of him before he showed up to answer Kurt Angle’s open challenge, but that debut was a mixed bag for me. His performance in the match was impressive, but there was still nothing that screamed out that he was going to be a big star one day. It wasn’t until he began the “The Doctor Of Thuganomics” character that I was able to see anything in him. He’d even tell you the same thing, as this was the first time he was able to truly show any sort of personality.
From there, my fandom grew and grew. Somewhere along the way, John Cena entered the conversation of my all-time favorite pro wrestlers. There’s Ric Flair, Eddie Guerrero, Bryan Danielson, Kazuchika Okada, and John Cena at the top of my list… and the order of those five names changes a lot, depending on my mood. Shit, there might even be days when I cycle some of those names out and replace them with others. If you’ve been reading my columns from the beginning, you would remember that I was writing pro-Cena pieces back in an era when NOBODY was doing that. It wasn’t “cool” to like Cena at the time.
As I’ve mentioned in previous columns, I like to sit and watch random wrestling shows or matches from time-to-time when I’m at home with my daughter and taking a break to eat lunch. Maybe I’ll have a specific wrestler or match in mind, and that’s the direction I’ll head in. Other times, I’ll just scroll through the archives and settle on something. A few days ago, I randomly chose the 2013 Royal Rumble match. For those unaware or who have forgotten, that was the year which saw Cena win his second Rumble, last eliminating Ryback to pick up the victory. When the match was over, I found myself going down the rabbit hole and watching more Cena related things. I watched his debut. After that, I watched his United States Title victory over Big Show at WrestleMania 20, followed by his WWE Title victory over JBL at WrestleMania 21, and then his Chairs Match against Woi Bar-ruh at TLC 2010. As I was travelling down memory lane, covering different phases of the first half of his year, this column started forming in my head.
When this column gets posted, we’ll be five days away from his latest return to WWE programming. It is timed perfectly, because we’ll also be five days away from the 20th anniversary of his WWE debut. That’s 20 years of some insanely high highs, but also some crazy lows. It got me to thinking about all of my favorite John Cena moments. Matches, promos, segments… anything involving Cena on WWE programming. That’s what I want to talk about here. As always, I want to go with FAVORITE moments, not BEST. Entertainment is subjective, so I can swear up and down about something being the best match, but some of you are going to hate it, and vice versa. That’s just how it goes. When it comes to listing my favorite things, it can’t be argued, and it helps to open the door for you to share your favorites, as well. These things will be listed in chronological order.
vs JBL (Judgment Day 2005): This really changed a lot of minds, even of people who were already fans of John Cena. Even with the “rapper” gimmick and the rise to the main event scene, one of the knocks on Cena at this time was that he was more of a “pretty boy” than anything else. For whatever reason, he wasn’t viewed as being “tough” enough by some people, and in the storyline, JBL was one of those people. This was exactly the match that the new WWE Champion needed to put an end to that narrative. An “I Quit” stipulation, Cena bleeding buckets, and a far more aggressive style helped to show the world what he was really capable of. As an added bonus, this match with JBL actually was good. Much, much better than their WrestleMania contest. For an extra added bonus, Cena’s entrance involved a mobile concert setup on the back of a flatbed truck, complete with a live DJ. The setup even came into play during the match itself. This show took place less than two weeks after Cena’s album, You Can’t See Me, was released, so that was a nice addition to his act at the time.
vs Rob Van Dam (ECW One Night Stand 2006): If this isn’t at the top of the list of the most hostile “road game” situations we’ve seen in the last 20 years of pro wrestling, it’s right up there. There were 2,460 fans in attendance that night in the Hammerstein Ballroom, and of those 2,460 fans, you have to believe that 2,460 of them would’ve spit in John Cena’s face if given the opportunity. This is a good match, but the match itself almost takes a backseat to the atmosphere and just how much vitriol was sent in Cena’s direction by the passionate ECW diehards. Even though Cena lost here, you could argue that he was the star of the match because of how calm, cool, and collected he was in the face of such an angry crowd that was out for his blood. The entire show was magical for those of us who were able to grow up with the original ECW and were getting a chance to relive a lot of those moments and memories.
vs Edge (Unforgiven 2006): There are a lot of people out there who feel Edge is John Cena’s greatest rival. While I think that title goes to Randy Orton, I will say that Edge is, at the very least, in the top five of that conversation. The promos and the matches between Cena and Edge were almost always on point. This match had an added level of drama with the TLC stipulation attached to it. The story going in here was that Edge had all the momentum on his side. He won the WWE Title in July 2006, and even though Rob Van Dam was the person who got pinned, Cena was in the match. The following month, Edge successfully defended the WWE Title against Cena at SummerSlam, which took place in Cena’s hometown of Boston. Then, we head to Unforgiven. Not only is it a TLC Match… Edge’s specialty… but the show is in Toronto… Edge’s hometown. Even with as much as Cena wins, he is clearly viewed as the underdog here. While we’re talking about Edge’s hometown, that reminds me of my favorite part of the match. Edge was on record saying that one of his biggest dreams as a lifelong fan of pro wrestling was that, one day, he would be announced as the WWF Champion in Toronto. Fast forward all those years, and you have the pre-match introductions here. As Edge is announced as the WWE Champion… in Toronto… he is clearly overcome with emotion. Tears are filling his eyes and he is doing everything he possibly can to keep his lip from quivering. It’s a great moment to witness. As for the match itself, it’s another in a long line of performances in this era where Cena had to deal with hostile crowd reactions. He seemed to do some of his best work in those situations, though.
vs Umaga (Royal Rumble 2007): Nobody knew what to expect here. Umaga was such a talented “big man” performer, but he didn’t exactly have a lengthy history of having long, main event matches. The Last Man Standing stipulation was the key factor here. As much as I enjoy the work of both men, I’m not sure Cena vs Umaga in a straight up singles match would be included on this list. Until this point, Cena had spent his career largely in the role of the wrestler who could be “led” in his matches by veterans and/or wrestlers higher up the card than he was. This was one of the first major spotlight matches where Cena was the one who got to “lead” an opponent. This was such a fun brawl, complete with a super creative finish that helped to make both men look strong.
vs Shawn Michaels (Monday Night Raw – April 23rd, 2007): One of my favorite styles of matches are the ones that end up lasting a lot longer than we’re expecting them to. Obviously, that doesn’t always mean great quality is going to happen, but it’s a lot of fun when it does. It’s usually a television match, and it’ll be something where you’re thinking a match will last in the 10-15 minute mark, but before you know it, the match ends at around 25-30 minutes. Take that formula and double it here. Three weeks prior to this, Cena and Michaels main evented WrestleMania 23, and that match clocked in at 28:21. Makes sense. When we found out we were getting this rematch on Raw, there was two predictions that everyone was making. It was either going to feature some shenaniganery that would lead to not actually having a match, or it was going to be something in the vicinity of the Mania match, but with a good chunk of the match taking place during commercial breaks. Ten minutes went by, and then ten more minutes went by. Then ten more minutes. The next thing you knew, ten more had gone by, and we were over the 40-minute mark. By the time it ended at the 55:49 mark, everyone was exhausted. This was another “prove it” performance by Cena, showing that he could hang with one of the greatest in-ring performers in the history of the business for nearly an hour.
Royal Rumble Return (Royal Rumble 2008): John Cena graduated from Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts with a degree in Exercise Physiology. The description of an Exercise Physiologist is people who are the “highest qualified exercise professionals and utilize education, lifestyle intervention and specific forms of exercise to rehabilitate and manage acute and chronic injuries and conditions.” If there was ever someone who would know how to return from a major injury quicker than anyone thought was possible, it would be John Cena, the Exercise Physiologist. When Cena tore his pectoral muscle in October 2007, the best case scenario for his return was discussed at being six months away, but more than likely, it would be longer until he’d be able to come back. You do the math there. In the best case scenario, he would be the luckiest guy in the world if he were able to return for WrestleMania 24 on March 30, almost six months to the day from when he suffered the injury. So, there we were, enjoying the 2008 Royal Rumble. It was January 27th, 2008. The ten-second countdown hits and we’re waiting to see who the 30th, and final, entrant in the Rumble match would be. When the countdown ended, John Cena’s music hit, and I lost my mind. I certainly wasn’t alone, as the crowd in Madison Square Garden that night exploded. It was less than four months since he had gotten injured, and Cena had returned. Fun, fun stuff.
DMX’s “Prayer III” Video Package (WrestleMania 27): WWE’s Production Team earned their money at WrestleMania 27. This video package was one of the best that WWE has ever produced, and that is a long and extensive list. Then, for the SAME MATCH, we got a video package for The Miz that set to “Hate Me Now” by Nas and Puff Daddy, which is also one of the best that the company has ever produced. Since this is a John Cena column, let’s focus on Cena’s video package. DMX’s “Prayer III” focuses on the rapper thanking God for being given the fame that he has, not because of the money and the adoration that comes with it, but because of the fact that he can use that fame to reach out to the youth of the world and influence them, showing them the way to live. As DMX’s powerful words are heard, you’re watching a video package of the work that John Cena has done with children, and how he, too, has been able to use his fame to influence countless youth around the world and show them the way to live. If you have never watched WrestleMania 27, don’t. As a whole, it was one of the worst Mania events out there. However, please go out of your way to watch both video packages involved in the main event. Incredible pieces of work.
vs CM Punk (Money In The Bank 2011): What more can be said about this one? Whether you love this match or not, it is one of the most talked-about and dissected matches of the last couple decades. Just like One Night Stand 2006 and Unforgiven 2006, this is one of the most hostile environments that John Cena has ever performed in. That crowd in Chicago HATED John Cena and every single thing he stood for, and we all know how much Chicago loves them some CM Punk. About an electric an atmosphere as you’re going to see for a wrestling match these days. If you’re looking for pure match quality, I think Cena and Punk’s match (the infamous match where Punk busted out a long-banned Piledriver) on the February 25th, 2013 episode of Monday Night Raw was better than this one, but goodness gracious, that atmosphere at Money In The Bank… just incredible.
vs Rey Mysterio (Monday Night Raw – July 25th, 2011): It isn’t exactly a big secret that Cena is one of the strongest competitors to ever step foot in a wrestling ring. The list of “giants” that he has been able to pick up and throw around is extensive. In my opinion, though, a very underrated “genre” of John Cena matches is when he is physically larger than his opponent. He’s super muscular, but at a listed height and weight of 6’1″ and 251 pounds, he’s not huge for a pro wrestler. Because of that, he often finds himself in matches against opponents that are taller and/or heavier than he is. Matches against people like Rey Mysterio REALLY allow him to show off his power, and he often worked more of a “bully” style because of that. This match was happening because CM Punk, the brand new WWE Champion, had “walked out” on the company, so a new champion needed to be crowned. In the opening match of this episode, Mysterio defeated The Miz in the final match of a mini-tournament to become the new champ. Later in the show, it was announced that Mysterio would defend against Cena in the night’s main event. That match ended up being a lot of fun. As I said, Cena was able to use a more physical style, really showcasing his power game and letting Rey bump around like a pinball. This is a really underrated match in Cena’s catalog because it largely gets forgotten due to the post-match antics, with Punk returning to the company and debuting (in WWE, at least) “Cult Of Personality” as his entrance music.
WrestleMania Hype with The Rock (Months Leading Up To WrestleMania 28): I freely admit to being one of the biggest John Cena fans around, but I will also freely admit that he has a lot of hokey and corny promos in his career. There is a lot of overacting, jokes that don’t connect, and just a general silliness that would come along with him on the mic. At the same time, there is nobody… NOBODY… in the history of pro wrestling that has been able to step up in a big-time situation more than Cena when it comes to promos. When he needs to be “on” in a feud, he is ON in a feud. Heading into WrestleMania 28, Cena knew he had to be “on” during his feud with The Rock. It was one of the biggest box office matches ever, and above all else, it was personal. After years and years, The Rock was famous for his promo skills and what he was able to do on the mic. This feud saw John Cena do what wrestling fans didn’t think was possible. He made The Rock look human. Look, I love The Rock. He’s my cousin. He was still rattled in their back-and-forth promo battles. Multiple times. He rambled on and on. Multiple times. He was bordering on being unable to control his emotions. Multiple times. Cena was a monster in those promos, never letting the situation get too big for him.
vs The Rock (WrestleMania 28): I’m not sure if anyone thought the match would be an all-time classic. You knew it would be a fantastic atmosphere, and you knew it would fit easily into the “WWE style” of main events. It certainly checked both of those boxes, and quite easily. Both men performed really well, especially Rock, who was working his first singles match in nine years. Going in, it was being billed as, perhaps, the biggest match in WWE history. It was definitely a big, big, big match, and I think it largely lived up to the hype. Maybe the only gripe I had with the match was the length of it. It clocked in at 30:33, and you could see every second of that in Rock’s performance by the end. He was exhausted. Not only was this, as I mentioned, his first singles match in nine years, but if I recall correctly, it was the second-longest singles match of his career, behind only his Ironman Match against Triple H at Judgment Day 2000. I understand the need and the desire for an epic WrestleMania main event, but I think the match would’ve been a lot better if it clocked in somewhere in the 17-20 minute mark, and maybe 22-25 minutes at the very most.
vs Brock Lesnar (Extreme Rules 2012): Fresh off of a loss in what he repeatedly called the biggest match in his career, and one that he “needed” to win, Cena’s reward was a feud with a returning Brock Lesnar. I didn’t quite know what to expect here, as Brock was fresh off of a pretty successful post-WWE career after leaving the company in the days following WrestleMania 20. It didn’t take long to see that this was going to be a very different Brock Lesnar than we saw in the past. A bigger, stronger, faster, meaner Brock Lesnar. Sorry, John. This was the birth of YOLO Lesnar, and the beginning of the era where, win or lose, you had to survive Brock Lesnar to make it through a match with him. He was becoming a mix between a video game final boss and a horror movie villain. Again… sorry, John.
vs Alberto Del Rio (Monday Night Raw – December 24th, 2012): If you’ve been a viewer of WWE for a while, you know they like to be silly during holiday-themed shows. Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and so on. You’ll usually get a lot of relaxed storytelling on those shows. The main story of this Raw episode was that Alberto Del Rio, who was always driving his fancy cars to the entrance area, hit Santa Claus with his car this time around. Was Santa okay? Would he die? Were we still going to have a Christmas? As a bunch of WWE Superstars gathered around the trainer’s room backstage, a somber Booker T emerged from the room and said that it didn’t look good for Santa, but that Santa was able to muster enough energy to book Del Rio in a “Miracle On 34th Street Fight” against John Cena. I still laugh thinking about Booker telling Cena to “do it for Santa” which was followed by “Santa” chants from everyone, followed by Cena screaming out “FOR SANTAAAAA!!!” as Booker stared at him with his eyes bugging out of his head. Stupid comedy, but that was the point. The match itself was more of that stupid comedy, including using Christmas presents as weapons, and yes, Cena doing it for Santa. Not all of your wrestling intake needs to be SUPER CEREAL, as famed philosopher Albert Arnold Gore Jr. likes to say, and this proves that for me.
Miz TV with Daniel Bryan (Monday Night Raw – August 12th, 2013): Leading up to SummerSlam, there was a lot of “playing nice” between John Cena and Daniel Bryan. They’re two face characters that have teamed up and worked together in the past. Makes sense. This Miz TV segment is when the claws really began to come out, though. We got a good, passionate promo out of Daniel Bryan, saying what a lot of people felt… Cena was a “parody” of professional wrestling, and that he (Bryan) wanted to be the WWE Champion because it was the true signal to the world that nobody was better than he was. Cena’s response was that there was a long, long list of wrestlers through the years to share a similar opinion than what DB had… and every single one of those wrestlers lost to him along the way. Things quickly got intense between the two, all while The Miz stood on in the background, smirking and enjoying the shots sent back and forth. It was everything the feud needed to become to set up their big title match at SummerSlam. Cena once again got to show how strong a promo he is when he’s feeling it.
vs Daniel Bryan (SummerSlam 2013): This was in the early stages of what I like to say is the “second act” of John Cena’s career. He was one type of wrestler for the first half of his career, generally working against a particular type of opponent. The “second act” is when things changed, and he started working against an entirely different type of opponent. This is when he started wrestling “indie darlings” more and more often. I was so hyped for this, and it more than lived up to that hype. It became one of my all-time favorite matches, and it remains on that list, nearly a decade later. This was as close to Bryan Danielson as we ever saw from Daniel Bryan. That’s obviously not a knock on everything else he did in WWE, but this was on a different level. Cena, to his eternal credit, was able to change his style and keep up with the independent wrestling style. He was able to add a lot more moves to his arsenal, and he was also able to use more of the “bully” style that I mentioned before.
Kevin Owens Match Trilogy (Elimination Chamber 2015, Money In The Bank 2015 & Battleground 2015): As someone who was brand new to the main roster, Kevin Owens had a lot to prove, immediately being placed in a feud with Cena. On the other hand, Cena himself still had a lot to prove. It didn’t matter how many good matches he had, or who he had those good matches with… there was always the talk that he was not only a “poor” wrestler, but that he was getting up there in age, too. Owens, to his credit, came out of the gates sprinting. His “debut” match at Elimination Chamber was about as good as it gets, everything considered. He was able to take it to Cena, deliver a Match Of The Year candidate, and actually pick up the clean win. Honestly, the fact that Cena won the next two matches didn’t even matter. By that point, Owens had planted his flag in the ground and showed the WWE Universe that he was here to stay. He has proven that time and time again in the years since. As for Cena, he continued that “second act” renaissance, continuing to turn back the clock and deliver classic after classic against younger, supposedly hungrier opponents.
vs Cesaro (Monday Night Raw – July 6th, 2015): Let’s go ahead and continue that “second act” talk. The “U.S. Open Challenge” was some of Cena’s best work. Putting the United States Title on the line and facing challenger after challenger that he could help elevate, and that could help bring out the best in him, was great writing. This was 30 minutes of back-and-forth power. Pure, unleashed power. I’m not going to say that John Cena modeled his “second act” in-ring work after Cesaro, but Cesaro’s beautiful combination of power and technical prowess really matched up with what Cena was trying to do in these days. Poor Cesaro, though. This was yet another time where he proved he could work in the main event scene, but he wouldn’t get a one-on-one shot at a World Title until 2021, when he took Roman Reigns to the limit but was eventually unsuccessful in winning the Universal Title at WrestleMania Backlash.
AJ Styles Match Trilogy (Money In The Bank 2016, SummerSlam 2016 & Royal Rumble 2017): I’m starting to sense a theme here. AJ was one of the hottest acts in the business, making his WWE debut in the 2016 Royal Rumble match and moving his way into the main event scene pretty quickly. A heel turn helped him to start this feud, and it gave these matches more of an edge. Not that they really needed that edge. Cena was already on fire when it came to these matches with the “indie darling” wrestlers, and there’s an argument to be made that AJ is a better in-ring performer than all of the names that came before him. In my opinion, each of these matches got better than the one before it. AJ seemed to wrestle with a chip on his shoulder, seemingly desperate to go out there and deliver classics with one of the biggest stars in the sport’s great history. The Royal Rumble bout is famous for being the match where Cena won his 16th World Title, tying him with Ric Flair for most WWE-recognized World Title victories. Five-and-a-half years later, he’s still tied with Flair and probably running out of time to break the record.
Contract Signing with Roman Reigns (Monday Night Raw – August 28th, 2017): Much like I mentioned with Cena’s promo battles against The Rock, it was clear as day that Cena had Roman Reigns rattled here. Roman’s cool demeanor went right out the window pretty quickly, and he was definitely getting angry at the shots Cena was taking at him. Then, Roman stumbled over his lines and forgot what he was going to say. Like a killing machine, Cena pounced immediately with the “Go ahead. Find it. Go ahead. I’ll wait.” lines, followed by telling Roman that he needed to learn how to do a promo if he was ever going to be the “Big Dog,” which brought out an angry “Shut your mouth, John” as a response. Very tense moments here, but Cena thrives on that. Yet again, he refused to let his emotions get the best of him.
Money In The Bank Return (Money In The Bank 2021): After Roman Reigns had successfully defended the Universal Title against Edge in the show’s main event, he stood in the ring, proud of his accomplishments. Then, “The Time Is Now” hit, and the roof on the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas came unglued. It might have been the loudest, longest, universally positive face pop of Cena’s entire career, which is really saying something. On commentary, Michael Cole and Pat McAfee did a tremendous job of making the return seem like a huge deal. They acted like it was Cena’s first appearance in years, when in actuality, it was a little under a year-and-a-half since he last appeared on WWE television in front of fans. One of my all-time favorite returns in wrestling history. Easily.
Charity Work: We’ll close things out with a bonus that is also a technicality. This is supposed to be a list of moments from WWE programming, and while Cena’s charity work isn’t a direct relation to WWE programming, Lord knows they’ve mentioned it on television a ton through the years. The man is closing in on granting 700 wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He already holds the record for most wishes granted by a single person, and that record will probably never be broken. The time and the effort he puts into charity work, usually involving children, is mind blowing. For years, wrestling fans wondered why WWE simply couldn’t turn John Cena heel, even for a brief period of time. As we’ve all gotten a little older and wiser, the answer was there the entire time. They couldn’t turn him heel. Him being the John Cena we saw on television every week, with the “Never Give Up” and the “Rise Above Hate” and all of the catchphrases, was bigger than just pro wrestling. There was never any other option, and the world is better off because of it.
A list of 20 moments that covered Cena’s 20 years made sense, but I simply could not ignore his most important outside-the-ring work. Forgive me, please.
Your turn, ReaderLand. What are some of your favorite moments of John Cena’s 20 year WWE career? They can be things I mentioned here, or they can be other things that I didn’t talk about. I’m really interested to see some of these answers. As always, hit me up in the comments section below, or on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), and let me know what’s on your mind.
Weekly Power Rankings
- Roman Reigns vs Riddle: Because they have him appear so infrequently, WWE has made it a really big deal when Roman Reigns shows up and defends his titles. This was originally rumored to be the Money In The Bank main event, but that was before Randy Orton was put on the shelf with an injury, causing plans to change. This was a lot of fun, even if people are probably just hoping against hope that WWE would actually end Roman’s epic title reign on television.
- Jurassic Express vs The Young Bucks: The rumor is that the Hardy brothers were scheduled to win this match to become the new AEW Tag Team Champions, but Jeff Hardy’s legal issues put an end to that. Looks like AEW was just ready to get the titles off of Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus in one way or another, and we saw why with what happened after the match (more on that in a bit). Every bit the wild spotfest it was expected to be.
- Dax Harwood vs Will Ospreay: After having Ospreay on the losing end of his AEW debut match, you had to know he would win his second one. I mean, I guess you could assume that anything is possible, since there was no reason he should’ve been booked to lose his first match to begin with, but hey… what are you gonna do? Even in a loss, Dax Harwood continues to be on fire these days. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say that he was being primed for a big singles push or something.
- Christian Cage: Fans have been waiting for Christian to turn heel on Jurassic Express since the Jurassic Era. After waiting for generation after generation after generation, it finally happened. Now, maybe… maybe… AEW can actually do something interesting with Christian. People were starting to forget he was even on the roster.
- Wes Lee: I love, love, love the emotion shown in his promo on NXT. Love it. It seemed very genuine, and he did a great job of putting the promo together. However, I do have one beef with the whole thing. Obviously, he’s not going to mention that his tag partner was fired for acting like Hitler in a photograph that went viral. We know that. The problem with not being able to say that is that Wes Lee, the character, looks dumb for acting like he had his professional world turned upside down for no reason. There was no conspiracy. The reason why it happened was made public. There’s no reason to even bring any of that up in promos. Lee can still be a major player in NXT moving forward, though. Don’t be surprised if he’s competing for singles titles before too long.
- Asuka vs Becky Lynch: I’m pretty sure we’ve seen this match 1500 times now, but at least the matches are good. It could be Omos vs Commander Azeez 1500 times, so count your blessings, I guess.
- Carmelo Hayes vs Tony D’Angelo: Tony D’s stable has been cursed. He brings in two goons, only to see one of them fail a drug test and get fired almost immediately. Then, he reportedly gets injured at a house show. Of course, we haven’t seen any of that on television, because the last two weeks of NXT have been pre-taped. He’s still improving a ton in the ring, so I’m hoping he’s either not injured or not injured too badly.
- Ortiz vs Chris Jericho: Did anybody honestly think there was a chance in hell that Jericho was going to have his head shaved? Yeah, I didn’t think so. The match was a good one, but it was hurt by the complete lack of mystery as to the outcome.
- Bobby Lashley vs Chad Gable, Otis & Theory: WWE looks to have booked themselves into another weird corner here. They had Theory win the United States Title, only to put him in a feud with Bobby Lashley, and then seemingly set up another feud with John Cena. You have to assume that Lashley is going to beat Theory for the title, with the thinking being that you don’t want/need the title involved in a potential SummerSlam match between Theory and Cena. You know… you could just… not… do that. Theory could’ve just won the title after SummerSlam. Weird booking decisions.
- Brock Lesnar: Hey, speaking of weird booking decisions, are you guys ready for YET ANOTHER pay-per-view match between Lesnar and Roman Reigns? This is another one of those situations that shows how little the “internet fan” means in the grand scheme of things, because that’s where you’re seeing a lot of hate for this decision, and yet… look at the pops Lesnar gets when he shows up. My problem is that Reigns has already beaten Lesnar twice during his current title reign, and has beaten Lesnar three consecutive times overall. That means either Brock is losing to Roman yet again at SummerSlam, or he’s finally going to beat him, in which case WHAT WAS THE FUCKING POINT OF ANYTHING OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS?!?
This Week’s Playlist: “The Highs & The Lows” by Chance The Rapper & Joey Bada$$… “Tetris” by Logic… “In my lifetime” by Logic & Action Bronson… “Therapy Music” by Logic & Russ… “I AIN’T WORRIED BOUT IT” by Duke Deuce… “BLOOD SWEAT & TEARS” by Duke Deuce… “Heartache” by From Ashes to New… “Empire” by Memoremains… “The Time Is Now” by John Cena & Tha Trademarc… “Right Now” by John Cena & Tha Trademarc… “Just Another Day” by John Cena & Tha Trademarc… “Bad, Bad Man” by John Cena, Bumpy Knuckles & Tha Trademarc… “If It All Ended Tomorrow” by John Cena & Tha Trademarc… “Sweet Love” by Anita Baker… “Caught Up In The Rapture” by Anita Baker… “Angel” by Anita Baker… “Giving You The Best That I Got” by Anita Baker… “You Got It All” by The Jets… “River” by Bishop Briggs… “Wake Me Up (When This Nightmare’s Over)” by Simple Plan… “Sending My Love” by Chloe x Halle… “Truth About You” by Mitchell Tenpenny… “Glimpse Of Us” by Joji… “Pass The Dutchie” by Musical Youth… “The Dress” by Dijon