WWE Summerslam: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - John Cena (c) VS Brock Lesnar

[The Brain]

We've heard the rumors for weeks and now it's official. John Cena will defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. I'm really curious to see how this match goes. Last time these two met up at Extreme Rules in 2012 it was a brutal fight very different from the usual WWE style. Will this match be different? Are we going to see a more traditional WWE style match?

The big question is who is going to win. You would assume Cena would since he is full time and Lesnar shows up for only a few weeks at a time two or three times a year. Would WWE put the title on Lesnar? The dirt sheets say yes but their track record isn't exactly glowing. Either way we've got a big main event for SummerSlam. Thoughts and predictions?

 

[Richard Blonoff]

They put the title on The Rock, so I wouldn't be surprised if they gave Lesnar a run with the belt. I know that The Rock is a bigger draw than Lesnar and that Cena eventually beating Rocky was the culmination of Cena's year long redemption story, but I honestly think that they use Lesnar almost as a transitional champion to put the belt on one of the WWE's up and comers like Reigns, that way you don't have a face/face match with Cena/Reigns and people can't complain about a win in a triple threat or fatal four way.

If Cena does go over I think they will have Rollins cash in. I just don't envision Cena walking out of SummerSlam as the champion, the Authority need a win eventually if they are to be taken seriously.

 

[XXJJ]

I think Brock will win. I can't see him ending the streak and then losing in his next match. Brock will headline WM as the champion.

It was a really smart move by Vince having Lesnar end the streak. Taker is broken down, way more money in Lesnar in the next couple of years for the WWE than Taker.

 

[Slash-LN]

It's probably going to be the least interested match on the card for me.
I don't care for Brock and Cena is one of those guys that while I respect what he's done in and out of the ring I wouldn't call myself a "fan" of him. I don't think he deserves all the hate that he gets.
Lesnar will probably win and if he does that's fine. If Cena wins that's fine too.

Based on the reaction Lesnar got on Raw it seems more people will probably want him to win over Cena. He and Heyman will probably have to work hard to change that.

 

[Pedigree1]

The much speculated match has finally happened.. Brock will indeed go against John Cena for the WWE WHC.. I for one,am glad this is happening.. The last time these two fought,it was ER 2012,and it was just a brutal fight.. Much different than the typical WWE style of bout,and Cena proved a lot that night.. He can fight just as dirty and ruthless as Brock can..

As to what style,its really anyones guess.. I say it will be a mixture of both traditional and non-traditional,as Brock really knows how to fight one way.. Brock is just a mean,physical specimen.. I can see them putting the title on Brock,true he is not as big as a draw as the Rock is,but Brock equals money.. And the Network subscription for those who signed up at WM,is due up so having Brock win the title makes sense..

Brock is only here for a few weeks at a time,we all know that.. To have people re-up their subscription the night after Summerslam to see the eventual rematch between these two at NOC,makes sense.. Then Cena regains his title IMO!

 

[Notorious718]

I guess many of us saw this coming. This pretty much confirms that the Battleground main event, while better than I expected it to be, was just filler in anticipation for this match. As for a winner? Honestly, I wouldn't be shocked if Brock Lesnar won it. I think many of us are calling it too. Being a part timer aside, Cena went over Lesnar last year. If they decide to have a series, I could easily see Lesnar going over and there being a rubber match later down the line.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

It's probably going to be the least interested match on the card for me.
I don't care for Brock and Cena is one of those guys that while I respect what he's done in and out of the ring I wouldn't call myself a "fan" of him. I don't think he deserves all the hate that he gets.
Lesnar will probably win and if he does that's fine. If Cena wins that's fine too.

Based on the reaction Lesnar got on Raw it seems more people will probably want him to win over Cena. He and Heyman will probably have to work hard to change that.

Why? WWE clearly understands the crowd psychology behind Cena. They don't want a 100% Cena crowd. They want the dueling chants. That's more interesting. Heyman and Lesnar will rile up the Cena haters and lovers alike and the match will be intense.


I'm very interested in this. I'm guessing Lesnar wins. Not sure how they book him as champion but the supposed dirt sheet reported schedule he'll have. The match should be fun as well. They have decent chemistry. Lesnar will beat the shit out of Cena and Cena will get physical back.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Lesnar should win the title at Mania as it completes his story. He began the year talking about the title being the only thing left and after being left off of the title match at Mania he had to go for the next best thing with the streak. Now that he's back having ended the streak it would look really weak if he doesn't win the title. The big question than becomes how long does he hold onto the title and how many times will he be appearing on Raw and at PPVs? Supposedly he skipped out on Extreme Rules to be around for Night of Champions. If that's the case he can dominate in the next two months and than step away for a month or so as long as he returns for Survivor Series. If he can be utilized around Survivor Series and the Rumble, I think WWE can pull off Brock as champ from SummerSlam till Mania if they can get him to commit to the events I listed above.

 

[laodaron]

If you go back and watch Battleground, the loudest chants during the entire night are the "Let's go Cena, Cena sucks!" chants. As every superstar will tell you, they don't care WHAT the crowd is screaming, as long as they're screaming. A silent crowd is when you get nervous.

Cena and Lesnar are easily the two most over wrestlers on the roster. Lesnar can draw the heat from beating the Undertaker, and Cena will always have the loudest crowd reaction. This match will be intense. But, it will also probably last too long. More than about 8-12 minutes of a bruiserfest like this starts to get boring. I'd rather 8-12 minutes of hard hitting intense action than 25 minutes that includes rest holds, rest spots on the mat outside the ring, etc.

Lesnar wins the gold at Summerslam and drops it at Night of Champions.

 

[JJV]

Triple H had cut a promo on Raw about everyone bitching on the internet, which I think a lot of people should watch. Brock vs Cena is gonna be awesome. The last time they fought it was a MOTY candidate. Whilst Cena winning probably wasn't the right choice, it was an awesome match. Then there are some who are bitching about Jericho defeating Wyatt. What is wrong with people? If you don't like WWE, don't watch. Stop acting like you don't give a damn just to tune in every week

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Since Brock Lesnar, according to reports anyway, is set to appear at Night of Champions as well, there's a strong possibility that he walks out of SummerSlam with the title. Since Lesnar's return a few years ago, one of the handful of ppvs he's worked has been Extreme Rules, except for this year. WWE decided to put off his appearance at ER and reschedule it for the August & September ppvs to coincide with subscription renewals for the WWE Network. Brock Lesnar's a big draw and the notion of him being in a WWE World Heavyweight Championship feud at this time is being used as an enticement to encourage subscription renewals and new subscribers. WWE is going the route of portraying this match as the greatest WWE Champion in history, as John Cena has been referred to several times by Michael Cole on commentary, vs. the most dominant monster in the history of WWE, as Brock Lesnar has been referred to by Michael Cole. As a result, I expect they'll be stacking the cards of both ppvs and try to deliver something as close to a WrestleMania type of feeling as they possibly can.

It's been 2 years since their only match at Extreme Rules and, because of that, John Cena is the only guy Lesnar has faced since his return he ultimately hasn't gotten the better of. We've seen him come out on top in feuds against Triple H, CM Punk, Mark Henry, The Big Show and The Undertaker. Because of that, I don't see him losing to Cena at SummerSlam; I simply don't see WWE having Brock Lesnar go 0-2 against John Cena. I feel he'll walk out as champion, John Cena will get his rematch at Night of Champions and Lesnar will drop the strap back to him so that Cena will be "officially" tied with Ric Flair for the most World Championship wins in pro wrestling history.

However, I could see some sort of multiple man match for NOC like a triple threat or fatal fourway in which Lesnar winds up dropping the title without necessarily having to be the one who loses. The, of course, there's Seth Rollins waiting like a snake in the weeds with his MITB briefcase ready to cash in at any given moment. At any rate, Lesnar will almost certainly be dropping the title at NOC and then he'll disappear again until it's time for the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Well, this certainly wasn't a shock but the reaction from the crowd for Lesnar's return shows that the fans do want it. I really doubt we'll see John Cena leaving SummerSlam with the WWE World Heavyweight Title, which is fine by me.

WWE let Brock Lesnar be the guy to end the Undertaker's legendary WrestleMania streak, there is no logical reason why that would be have booked unless they had big plans for Lesnar- this is his first since beating The Deadman and it would in stupid to have Brock do the job to Cena.

I fully believe that Cena is only a transitional champion, being the guy to win the vacant title at MITB to drop it to Lesnar, instead of giving up-and-comers like Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt etc a 1 month title run, then damage their credibility by feeding them to The Beast. Cena's established enough to be unaffected by the short title reign.

I'd hope this will be a hard-hitting violent match, but the result isn't really in doubt for me. Brock Lesnar will almost certainly be leaving as the NEW WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

The only other outcome is Cena JUST managing to defeat Lesnar, but Seth Rollins comes down and cashes in on Superman, becoming the new Champion. Then Rollins can continue his feud with Dean Ambrose (and Roman Reigns) but this time for the title- we can see a 3 way ex-Shield members title match, with Lesnar and Cena having a non-title rematch then rubber match over the next few months. I don't think WWE will go this route though, it will be Lesnar winning.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

If Lesnar loses then what was the point of him ending The Streak? To further show how unstoppable Cena is? Not a chance. It was done with the purpose of Lesnar facing somebody new next year and putting them over at Mania. Lesnar wins and then holds the title for a few months. Maybe he vanishes, WWE have an interim champ, they face off at the Rumble with Lesnar winning and going into Mania as champ.

I enjoyed the last Cena/Lesnar match. I'm less enthused this time.

 

[GOOZEKING]

Lesnar will not bring carrying the title the title till mania. He will probably just face cena again at night of champions where he beats lesnar and becomes 16 time champ... A cash in won't work either becuse it would put lesnar on the lvl of those that were cashed in and looked to be humiliated.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

He should really whip the dog shit out of Cena, just like the first match they had.

Not confident that will happen, but I am confident that the right thing will be done, and Lesnar will win the title.

Shame Bryan got hurt. Would have been a much more fun way to wrap up his title run.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Potential Match Of The Year candidate here.

The dueling promo between Cena and Heyman on Raw the other night was more than enough to sell me on this feud. I'm sure we'll get a contract signing on the go home show before Summerslam, but Cena was on top of his game to deliver a flawless promo, with Heyman promising the beating of a lifetime from his "client."

One thing that's hard to ignore about this feud is the response from the fans. The vast majority are hoping for Cena to lose. And they don't want a simple 1-2-3 (they'll tease it, but Cena's not tapping to the Kimura) for Lesnar's victor. They want Lesnar to destroy Cena with no mercy.

For the 2012 match, gaining positive fan support for Cena was more easy, because you could feel sympathy for the guy, who lost "the biggest match" in his life. A distraught and devastated Cena loses to Rock at Wrestlemania, and before he has a chance to collect himself and catch his breath, Brock Lesnar shows up.

Now? You can sense the majority foaming at the mouth for Brock to beat Cena. In fact, Heyman drew cheers from the crowd throughout his promo last night, and Heyman had to pull The Undertaker card for some boos.

I have no doubts Cena will rally his supporters in the coming weeks in the battle of the soulless mercenary, who only cares about money VS the dedicated and hard working company man, who eats, sleeps, and breathes WWE for his fan. But if we're comparing this match to Extreme Rules 2012, I expect a more hostile and vicious reaction for Cena in the coming weeks and at Summerslam (especially at Summerslam).

Lesnar has to walk away with the win here. He can't lose his first match back after ending The Streak for obvious reasons, and The Authority needs something to brag about. Brie losing to Stephanie is a surefire guarantee, and Evolution lost two consecutive pay per view matches to The Shield.

We all know John Cena is supposed to be the guy, who defeats insurmountable odds, but defeating Lesnar at Summerslam sparks a variety of problems for a number of reasons. For starters, it makes The Authority look inept and incompetent, because Triple H's last resort was a failure. And if Cena beats the man, who defeated The Streak, what's next for him? After Lesnar, Randy Orton is the only realistic option for a heel to challenge Cena, but you can't go with Orton VS Cena for the 10,00th time, because the fans will shit all over it, and Seth Rollins is not ready to be WWE WHC now. Every now and then, you have to remind people Cena is not invincible, and other challengers are capable of putting a dent in his armor.

As far as Lesnar's limited appearances hurting his reign as champion goes, I'm not worried about it. The Rock didn't have Paul Heyman around to remind people of the current champion every week. Heyman CONSTANTLY promotes and pushes Lesnar on TV, interviews, and social media, so we'll have a reminder of the current WWE WHC on a weekly basis.

 

[closet_fan]

There have been two more announced dates for Brock Lesnar’s schedule on WWE television. Both are Raw shows, as he is expected to appear at the August 18th in Las Vegas and September 15th in Lafayette, Louisiana.

The show in Louisiana is the go-home show before WWE Night of Champions.

This tells me Lesnar will win against Cena at SummerSlam and wind up losing it back to Cena again, with Rollins cashing in at NOC.

Lesnar losing cleanly to Cena AGAIN doesn't make much sense and would be a total waste. I'm hoping this is why Vince decided to have Lesnar break the streak, to continue Lesnar's dominance.

 

[SpoodBeest]

I had a huge interest in seeing Bryan/Lesnar unfortunately Bryan went down with neck issues and we're getting a Cena/Lesnar rematch that I don't care about seeing in the slightest. These old archaic stars still headlining shows a decade later because WWE is too picky to push proper talents and kill pushes for no reason. It's not going to top the spectacle they had two years ago, and Lesnar is winning the title and holding it hostage until Mania.

Great that should be fun, all of this being down to ultimately put over Reigns as the all-conquering hero. That plan of their's begins here with Lesnar winning the title and I have no interest in any of it

 

[rge2010]

Lesnar wins here without a doubt. Too much stock put in Brock for him to lose. A defeat won't harm Cena at all.

They will probably have a rematch at Night Of Champions. Again I see Lesnar going over but in order to protect him I think we may see The Authority turn on Lesnar and have Seth Rollins cash in at the end. This is a way to get the belt off Lesnar, write him off TV and have him protected from a loss.

Be great too see Batista return at NOC and be involved in some way - maybe setting up a PPV match between him and Lesnar.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Lesnar wins here without a doubt. Too much stock put in Brock for him to lose. A defeat won't harm Cena at all.

I agree with all that, although I don't really understand why there's such fascination with making Brock look good. At WM30, I would have wagered a great deal on Undertaker continuing his streak....and I'd be a lot poorer today.

For Cena-Lesnar, it seems we're going to witness the curious sight of the fans rooting for Brock and booing Cena. Think of it: the guy who comes in a few days each year, apparently doesn't bother hanging with the rest of the locker room since he doesn't travel with them, has no commitment to pro wrestling beyond those sporadic appearances, is paid big time WWE money after having seemed disdainful of pro wrestling for many years.....he's the good guy. Meanwhile, the guy who is the face of WWE, works as hard as anyone I've ever seen both in & out of the ring on WWE's behalf, has given us so many memorable moments.....he's the bad guy. Curious.

Still, if management wants the outsider to be the world champion, that's what will happen.....and most folks on this forum are predicting just that. Just for the sake of balance, then, I'd love to watch Cena take the victory in one of the hardest fought battles ever, in a manner that virtually forces the fans to appreciate how great he really is.

Do I think that will happen? Hell, no.....but that's what I want.

 

[Blade]

Just for the sake of balance, then, I'd love to watch Cena take the victory in one of the hardest fought battles ever, in a manner that virtually forces the fans to appreciate how great he really is.

If that happened, I would dance naked through the streets.

Unwanted visuals aside, a Lesnar victory makes sense. Put the title on him. In a couple months, after he's destroyed the members of the authority, have Rollins cash-in when Lesnar is at his weakest. Lesnar goes away for a few months. Then have him return to the take the title back at the Rumble. Then, at Wrestlemania, he puts over Roman Reigns. S'all good.

Lesnar is the right guy to put over Reigns right now. The thing about Lesnar is that he could decide not to come back after his current dates are fulfilled. He's unpredictable. So use him while you can. Cena could've been the one to put over Reigns at Wrestlemania, but Cena has a good few years left in him. There's plenty of time for a Cena vs Reigns match at Wrestlemania. You can't say that about Lesnar vs. Reigns.

So yeah, all in all, it's looking like good, logical booking by WWE.

 

[V Dogg]

Logic says Lesnar should beat Cena. I want Lesnar to beat Cena. If WWE were smart, they would book Lesnar to go over.

However, this is WWE, where logic and sense are thrown completely out the window. I can see a shitload of pissed off fans after this when Cena does beat Lesnar. And the whole "I'm done with WWE" comments will shoot through the roof. Of course, Cena beating Lesnar means the streak ended for nothing.

Here is what SHOULD happen - Lesnar beats Cena at SS, only to lose back to Cena at NOC. Cena holds the title until Rumble time. Maybe somewhere in there Rollins cashes in but loses. Lesnar cashes in on his rematch clause and wins at the Rumble. Lesnar successfully defends against Cena and others at EC, then Roman Reigns, the 2015 Rumble winner, gets his coronation as the next big babyface and wins at WMXXXI. Too many Cena/Lesnar for my tastes, but that's what should happen IMO.

Here is what WILL happen - Cena beats Lesnar at SS. By then, the "I'm done with WWE" comments will come once a nanosecond. Lesnar somehow, someway gets another chance at Cena at NOC (maybe with some dispute or whatever) and loses again. Cena holds the title until Rumble time (again, with an unsuccessful cash in by Rollins sprinkled somewhere in there). Now the WWE will go multiple routes here, depending on what they want at Wrestlemania. There will be another Cena/Lesnar match come Rumble time, and either one could win. Winner goes into EC as champion and walks out as champion. Then, of course, Roman Reigns gets his Wrestlemania moment over Cena or Lesnar and becomes champion.

We many not agree with WWE at times, but this is what's gonna happen. Now the thing is if WWE wants Lesnar to work from Summerslam to Wrestlemania without his usual time off, WWE could easily have him hold the title until Wrestlemania. But I don't see that.

 

[kadroan]

They put the title on The Rock, so I wouldn't be surprised if they gave Lesnar a run with the belt. I know that The Rock is a bigger draw than Lesnar and that Cena eventually beating Rocky was the culmination of Cena's year long redemption story, but I honestly think that they use Lesnar almost as a transitional champion to put the belt on one of the WWE's up and comers like Reigns, that way you don't have a face/face match with Cena/Reigns and people can't complain about a win in a triple threat or fatal four way.

If Cena does go over I think they will have Rollins cash in. I just don't envision Cena walking out of SummerSlam as the champion, the Authority need a win eventually if they are to be taken seriously.

I couldn't see Lesnar not walking out Summerslam as champion. Just like they did with The Rock, they booked him as champ for a short term purpose - to boost buyrates.

They can easily do the same with Brock, focusing on getting people to subscribe following Summerslam, just to have him lose the title back at NoC while they have new subscribers because of his title win

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

This is going to be a war. The extended history of these two is pretty awesome. Cena wasn't anointed the next big thing, but he became it because he loves wrestling. Brock is a monster. I'm excited. Not sure how this gets booked though.

 

[HBsam31]

I am really looking forward to this one. Their first match was one of the best of the year. I can't see Brock not winning after ending the streak. It would seem to have been done for nothing if Lesner doesn't win the title. I actually wish Lesner was around enough to hold the title from Summerslam Until Mania to drop it to Reigns but I don't think that is going to happen. On the other hand Cena has won many many many times when I thought he would lose so I am actually totally torn here.