John Cena vs. Seth Rollins (Title for Title Match)
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: John Cena will be in a match for the WWE World Heavyweight title at SummerSlam this Sunday! If that seems like a bit of deja vu, it’s probably because this will be the fifth consecutive ‘Slam that features John Cena in a WWE title match. FIFTH CONSECUTIVE!
This time, Cena enters as the United States champion, and he will put his title on the line for a shot at Seth Rollins’ WWE title. This whole thing got started a few weeks ago when Cena called Rollins worthless (a Cena calling card) and demanded a title shot. The two then faced off in a match so that Cena could prove he deserved a title shot.
Things were going well until…
Rollins legitimately broke Cena’s nose with a knee to the face. Wait, can we get a slow-mo replay of that?
Never gets old.
Somehow, Cena was able to power through his destroyed nose and actually make the Champ tap out in the center of the ring (don’t get me started. The broken nose caused Cena to miss weeks of action, and during that time Rollins kept on reminding us that he broke Cena’s face and continued to challenge the U.S. Champ to a Title for Title match at SummerSlam.
Cena of course made his triumphant return on Monday night to accept the villainous Rollins challenge and now presumably heads into Sunday night as the favorite to win the title and tie Ric Flair as a 16-time Champ. The match itself should be great, and if Rollins can pull off another combo like this one against Cena we could really see something special.
Remember how I mentioned this will be Cena’s fifth straight title match at SummerSlam? Well, Cena lost to CM Punk in 2011 and 2012, lost to Daniel Bryan in 2013, and lost the title again to Brock Lesnar last summer. So if you’re keeping track that’s four consecutive losses at the Summer classic for the Golden Boy.
So what are the odds the company lets their golden goose lose for a fifth straight year? Probably not that great. Fortunately for us, there are actually a ton of options for the finish to this match and WWE can keep us guessing a bit.
But what will go down when these two face off? Well WWE is a creature of habit (again FIVE STRAIGHT TITLE MATCHES), and one trend that we can’t ignore is the Money in the Bank cash-in coming at SummerSlam. Both Alberto Del Rio and Randy Orton have cashed in at the Summer classic in recent years (damn you Triple H!) and a Sheamus cash-in just feels like a legit possibility.
WWE could have Rollins win and immediately drop the WWE title to a cashing-in Sheamus (while turning face in the process) but remaining U.S. Champ. Or there could be a shmoz finish that sees both men keep their titles and lets this feud continue for a few more months.
Or, the doomsday scenario. Cena wins, Sheamus cashes in, and we get a Cena-Sheamus feud until Survivor Series.
Oh God.