#214: John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan, WWE SummerSlam (8/18/2013).
This is for Cena’s WWE Championship, with Triple H as the special guest referee.
By July of 2013, John Cena was on top of the world. He had regained the WWE Championship from The Rock in April at WrestleMania 29 – putting to rest the embarrassing loss from the year prior – and he was back on top of WWE. After title defenses against Ryback and Mark Henry in the months that followed, Cena had an unknown path to SummerSlam, the 2nd biggest event on WWE’s calendar. In a rare move, Raw General Manager Brad Maddox gave Cena the option to choose who he would face at the biggest party of the summer. The options were endless – Randy Orton, Sheamus, Rob Van Dam, or even the World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio!
Who did Cena pick to face him for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam? He selected Daniel Bryan, the small but hard working bearded warrior who had been picking up steam over the last several months. If you were only watching at the time, this would seem at first to be a mismatch. Even Maddox, along with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, openly mocked the idea of Bryan challenging for the title. McMahon even said that though he didn’t like Cena as champion, he liked the idea of Bryan being champion even less.
If you were reading up on your internet wrestling news, however, this choice wasn’t a surprise in the least. In the months since Bryan and Kane lost the WWE Tag Team Championships to The Shield, Bryan was quickly gaining momentum and was without a doubt the single hottest wrestler in the promotion. His performances – often fast and furious – along with a new character arc where he was obsessed with proving that he wasn’t the weak link won over fans everywhere. It also helped that Bryan had received a surge in popularity since his 18 second loss to Sheamus in the opening match at WrestleMania 28 the year prior.
Fans loved Bryan, and they just wanted to see him succeed. It had been a while since a wrestler in WWE had this much of a rowdy reaction from fans. Not even CM Punk during his Pipebomb era was making this much noise. But, the authority figures of WWE didn’t see Bryan as anything more than a footnote in Cena’s reign. Well, everyone except Triple H, who was more than willing to give Bryan a chance to prove himself.
Triple H would then attack Maddox and insert himself into the match as the special guest referee, to ensure no funny business. This meant that Bryan and Cena could have the match they wanted to have. Cena, always humble, respected Bryan’s ability, but also had his doubts of whether or not he would be able to handle the pressure. Bryan responded by calling Cena a parody of wrestling, and that he represents everything that Bryan hates. Cena would remind Bryan that for a decade, he has stood toe to toe with the best the business has seen, and more often than not, he came out with his hand raised. Their final segment on the go-home Raw saw Bryan talking about how in Japan, if you were slapped in the face, it was a sign of respect for you being a great wrestler.
Bryan would then tell Cena that he doesn’t respect him, and that he’s not a great wrestler. Cena would slap Bryan in anger, who simply smiled it off and repeated himself. The pressure was certainly on for both men, as Bryan looked to prove his worth to the company, while Cena not only looked to continue his reign of dominance, but to also fight through a triceps injury that he sustained shortly before SummerSlam. As for Triple H? Well, he was there to simply do what was best for business.
The bell sounds, and here we go. Both men lock up, and Bryan immediately goes for the left arm. Cena slips out and gets a side headlock takedown in on Bryan. The challenger is up, tossing Cena to the opposite corner of the ring. Both men go for a test of strength, and Cena uses his power to trip Bryan to his back. Cena uses his body weight to keep Bryan down, and Bryan monkey flips Cena away. He goes for the Yes Lock, and Cena slips away and goes out of the ring.
Back in the ring, Cena takes the arm of Bryan, and gets the side headlock in again. Another takedown from Cena, and Bryan is quickly back up. He sends Cena into the ropes, and jumps towards him. Cena catches him and drops him on his back and attempts a pin. Bryan kicks out and uses his whole body to bridge out and catch Cena in a backslide pin attempt. Bryan with a dragon screw legwhip on the champion.
Bryan traps the legs of Cena in his own, and grabs the arms. Cena’s strong legs power Bryan away, and he sends Bryan to the outside, with him colliding with the announcer’s table. On the outside, Bryan tosses Cena into the steel steps. Bryan brings Cena on top of the steps and attempts a suplex, but Cena counters with one of his own, sending Bryan back first onto the floor. Back in the ring, Cena gets a nearfall off of that. Cena unloads with hard punches to the head of Bryan, and then irish whips him into the corner.
A stiff kick to the face follows, and Cena lifts Bryan up for a sit out powerbomb for a 2 count. Cena puts Bryan in a sleeper hold next, as he looks to control the pace. Bryan fights his way back to his feet and punches Cena into the corner. A succession of kicks follow to Cena’s midsection, and the champion explodes out of the corner with a knee to the ribs. He irish whips Bryan into the corner, and he runs up the turnbuckle to jump over Cena. Off the ropes, and Bryan hits a flying clothesline to Cena.
With Cena on his knees, Bryan unloads with roundhouse kicks to the chest of Cena. He goes for one more, and Cena moves and hits several shoulder tackles, before dropping Bryan with his side suplex. Cena goes for the Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Bryan kicks him in the head to avoid it. Bryan looks for the Yes Lock, and Cena pulls Bryan’s leg from under him. Bryan kicks him away and rushes him, and Cena hits another side suplex. Cena finally hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle.
Cena goes for the AA, and Bryan slips out. He kicks Cena in the face. Bryan flies off the top rope with a shotgun dropkick that gets a nearfall. Cena has a bruise swelling around his eye. Bryan hits several roundhouse kicks to Cena’s left arm. He hyper extends the arm across his shoulder next. More kicks to the arm follow. Cena goes for the STF submission next, and Bryan kicks him away, and locks in the STF instead! Cena crawls to the ropes, and Bryan drags him away, then transitions to a German Suplex that gets a 2 count. Bryan holds on and goes for it again, and it also gets a 2 count. Cena breaks the hold, and goes for the AA. Bryan slips out and locks in the Yes Lock – trapping the injured left arm! Cena slips out and falls right into a Guillotine choke!
Cena uses his strength to lift Bryan up and send him back first into the corner to try and break the hold. He flips Bryan into the corner and finally escapes. Bryan runs towards Cena, who catches him in the AA, and Bryan kicks out at the last possible second! The crowd loves that, as they chant “Yes!” Cena goes to the top rope, and Bryan meets him there. Cena pushes him down, and Bryan runs at him with a forearm attack. Cena pushes him down again, and Bryan hits him with a running kick to the head. Bryan suplexes Cena to the mat, but Bryan’s legs are hooked in the ropes, and he lifts himself back up to the top rope!
Bryan stands tall, and comes down with a flying headbutt! He makes the cover, and Cena kicks out at 2! Cena wisely rolls out of the ring to gather himself. Bryan looks for a dive, and Cena catches him with a shot to the head. Cena climbs to the top rope, and comes down with a flying legdrop to the back of the head! That somehow only gets a 2 count. Cena lifts Bryan up and places him on the top rope. Cena sits on the middle rope and lifts Bryan up in the air for a top rope AA, but Bryan fights back with elbows to the head. Bryan goes for a hurricanrana, but Cena catches him and drops both of them to the mat, with Bryan barely avoiding falling on his head. Cena transitions to the STF! Bryan is rolling himself around, trying to break the hold, but Cena won’t let go!
Bryan is able to reverse the submission into the Yes Lock! Despite the pain in his arm, Cena is able to crawl to the ropes and break the submission. Cena stands in the corner, and Bryan unleashes a series of running kicks to the head. On the third one, Cena storms out of the corner with a vicious clothesline! Both men stand in the middle now, trading punches and kicks to each other. They each run the ropes and collide into each other.
Both men are down. They lean on each other to get back to their feet. Cena slaps Bryan in the face, and the challenger responds with one of his own. Now they exchange slaps, firing each other up. Bryan has the upper hand, but Cena tosses him into the corner, and goes for the AA. Bryan is able to counter into a DDT out of nowhere. Bryan goes to the top rope for a crossbody, but Cena catches him and sets up for the AA! Bryan slips out into a small package for a close 2 count! Back up, a huge kick to the side of the head!
Bryan does the Yes chant in the corner, and then unleashes a vicious Busaiku Knee right to Cena’s face! That’s enough for the 3! Bryan beat Cena clean in the middle of the ring! Post match, Bryan and Cena shake hands, and Cena shakes the hand of Triple H as well.
Cena leaves, and Bryan celebrates his huge victory...until Randy Orton appears, with his Money in the Bank contract in hand. Triple H then shockingly turns on Bryan, hitting a Pedigree! Orton cashes in his contract, and Triple H counts the 3! Randy Orton leaves SummerSlam as the WWE Champion. Bryan’s long and turbulent road to WrestleMania 30 has just begun, whether he knows it or not.
The thing I love about when Daniel Bryan – or Bryan Danielson – wrestles, he always adds a sense of realism to his contests, regardless of opponent. Here, against John Cena – who may be the very best at the WWE style – he brings out a great wrestler side of Cena that many didn’t know he had, or maybe a side of Cena that many had forgotten about. What that led to was a fantastic outing by Cena, and another great match in the career of Bryan.
It was a very competitive match up, and much different than the usual expected routine of a John Cena WWE Title match. For starters, both men just went out there and wrestled. No shenanigans, or bullshit. They just had a damn fine wrestling match. It helped a lot that this was only the third ever singles meeting between the two – the last being on an episode of Raw in 2012, and the first being on a random episode of Velocity back in 2003, when Bryan showed up as an enhancement talent. The story told was well done too. Cena was the obvious big star company man, while Bryan was a major underdog who could outwrestle anyone. It’s one of the finest examples of a “Sports Entertainer vs. Pro Wrestler” story ever told.
Despite coming in with a triceps tear, Cena was more than willing to give Bryan the chance to tear at his arm. And Bryan was more than willing to sell Cena’s brute offense. Their chemistry was incredible here, and I so wish these two had the chance to have more singles matches against each other. I’m just fortunate they had at least one big singles meeting on PPV. The nearfalls were well done, and there was a legitimate sense of unpredictability here. Bryan had all this momentum, but would he actually beat Cena? Would Bryan, the submission specialist, actually submit Cena?
That’s where the ending came in, and why it was such a well done finish. I personally didn’t expect Bryan to pin Cena, but then he debuted the Busaiku Knee to his moveset, and it couldn’t have landed any more perfectly. He hit Cena right on the forehead, and crushed him. For years, I called that move “The Cena Killer.” Bryan pinning Cena clean did a lot for his status as a top star. And it certainly helped him get to where he was going to be in 2014.
Triple H’s shocking turn post match was also done perfectly. I noticed immediately that his ref shirt wasn’t donning a WWE logo, and I started to theorize during the match that maybe he was going rogue. And he did. This night was the start of The Authority faction, and the beginning of Bryan’s rise to the top of the company. Though, WWE didn’t know it at the time. They had their own plans of slowly pushing Bryan out of the title picture. Eight months after this, rabid fan support guaranteed that Daniel Bryan would not be denied.