Chris Jericho vs. John Cena in Loser Leaves SummerSlam Team Match: Jericho loses, rejects olive branch from Cena
It all started when the ‘Rated-R Superstar’, Edge told John Cena (following the Wade Barrett vs Edge match that ended in a No Contest) that he is going to quit the team created to fight Nexus at SummerSlam. Chris Jericho and John Cena then engaged in a heated argument about the leadership of the Team WWE in front of their fans. The egos of John Cena and Chris Jericho were too big for them to reconcile with each other for the betterment of the wrestling industry. Both wrestlers knew that they needed each other to fight The Nexus threat, but no one was ready to sacrifice his ego.
John Cena and Chris Jericho eventually decided that they would settle their scores in a match and the wrestler losing the fight would quit Team WWE. The Nexus group members were witnessing the implosion of Team WWE. For the past few weeks, The Nexus has tried to create differences among Team WWE group members. On last Monday Night RAW, their efforts resulted in a complete disintegration of the RAW team. The Nexus group members even went to the Punjabi Giant, the Great Khali and told him that John Cena does not respect him and is looking to replace him with the Million Dollar Champion, Ted DiBiase.
However, the biggest achievement of The Nexus was to create ill will between John Cena and Chris Jericho. Both wrestlers entered the arena to fight for a chance to lead the team of RAW. The match was the manifestation of a reality that the RAW roster has fallen apart and there are many differences amongst the RAW superstars. The two wrestlers watched each other with anger and rage and prepared for a fight of a lifetime.
The match started as Chris Jericho cornered John Cena and delivered hardcore punches to his face. John Cena was in a defensive mood during the start of the match. Chris Jericho then grabbed John Cena and executed a suplex to slam his back on the ring floor. Chris Jericho took John Cena outside the ring and kicked hard on his face. Then came the hard part for Cena, as Chris Jericho pushed him hard and Cena collided with the steel steps. The referee started counting to ten and it was important for Cena to enter the ring before the ten count, otherwise he risked disqualification.
Chris Jericho then cornered Cena and ran to deliver a spear in Cena’s abdomen. John Cena wisely moved aside and Chris Jericho collided with the steel ring post. John Cena suddenly shifted the momentum of the match and knocked down Jericho by delivering an effective shoulder kick. John Cena then tried to deliver his signature move called the ‘5 Knuckle Shuffle’, where he drops a big punch on his opponent’s head. But Chris Jericho stood up in time and delivered the Code Breaker. It was anybody’s match as both wrestlers had already drained their energy while fighting with each other.
Chris Jericho trapped John Cena in the dreaded submission move called the Walls of Jericho. During this submission move, Chris Jericho applies pressure on the lower back of his opponent’s abdomen. John Cena screamed in pain and struggled to free himself, and that is where suddenly everything changed. John Cena gathered all his strength and freed himself to execute his own submission move called the STFU. It took only few seconds and Chris Jericho tapped out and lost the match. It was a swift ending to a classic match. Cena later offered Jericho another chance to stay on the SummerSlam team, but Jericho rejected the offer.
John Cena won the match but lost someone crucial at the same time. Now the Raw team created to fight The Nexus at SummerSlam is down to just five people. It seems that the numbers game is heavily in favour of The Nexus. John Cena needs to find two athletes who can fill the (pretty big) shoes of Edge and Chris Jericho. Failure to find two mainstream wrestlers will result in a Nexus win and Nexus takeover of the WWE structure.
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