On his final SmackDown appearance, John Cena makes an emotional entrance with an incredibly enthusiastic crowd happy to see the greatest of all time for the last time. No matter how you look at it, Cena will never be forgotten in my heart. He’s too much of a monumental presence to simply shove to the back of one’s head. Not a day went by while I wasn’t watching wrestling between the years of 2015-22 did I forget John Cena.
It’s not because I hated wrestling that I wasn’t around, hence a lot of the shock I felt when I came back, but school was a HUGE nuisance, as plenty of us could attest to that. Remembering the Usos, AJ Lee and Cena is what brought me back quicker. Ha! Anyway, Sami Zayn came out to challenge Cena for his US Championship. Zayn wanted to pay it forward like John did with him some time ago. The match was initiated for now.
Sami Zayn (c) vs. John Cena – US Championship match
Zayn had Cena momentarily reeling on his knees, but John managed to pick himself up and delivered the Five Knuckle Shuffle with ease. Lucky for Sami, he slipped underneath an AA attempt and gave a little payback with the Blue Thunderbomb, however, it wasn’t enough. Cena nearly had Sami with a Pop Up Powerbomb, courtesy of Kevin Owens.
The champ missed with the Helluva Kick in the corner as Cena countered with a back suplex. Commentary was talking about the Hall of Famer Kurt Angle just as John was putting Sami through an ankle lock in the middle of the ring. Because Sami tried to fight out of it, John turned it into the STF instead. Sami came close to grabbing the bottom rope, so Cena pulled him back to the center of the ring and reinforced the submission maneuver.
Despite the immense pain, Sami successfully rolled onto his back to avoid further damage as he planted Cena with an AA from the challenger’s arsenal. Later on, Sami was at the top of the ring venturing for a body splash, Cena rushed back to a vertical base and deliver a GTS maneuver since we’re in Chicago with CM Punk hanging around in the arena. It was very close.
A spear from Cena was also close. I have to admit though, I laughed at the way Sami went backwards when John surprised him with a clothesline out of nowhere because he dodged an RKO homage attempt. I think John would have won after that avalanche AA, but he was too exasperated to capitalize. And just when things couldn’t get any more extreme, Brock goddamn Lesnar is here.
The man literally yanked an unsuspecting referee out of the ring before putting his hands on Sami and John respectfully with F5s. Well… the festivities are over. Lesnar continued to engrave his mark on the blue brand. “Hey John, I’ll see you at Wrestlepalooza, b*tch!” Speechless, I was left speechless….
Winner: No one
Damian Priest vs. Aleister Black
Damian was beginning to feel it as he unloaded on Aleister with numerous right hands to the jaw and nose bridge of his opponent. Just as Priest was going for another jump in the corner, Black recovered with a kick to the big man’s face. So, Damian took him down with another right hook and a springboard crossbody.
For extra carnage, Damian not only delivered a flatliner to Aleister, but he also threw him over onto the commentary desk with a Razor’s Edge. An unfamiliar sight we saw as he witnessed Black begging Damian to back away. That only encourage a sinister smirk on Priest’s face. All was going he’s way until Aleister shoved the official into Damian, confusing him, then knocked him out with Black Mass. Wow… Priest barely moved after that.
Winner: Aleister Black
Prior to their meeting next week, Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton engage in a battle of words. Right now, it’s mostly talk, but next Friday, it’s war.
Giulia (c) vs. Michin – Women’s US Championship match
Although Kiana James’ voice was too loud for its own good, it didn’t stop Michin from being the one on top by punching Giulia as hard and fast as she can. Michin continued with the momentum by performing a drop kick to the chest of the Champion. She was on a roll until Giulia caught her by the feet and delivered a painful neckbreaker onto the floor. Ouch.
Michin was looking for Eat the Feet, yet Giulia countered with Northern Lights. There were too many distractions from James, so much so that Michin had to physically take her out, which prevented her from focusing on the real task. Giulia rushed in with a running knee and retained.
Winner: Giulia
As we reach the closing points of the show, the World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins came by SmackDown to rub in Punk’s face about his loss at Clash in Paris. But he isn’t doing it alone, he has the Women’s Intercontinental Champion and wife, Becky Lynch, here as well. Her scream-talking is getting on my nerves despite not having problems with Lynch in the past.
But never mind that, mentioning CM Punk’s name one too many times evoked him to the stage in his hometown. Regardless of the fact that Punk was here for Rollins, he called him a coward for hiding in the audience box with Becky standing between them, instigating Punk by asking him, “How’s your face?”
At first, since it’s been a while, I was shocked to hear the crowd chanting my girl, AJ Lee’s name, but I was happy, too. Becky became a brat all of a sudden as she repeatedly slapped Punk and made fun of him for insinuating he had friends to take care of her for him. Oh my God, and the fact that Seth was encouraging this… Jesus Christ.
I lost my breath when AJ Lee’s music hit. My girl is back!! And she looks great. I’ve been name-dropping her since I got back into wrestling because she disappeared, and I didn’t like that. All the greats were vanishing prior to my return, luckily, I think the universe finally heard me. Lynch looked like she saw a demon and a banshee eating breakfast in her kitchen. She went bat-crazy on Becky just as I remember her to.
Love to see AJ again. I knew she’d come back.
TOP PHOTO: AJ Lee highlight poster. Courtesy of WWE
