John Cena is the franchise player, but the sizzling stage of SummerSlam hasn't been kind to him.
The "Cenation" leader is set to meet AJ Styles at SummerSlam on Aug. 21 live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. While it will mark "The Phenomenal One's" first-ever match at "The Biggest Event of the Summer," it will be Cena's 12th clash at the WWE's second-biggest show of the year.
Throughout the years, SummerSlam hasn't been a stage for Cena to thrive. He owns a ghastly 3-8 record at what is essentially the summer version of WrestleMania.
Cena has victories over Chris Jericho (2005) and Randy Orton (2007) at the event and was the sole survivor of a 7-on-7 elimination match pitting Team WWE vs. Team Nexus in 2010. However, entering the 2016 edition of SummerSlam, Cena is riding a five-match losing streak at the August spectacle.
Here are Cena's five greatest losses at SummerSlam. To view this article in slideshow form, CLICK START at the top right of this page.
5) Randy Orton (2009)
Though Cena was able to defeat "The Viper" at the 2007 version of the event, the stage was even bigger in 2009 when he took him on at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. In a match that was surrounded by controversy, Cena and Orton were at the top of their respective games when this WWE Championship clash came around. After interference from Brett DiBiase, Orton hit his RKO to pin Cena and retain his title.
4) Daniel Bryan (2013)
Cena and "The Beard" went head-to-head at the Staples Center in a match that saw the "Cenation" leader defend the WWE Championship against a perrenial underdog in Bryan, whom he chose as his opponent. After a back and forth affair, The "Cenation" leader fell victim to Bryan's running knees and was pinned to the mat to lose his gold. Bryan's long-awaited win would be short-lived, however, as special guest referee Triple H hit him with a Pedigree and then Randy Orton cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase to win the title, ushering in The Authority storyline.
3) CM Punk (2011)
This was during the amazing Summer of Punk storyline in which Punk was WWE Champion despite his contract expiring, setting up an eight-man tournament to crown a new champion. From a storyline standpoint, this could be argued as the biggest loss for Cena as the WWE relied on him to bring the Undisputed WWE Championship to them and he lost to Punk after getting hit with a GTS. The blame for the loss, however, could be placed on special guest referee Triple H, who missed Cena's foot on the ropes, which should have negated the pin. Nevertheless, Alberto Del Rio cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and wrested the title away from Punk mere moments later.
2) Brock Lesnar (2014)
Cena was an unintended guest at Suplex City in the Staples Center thanks to "The Beast." Cena had a chance on one of the WWE's brightest stages to end the torrid run of Lesnar, who had just ended The Streak of The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX, but he failed to do so. Lesnar absolutely decimated Cena, hitting 16 German Suplexes and finishing him off with an F-5 to capture the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for a fourth time.
1) Seth Rollins (2015)
When the "Biggest Event of the Summer" returned to New York for the first time since 2002, the stakes were immensely high at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Cena, the United States Champion, battled Seth Rollins, the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, in a title-for-title winner-take-all match. Though the ending was basically a publicity stunt, with former "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart screwing Cena and helping Rollins win, the impact of the loss was huge as Cena once again fell at SummerSlam and lost everything in the process.
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