John Cena Defeats Jinder Mahal by Disqualification on SmackDown Live

WWE champion Jinder Mahal's recent losing ways continued Tuesday on SmackDown Live as he fell to John Cena just days before SummerSlam.

Cena won by disqualification when Baron Corbin interfered to break up a pinfall after Cena hit an Attitude Adjustment off the second rope on Mahal.

That was only the start of the drama, however, as Corbin cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase. He joins Damien Sandow as the only wrestlers to unsuccessfully cash-in and lose their match after Mahal rolled him up for a quick three count.

WWE shared a replay of the brief encounter:

Naturally, Corbin's defeat had social media buzzing:

A couple of weeks ago on SmackDown, Cena was pitted against Shinsuke Nakamura with the winner earning the right to face Mahal for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam.

Nakamura prevailed in a competitive and hard-hitting match, after which Corbin attempted to attack the King of Strong Style.

Cena made the save and put the Lone Wolf through the announce table, which set the stage for Cena against Corbin at SummerSlam.

Despite that, Cena is rarely far away from the title scene, and Tuesday's match gave him an opportunity to potentially stake claim to a future championship opportunity.

Tuesday wasn't the first run-in between Cena and Mahal as they engaged in a war of words a few weeks ago when the Modern Day Maharaja was in search of a new challenger.

Cena interrupted a Mahal promo at that time and declared himself the No. 1 contender before SmackDown Live general manager Daniel Bryan interrupted and instead forced Cena to earn it in a match against Nakamura.

Although Cena came up short, he still feels like the ideal protagonist to take on Mahal considering all he has stood for throughout his WWE career.

Few Superstars are more synonymous with the American Way than Cena, while that is the very thing Mahal is constantly fighting and speaking out against.

Mahal has consistently disparaged the United States since becoming WWE champion and instead placed all of his backing behind India.

Cena has taken down many foreign heels during his lengthy run as the face of WWE, but few have been as physically imposing as Mahal.

In addition to that, Mahal often puts himself at an advantage due to the presence of the Singh Brothers, which is something Randy Orton can attest to after losing several title matches to the Maharaja thanks to their interference.

Both Mahal and Cena could have benefited from a win heading into the biggest event of the summer, but it was Cena who prevailed and now has momentum firmly on his side before attempting to settle the score with Corbin.

Cena will need that momentum considering how incensed Corbin will be heading into SummerSlam. His defeat Tuesday night adds a different dimension to their match Sunday.

Looking beyond SummerSlam, it will be interesting to see how long Corbin has to wait before he's hanging around the world title scene again.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).