Cena Talks Lesnar Squash; WWE Rumors on Dakota Kai's Injury, Liv Morgan and Charlotte

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

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Cena Recalls Squash Match Loss to Lesnar

John Cena is a 16-time world champion, but one of the most memorable matches of his career was a lopsided loss.

Appearing this week on Notsam Wrestling with Sam Roberts (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Cena discussed his squash defeat at the hands of Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2014.

Cena divulged that when Lesnar presented him with the idea of the one-sided match, he instantly agreed to it:

"Brock is one of the most giving performers when it's his time, and he will make anyone look great. But I remember Brock being like, 'Hey, you know, I had dinner with Steve Austin last night and we came up with this idea where I just start suplexing you and don't stop, and then beat you.' I said, 'Yeah!' He said, 'What do you mean?' I was like, 'Well, we both collectively agreed that you just beat the streak. We will ruin that if we have a 50-50 match.'"

About four months before SummerSlam 2014, Lesnar shockingly ended The Undertaker's 21-match undefeated streak at WrestleMania by beating him at WrestleMania 30.

The Beast Incarnate entered SummerSlam on a roll, and rather than dropping the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to Lesnar in a competitive match, Cena agreed to be a sacrificial lamb of sorts.

Although the SummerSlam match officially lasted over 15 minutes, Cena got in virtually no offense, as Lesnar hit him with F-5 after F-5 and multiple suplexes.

The beating was so excessive and unexpected that it made for an almost uncomfortable experience for the viewers.

Even so, it was a highly effective booking decision. It built on Lesnar's historic win over The Undertaker, and it took nothing away from Cena since he already had a legendary resume.

In many ways, the win over The Undertaker and the SummerSlam squash of Cena helped cement Lesnar as one of the most destructive forces in WWE history.

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Dakota Kai Reportedly Suffered Torn ACL

Damage CTRL member Dakota Kai is reportedly set to miss a significant amount of time after recently suffering a knee injury.

According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), Kai suffered a torn ACL on the May 12 episode of SmackDown.

Kai and Bayley unsuccessfully challenged Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships on that show.

Meltzer noted that Morgan suffered a shoulder injury in the match as well. He said it is believed Kai's injury came as a result of her trying to protect Morgan from any further damage.

With Morgan getting hurt, WWE vacated the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships and set up a Fatal 4-Way tag team match for the titles on next week's Raw.

Rodriguez chose Shotzi as her new partner, Bayley replaced Kai with Iyo Sky, and the teams of Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler and Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville are also in the match.

The 35-year-old Kai spent several years in NXT before getting released last year. But after Triple H became WWE's head of creative, he brought her back into the fold at SummerSlam 2022 as one-third of Damage CTRL with Bayley and Sky.

Kai and Sky held the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships twice, and they teamed with Bayley in a high-profile six-woman tag team match against Becky Lynch, Lita and Trish Stratus at WrestleMania 39.

WWE had already seemingly started to plant the seeds for a Damage CTRL breakup, and it is fair to wonder if Kai's injury may accelerate things and eventually lead to a Bayley vs. Sky rivalry.

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Charlotte, Morgan to Appear in Wrestling Movie

Two of WWE's top women's Superstars are reportedly set to have major roles in an upcoming movie about the life and career of pro wrestling legend Mildred Burke.

According to Fightful Select (h/t Upton), Charlotte Flair and Liv Morgan will play the roles of women's wrestling trailblazers June Byers and Clara Mortensen, respectively, in the upcoming film.

The movie, which is based on the Jeff Leen book The Queen of the Ring: Sex, Muscles, Diamonds and the Making of an American Legend, will reportedly begin filming in Louisville, Kentucky, next month.

Charlotte has not appeared on WWE programming since dropping the SmackDown Women's Championship to Rhea Ripley in a classic match at WrestleMania 39 last month.

Flair, the daughter of WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair is the most decorated women's champion of all time in WWE. She has mainstream appeal that could help get even more eyes on the movie.

Morgan is a former SmackDown women's champion and WWE women's tag team champion who had been appearing regularly on both SmackDown and Raw until recently.

Liv reportedly suffered a shoulder injury on the May 12 SmackDown. While the severity of the injury is unclear, it was bad enough for WWE to have her and Rodriguez vacate the tag titles.

Given Charlotte's absence and Liv's injury, there may not have been any immediate plans for them on WWE programming regardless, but their acting roles may guarantee that their time away from WWE will stretch into June.

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