John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar: Retracing the Road to Night of Champions Rematch

The story leading up to Night of Champions has been about John Cena sifting through the rubble and looking to rebuild the fallen fortress that Brock Lesnar left behind.

Lesnar cut down a hero at SummerSlam. In preparation for challenging The Beast Incarnate once more, that hero has taken to destruction and a touch of darkness.

The journey to Night of Champions has seen Cena mirror elements of his rival, bearing his fangs more, relying more on rage.

Paul Heyman, a panel of Hall of Famers and The Wyatt Family have all played vital roles in this unfolding drama. Before Cena's process of restoring his confidence began, before he would charge at Lesnar again, the new champion had celebrations to soak up.

Aug. 17

TMZ caught up with Lesnar only hours after his dismantling of Cena.

In an impromptu interview, Heyman said of Lesnar, "He ate John Cena tonight, for lunch and for dinner." Holding Cena's championships, Lesnar chuckled and grinned. He said he was "just getting started."

This was no WWE-produced interview, but it did well to further the momentum Lesnar created at SummerSlam. He came off as even more imposing.

It was as if cameras had captured a lion's grin right after he had ripped open a gazelle.

Aug. 18

Cena wouldn't appear on Raw the next night. He had taken such a beating in the Staples Center that one assumed he was holed up somewhere, ice packs applied to every part of him.

The new champion was there in his stead. WWE handed him a new title belt, now adorned with the sleeker company logo.

The championship shimmered on Lesnar's shoulder. The Beast said nothing. He didn't need to; his advocate played up his violent accomplishments like no one else could.

Heyman promised that Lesnar would "lay wreckage at any man who tries to take that title from him."

He reminded fans of how many German suplexes Cena endured the night before. The surefire future Hall of Famer painted a picture of an unstoppable force, making any future title match seem like a suicide mission.

It was easy to buy into that image; Lesnar had just made Cena his plaything on a grand stage.

Aug. 25

On the following Raw, it was Cena's turn to talk. He would forcefully and emphatically rebound from his SummerSlam loss.

A Hall of Fame forum featuring Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels had the floor first. They talked about Cena's chances, and there was little optimism in the air.

Hogan believed in Cena, but Michaels suggested retirement. He said, "No one takes a beating like that and comes out the same man. He's not the same." 

Cena would soon address his doubters face-to-face. He challenged Lesnar to another match, claiming he would bring the fight to the champ. He called it the biggest rematch of his life.

This wasn't the goofy-faced, jokey Cena that has emerged so often. This was the focused gladiator side of him.

He showed that off in walloping Bray Wyatt and later sending each member of The Wyatt Family to the mat.

Lesnar was not around to retort in person, but he had plenty to say. WWE put together a video of him and Heyman issuing ominous words to the No. 1 contender.

Heyman thought it was ludicrous that Cena would demand to fight Lesnar again. He said, "My client is humiliated by the fact that John Cena would dare invoke this rematch clause. How dare you, sir? Are you out of your mind?"

Flashes of Lesnar roaring and knocking Cena to his knees made him look like a monster. He described being in total control at SummerSlam, essentially a predator batting around his prey.

Sept. 1 

Triple H began to publicly doubt whether it was a good idea to send Cena into Heyman's lair again. The chief operating officer then booked a tag team match with Seth Rollins, Kane and Randy Orton battling Cena, Chris Jericho and Roman Reigns in order to allow someone to make an impression on him.

The standout star would get the world title shot.

Heyman didn't believe in Cena either. He addressed the audience at Raw that night, describing what would happen to the challenger at Night of Champions as brutality and suffering. 

The show's main event allowed Cena a chance to respond via his actions in the ring.

Triple H and Stephanie McMahon watched the six-man tag from ringside, looking for someone to demonstrate his worthiness of the championship opportunity. It took until nearly the end of the match, but Cena did that.

He charged in, knocking Kane around and kicking Rollins in the jaw. After hitting the Attitude Adjustment to Kane, he glared at The Game, saying, "Good enough?"

Even if it was, he had one more statement to make. He slammed Rollins onto the announce table right in front of Triple H and McMahon. The rematch would not be stopped.

A warrior was now fueled with new fury and increased focus.

Sept. 5 

Days later, Cena made a rare appearance on SmackDown.

Aside from a few times where he ventured into goofiness (e.g. doing a mock queen's wave), Cena was intense. He cleared up that Triple H had officially allowed him to go ahead with challenging Lesnar.

He then sold a story of his climb out of the hole the world champ had shoved him into. Peering in the camera, he said, "I have my rematch, I found my resolve, and at Night of Champions, I get my redemption."

Cena would quickly move to more aggressive means to make himself clear.

Sept. 8

Lesnar was not around on the Sept. 8 edition of Raw. His manager Heyman was, though, which turned out to be bad news for the slippery, suit-wearing weasel. 

What Cena did against Kane and The Wyatt Family wasn't enough. He wanted to issue some more ass-kicking to show he was ready for the next round against Lesnar.

Instead, he had to suffer Heyman berating him. 

Heyman tried to get Cena to embrace his animosity toward his critics, urging him to tell fans to shut up. Cena was more in the mood to fight. He delivered an ultimatum: If Lesnar didn't show up to Raw on the following week, Cena would fight Heyman instead.

This was out of character for WWE's Superman.

It was a move more out of CM Punk's playbook. It's not often that we've seen the squeaky-clean hero threaten to put his hands on a middle-aged non-wrestler. John Laurinaitis at least used to be a wrestler.

Cena's shift toward the dark side would continue with Heyman's help a week later.

Sept. 15

Lesnar's plane was delayed to the arena, or so Heyman claimed. With that in mind, Cena gave Heyman until "halftime" to produce his client.

Otherwise, there would be an ugly, one-sided fight ahead.

He shoved Heyman into his dressing room and enlisted The Great Khali to guard the door. Cena was now adding kidnapping to his resume, not exactly role-model material.

When the clock ran out, there was no beast around, only a disappointed Cena and Heyman, who soon grabbed the reins of the situation. He channeled Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars and tried once again to get Cena to embrace the darkness inside him.

Goading and insulted him worked enough to get Cena to push him out of the ring. That was Lesnar's cue to arrive.

He and Cena then brawled outside the ring. Cena swung wildly, getting a few punches in. After appearing to sting The Beast with a punch to the nose, security broke up the fight.

Security surrounded an enraged Cena, who gritted his teeth and seethed.

In repairing his confidence, Cena had gone through a metamorphosis. He walks into Night of Champions with a newfound edge, the warrior borrowing traits from the barbarian who will stand opposite him in the ring. 

Sept. 17 

Lesnar would have the final word, reminding us just who the monster is in the upcoming clash.

In an interview with Michael Cole, the world champ talked about how he would approach Night of Champions. To him, it didn't matter if he was the hunter or the hunted—his mindset was to kick ass.

He didn't care if Cena had changed either. He said, "The last thing I'm thinking about is another man's emotions."

The spotlight shifted away from Cena for long enough here to make Lesnar out to be a formidable, fearsome force again.

The narrative has centered around the challenger for the most part as he reconstructs himself heading into battle. Waiting for him is a man who promises to deliver the same kind of beating he gave Cena at SummerSlam.

At Night of Champions, we find out if the script changes in the sequel or if it will be a reproduction of a thrashing.