John Cena Beats Rusev to Win Flag Match at WWE Battleground 2017

In John Cena's first pay-per-view bout since WrestleMania, he prevailed over Rusev in a flag match Sunday at Battleground. 

Rusev looked poised to plant the Bulgarian flag into its stand atop the designated podium before Cena intervened. After incapacitating Cena, Rusev then attempted to lock in The Accolade to further wear down the 16-time world champion.

Cena countered, however, and carried Rusev to the top of the American flag podium before dumping him onto a pair of tables. From there, Cena planted the American flag into its stand for the win, courtesy of WWE:

Bleacher Report's Graham Matthews thought the match lacked drama:

Uproxx's Brandon Stroud argued Cena generally isn't the most flattering opponent for Rusev:

Cena made his return on the July 4 edition of SmackDown Live following a three-month hiatus, and it wasn't long before he was embroiled in a rivalry.

Rusev also returned to WWE programming after missing several months due to injury by interrupting Cena during a patriotic promo.

Cena didn't take kindly to the Bulgarian Brute's disrespect, which prompted him to challenge Rusev to a flag match on the spot.

Although Rusev declined to fight Cena at that point in time, he did agree to clash with his current and former rival at Battleground.

Rusev also vowed that the white, green and red flag of Bulgaria would fly high in the birthplace of American democracy:

He provided a preview of that on the go-home episode of SmackDown prior to Battleground by orchestrating a brutal attack on Cena.

Before Rusev's arrival, Cena was waving the American flag and stating his intention to do the same at the pay-per-view, as seen in this GIF courtesy of WWE's official Twitter account:

A sneak attack allowed Rusev to lock Cena into The Accolade, though, and the WWE legend passed out due to the pain.

The hatred between Cena and Rusev runs deep, as they first entered into a feud during the buildup to WrestleMania 31.

Rusev was the United States champion at the time, and he was running roughshod over the entire WWE roster following his call-up from NXT.

He even defeated Cena at the Fastlane pay-per-view that year and appeared to be unbeatable. Cena finally took him down at WrestleMania, however, and beat him in subsequent rematches to send Rusev down the totem pole.

The Super Athlete never truly recovered from losing that feud, but getting injured and then moved from Raw to SmackDown as part of the Superstar Shake-up represented a new beginning for Rusev.

There is a clear lack of top heels on the SmackDown roster as evidenced by Jinder Mahal being thrust into the top spot as WWE champion, and that could be a positive sign for Rusev moving forward.

Cena was victorious at Battleground, but the fact that Rusev didn't get pinned or submitted in the loss means it shouldn't be difficult for him to bounce back.

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