WWE Rumors: Will John Cena Defeat Brock Lesnar at Night of Champions for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship?

On Monday Night Raw the night after Brock Lesnar broke the Undertaker's undefeated streak at WrestleMania 30, Paul Heyman said his client was "here to put tears in the eyes of children." At first, this was nothing more than a line to hype his client and draw some cheers from the smarky crowd in attendance. But four months later, those words became a prophecy.

Lesnar truly did put tears in the eyes of children on Sunday night at SummerSlam when he dismantled John Cena to capture the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. This was the boldest booking decision WWE has made in quite a while. It wasn't out of the question that Lesnar would win; in fact, a large portion of fans probably figured he had to win after beating Taker at Mania. But if Lesnar did win, then it would come after surviving Cena's usual barrage of offense. The Beast would have to survive a grueling 25-minute fight, kick out of an Attitude Adjustment and hit three F5s before he could pin the champion, right?

Wrong. Lesnar nearly took this match in the first 35 seconds when he hoisted Cena onto his massive shoulders and drove him into the mat with an F5. "Okay," we thought. "That was a surprising way to start the match. Now Cena will come back and we'll be off to the races."

Except Lesnar hooked his arms around Cena's waist and delivered a German suplex. And then another. And then another. And then another. And then another. And then another. And then another. And then another. And then another. And then another. And then another. And then another. And then another. And then another. And then another. And then another.

It didn't end. The onslaught never stopped. On a few of the suplexes, it looked like Cena landed directly on his head. WWE gets a lot of flak from its fans for good reasons, but it deserves major credit for booking this match in this way. Cena, too, deserves some props for allowing this monstrous human being to toss him around like a ragdoll for 20 minutes.

As one fan on Reddit put it, this was like watching Doomsday kill Superman. Cena had no answer for Brock and when he thought he did, the Beast stopped him dead in his tracks. The only offense Cena mounted was a few punches out of the gate, an STF (which he really tightened up, by the way), a couple of shoulder tackles and one Attitude Adjustment.

Speaking of that AA, what a moment this was. For a brief moment, joy returned to the children's eyes and groans came out of grown men as it looked like Cena would survive and escape with the title. But Lesnar kicked out and as Cena recovered in the corner, Brock sat up like the man he conquered at WrestleMania 30, stuck out his tongue and started laughing uncontrollably as if to say, "THAT was your best shot?"

WWE also made a smart move in keeping Cena off television the following night on Raw. Superman is dead; he can't be popping up on live television like nothing happened. But we did learn on Main Event that Cena has exercised his rematch clause and he will face Lesnar for the title at Night of Champions. Understandably, a lot of fans are quaking in their boots.

The cynic in me wants to say that WWE is going to pull a WWE and cut Lesnar's title reign off at the knees. Cena will spend a month without the belt, "overcome the odds" and vanquish the Beast a mere month after Lesnar decimated him in a way we have not seen in years. The skeptical part of me wants to say that Lesnar beat Cena at SummerSlam and the rematch at Night of Champions is just a way to hook more WWE Network subscribers at the six-month window, who will have already paid for another six months by the time LOLCENAWINS.

But it might make even less sense for Cena to win the rematch than the initial clash. What could the broken, battered John Cena possibly learn in a month that would help him stop Lesnar? How could he improve enough in five weeks to bring down a man who picked him apart like he was swatting a fly? If anything, this next match should be more satisfying for those who want to Cena in pain. Cena should think he has the answers, try to mount some offense and actually get a little further this time, only for Lesnar to put his boot on his neck at every turn.

The man who beats Brock Lesnar for the title would get a huge boost in the eyes of the fans. Cena could retire right this second and be in the top five in the history of the sport. He doesn't need to beat Lesnar, but many fans think he will because WWE won't move him off the top of the mountain.

But as we learned on Sunday night, the story doesn't always go as we expect.