WWE Extreme Rules: Top 10 Matches of All Time

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3. Brock Lesnar vs John Cena – Extreme Rules 2012

The 2012 Extreme Rules was really a fantastic card.  Being that this is third and final match that makes the top 10 all from that one show, it’s one to not skip over when binge-watching the WWE Network.  In this war, Lesnar’s first time back in the ring since 2007 and his first in the WWE since 2004, these two future hall of famers went toe to toe in a hard-hitting battle that saw Cena take one of the biggest beatings of his career.  Lesnar, who proved that night that he didn’t have a speck of dust on him, showed the world that his time in the wrestling world was far from over.

The match itself was only about 18 minutes long.  But in that time, the two managed to beat the life from each other and even managed to open each other up which did not seem scripted.  Lesnar legitimately seemed to not care what happened to either person that night as he flung Cena around the ring like a rag-doll and put his own body on the line time and time again.  The whole thing was almost surreal and so much different than a usual John Cena main event.

Say what you want about the ending.  It was a little disappointing to see Cena get his typical Superman booking by hammering Lesnar with an AA on the steps in the ring but really, did it seem like Cena actually won that match?  It sure didn’t look like it.  He seemed defeated, mentally and physically.  The defeat seemed to do more for Lesnar anyways as he used it to catapult him over the next 5 years to 2 World Championships and a win over The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 30, thus ending The Streak.  This match proved that sometimes even in defeat you really win and that leaving it all in the ring has its rewards and consequences.