Cody Rhodes is once again undisputed WWE champion. Rhodes outlasted John Cena in a lengthy, hard-fought SummerSlam Night 2 main event on Sunday to regain the championship he lost to Cena at WrestleMania. But it was Brock Lesnar’s return to WWE after the main event that will be the main talking point for many.
Rhodes and Cena hit each other with flurries of finishing moves and weapons in their street fight before Rhodes finally was able to keep Cena down for the count. Cena, who turned babyface at SmackDown on Friday, embraced Rhodes after the match, saying, “That was the best I have.”
After Rhodes left Cena in the ring to bask in the crowd’s applause, Lesnar’s music hit and “The Beast” made his return to WWE by hitting Cena with an F-5 as the show went off the air.
CBS Sports was with you the whole way through the event, providing updates and highlights as the action goes down in the live blog below. Thanks for stopping by.
Naomi retains the women’s world title against Ripley and Sky with a crafty pin
Naomi tried to coax Sky and Ripley into going at each other earlier, slipping from the ring until the two challengers cornered her. The expected miscommunication came shortly after, with Ripley accidentally hitting Sky and letting Naomi get off to an early lead. Naomi went as far as biting Ripley’s hand to get out of an early suplex attempt to keep that advantage. Naomi hit a blockbuster on Ripley as her hot start continued. Ripley and Sky eventually fired up and took down Naomi with a series of moves before squaring off with each other.
Ripley and Sky each scored near falls, Sky with a poisonrana and Ripley with a powerbomb, before Naomi worked her way back into the match. Ripley drove Sky into the ringpost as Sky was looking for an Over the Moonsault on Noami. Naomi then took advantage of the situation before moving out of the way as Sky hit Ripley with the moonsault for a near fall. Moments later, Ripley hit Riptide on Naomi, but Sky broke up the pin. Sky would hit a powerbomb on Ripley outside the ring, dropping Ripley on Naomi. Ripley would go on to hit Sky with Riptide from the second rope, but as she went for the pin, Naomi slid into the ring to roll up Ripley holding the tights to secure the pin and the win. This was a fun opener with all three women doing a solid job throughout and the right woman walking away with the win. Naomi (c) def. Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky via pinfall to retain the women’s world championship — Grade: B+
Wyatt Sicks retain the WWE tag team titles in a chaotic six-way TLC match
The five challenging teams immediately jumped on the Wyatts at the start of the match before things broke down into every team for themselves. Fraxiom was the first team to introduce a ladder, but were cut off by the Wyatts before they could climb toward the titles. As #DIY tried to send Montez Ford into a table propped in the corner, Ford instead lept over the table, the turnbuckles and the ringpost onto opponents on the outside. Four consecutive table spots culminated in Axiom putting Angelo Dawkins through two tables with a Spanish fly from the top rope to the outside.
Candice LeRae, B-Fab and Nikki Cross all got involved in the match, with LeRae eventually being knocked from a ladder in the ring through a ladder suspended between the ring and the commentary desk. Erick Rowan then got involved, attacking the Street Profits before the Profits attacked him with chairs and ran him through a table. Uncle Howdy was next to get involved, including shoving #DIY off of a ladder and through tables outside the ring. Andrade dropped Howdy onto a ladder with a sunset flip powerbomb, but Joe Gacy and Dexter Lumis returned to the ring, cleared things out and Gacy climbed the ladder to retain the titles. The match was a bit too chaotic for my taste, with too many teams making for a match with no consistent through line and the outside interference was entirely unnecessary. It was still a fun watch with some big spots. The Wyatt Sicks retained the titles — Grade: B-
Becky Lynch outlasts Lyra Valkyria with an accidental assist from Bayley
Valkyria took the fight directly to Lynch with strikes and tossing her into the turnbuckles. Lynch eventually moved out of the way of a Valkyria dropkick to the outside before driving the challenger into the commentary desk. Lynch retrieved a kendo stick from under the ring, but Valkyria grabbed a crowbar and used it to knock the stick from Lynch’s hands. Valkyria drove Lynch into the ringside barricade and ring apron before tossing her over the commentary desk.
Lynch would resort to pulling a chain into Valkyria’s mouth before taking a much more dramatic approach to the match, zip-tying Valkyria’s hands together. Despite Lynch’s initial attack on the compromised Valkyria, the challenger managed to leap off of two chairs for a dropkick and land a moonsault. Valkyria then untied a top turnbuckle pad before Lynch caught up to her and drove her shoulder-first into the ringpost. Valkyria ducked under the ring before spraying Lynch with a fire extinguisher. Valkyria then managed to free her hands and take a kendo stick from Lynch to hit her several times. Valkyria would eventually drive herself into the exposed turnbuckle after Lynch moved out of the way, allowing Lynch to hit a Manhandle Slam onto two chairs, but only secured a two count. Lynch trapped Valkyria in a chair and threw her into the commentary desk and ring several times before grabbing the crowbar and threatening to hit Valkyria in the head, before Bayley ran in to pull the crowbar away. Bayley threw the crowbar and brawled with Lynch before throwing her into the barricade several times. Lynch grabbed a table to pull herself to her feet, only to be caught with a Valkyria leg drop through it. Back in the ring, Bayley attempted to take another shot at Lynch with a chain wrapped around her fist, but accidentally hit Valkyria, allowing Lynch to hit a Manhandle Slam for the win. This was a fun weapon brawl with some unique spots, but didn’t top out at more than “good.” Thankfully, this should move things away from any more Lynch vs. Valkyria matches, which is good for Valkyria, who needs to be out from under Lynch’s shadow. Becky Lynch def. Lyra Valkyria to retain the women’s intercontinental championship — Grade: B-
MFTs help Sikoa retain the United States championship in his steel cage match with Fatu
Fatu got off to a hot start before Sikoa was able to reverse momentum and slow the match down, tossing Fatu around the ring while grinding the more high-paced offense-based challenger. Sikoa demanded the cage door be opened but Fatu grabbed onto Sikoa’s foot to stop him from leaving the cage. Fatu ducked out of the way of a Samoan Spike before taking Sikoa down with a clothesline. After Fatu sent Sikoa into the cage several times, Sikoa reversed, but Fatu just smiled after he was bounced off the cage. After a Fatu moonsault the MFTs ran down to surround the cage before Jimmy Uso ran in to try and even the odds before he was taken out by Talla Tonga.
Fatu demanded the referee lock the cage door before turning around into a Samoan Spike for a two count. As Fatu ascended the turnbuckles, the MFTs climbed the ring, with Tonga handcuffing Fatu to the top of the cage. Fatu broke the handcuffs and stopped Sikoa from escaping the cage. Moments later, the men battled at the cage door as Sikoa attempted to escape before Tonga kicked the door into Fatu’s face, driving him back and allowing Sikoa to fall to the floor to retain. After the match, Sikoa told JC Mateo to “get” Fatu, but Uso superkicked Mateo and threw him into the cage. Fatu ultimately hit a moonsault from the top of the cage onto Tonga and Mateo. The match itself was forgettable and suffered the standard cage match problem of multiple bouts of interference and a predictable finish. Solo Sikoa def. Jacob Fatu to retain the United States Championship — Grade: C-
Dominik Mysterio outfoxes AJ Styles to retain the intercontinental championship
Styles made his entrance in an Eddie Guerrero-style low-rider. It was Mysterio who got the better start before Styles nearly caught him with a top rope Styles Clash. Styles was able to hit a tornado DDT shortly after, taking over the offense in the match. Styles hit a series of hard strikes before Mysterio avoided a Phenomenal Forearm before hitting a Michinoku Driver for a near fall.
Mysterio removed a turnbuckle pad and threw Styles a chair as the referee attempted to fix it. Styles put the chair around his own neck and fell to the ground, spoiling Mysterio’s attempt at a disqualification. Styles worked the leg a bit to set up a calf crusher. Styles pulled off Mysterio’s boot in the submission, leading to a collision with the referee. That allowed Mysterio to hit Styles with the boot, hit a frog splash and win. After the match, a replay showed Mysterio unzipping his own boot to set up the finish, which was a bit ruined by how clearly Styles was struggling to pull the boot off for the payoff. The match was just in a buffer spot ahead of the main event, not expected to do much heavy lifting and it played that part. Dominik Mysterio def. AJ Styles via pinfall to retain the intercontinental championship — Grade: C
Cody Rhodes outlasts John Cena in a street fight to win the undisputed WWE championship
Cena and Rhodes hugged before the match and then began to brawl. Cena threw Rhodes to the outside before Rhodes whipped Cena into the ring steps. Cena then whipped Rhodes into the ring steps. Cena took a crutch from Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton and hit Rhodes over the back with it before sliding the steps into the ring. It was Cena who hit the steps, however, before he bounced up to shove Rhodes from the top rope to the outside of the ring. Cena then launched the steps from the ring into Rhodes on the outside.
Both men eventually grabbed steel chairs, striking them together before Rhodes kicked away Cena’s chair and landed a shot to the back. Cena hit a Five-Knuckle Shuffle, but Rhodes stormed back with a Cody Cutter for a near fall. Cena made his own comeback with an Attitude Adjustment, also for a near fall. More back-and-forth led to Rhodes hitting a piledriver for a two count. Cena played possum after the piledrive before springing up and hitting another Attitude Adjustment.
Cena would go on to hit a code red outside the ring before clearing off a commentary desk and putting Rhodes through it with an Attitude Adjustment. Back in the ring, Rhodes avoided a Cena charge before hitting Cross Rhodes for another near fall. Another Attitude Adjustment couldn’t get the job done for Cena. Cena brought a table into the ring, but Rhodes flipped it out of the way and hit a DDT.
The match spilled out into the arena, near the crowd, where Rhodes suplexed Cena onto a steel barricade. The two disappeared under the entrance stage before Cena appeared in the elevator from Rhodes’ entrance with Rhodes on his shoulders, hitting another Attitude Adjustment, this time on the entrance ramp. After Cena brought Rhodes back to the ring, Rhodes threw Cena through the table that was propped in the corner and hit Cross Rhodes for yet another two count. Rhodes unscrewed a turnbuckle and used the metal to hit Cena in the head, telling Cena to get up before hitting him a second time. Cena avoided a third shot and attempted to use the loosened rope to assist in an STF before Rhodes broke free, leading to a trio of Cross Rhodes, but Cena kicked out again. Rhodes grabbed the title belt, but Cena ducked the shot and hit two Attitude Adjustments before a third from the second rope, only for Rhodes to kick out.
Rhodes finally put the match away after an avalanche Cody Cutter through a table, and one final Cross Rhodes. The match overstayed its welcome by a good bit and the dramatics didn’t hit as strongly as it seemed they were hoping, but it was a good match for Cena and was far, far better than their disaster of a match at WrestleMania. WWE also fumbled the story heading into the match, with Cena needlessly blowing the face turn on SmackDown. I’m also dinging the match grade slightly for the very weird mid-match elevator spot. Cody Rhodes def. John Cena via pinfall to win the undisputed WWE championship — Grade: B
Brock Lesnar made his return after the main event
With Cena still in the ring, Brock Lesnar’s music hit, marking Lesnar’s first appearance since his alleged involvement with the Vince McMahon situation that led to Janel Grant’s lawsuit against McMahon and WWE. Lesnar circled the ring as Cena stared at him. Lesnar eventually charged into the ring and quickly hit Cena with an F-5 before the show went off the air.
