WWE Summerlam Night 2 crowned a new, undisputed WWE champion in Cody Rhodes, put the stage for another unexpected showdown between John Cena and Brock Lesnar and sat down on the two-night summer extravagance of the Metlife Stadium in New Jersey.
Here are our greatest knowledge from New Jersey when we unpack how WWE from Summerlam progresses.
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1. Cenas exceptional representation overshadowed by Lesnar's shocking return
For everything Wrestlemania 41 from Wrestlemania 41 was not, Summerlams was. From John Cena's monotonous entrance to his actual game against Cody Rhodes, her showdown in April left a lot to be desired in Las Vegas.
After Cena promised a return to his roots last Friday, he played the hits that fans expected for his last run. For the first time since the Elimination Chamber, Cena's Titantron, he made his familiar run a ring – and he had put together his best game for years. Cena was inspired and showed that he can still go when he and Rhodes lose through the ring, through the crowd, into the code and back into the ring. All night drama lingered with speculation about who could play a role in the finish line for this undisputed WWE championship.
In the end, however, it was only Rhodes and Cena, whereby the challenger was saluting the champion, connected to a cross Rhodes to take the title back and to provide a certain amount of uncertainty in the past four months of Cena's career when they spent an emotional moment together – but only briefly.
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Although it would not have been a total shock for the rock or even Travis Scott to go to the ring afterwards, Brock Lesnar's return was not on the Bingo card from anyone on Sunday evening. If nothing else, the decision offered immediate clarity about Cena's future.
Lesnar has been missing on the WWE television since August 2023 when he lost to Cody Rhodes in Summerlam. Outside of the ring, Lesnar's absence followed in a federal action against the former chairman of the company, Vince McMahon, who claims sexual misconduct in 2021 in 2021. Lesnar is not referred to as the accused in the lawsuit, but in allegations that concern the former WWE employee Janel Grant, who submitted the lawsuit in January 2024.
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Just when Cena disappointed from a disappointing route last year of his career, a completely different black cloud is now lingering about his next challenge.
2. Another triple threat game crushes it
This was fantastic in a vacuum, especially as an opener. Rhea Ripley, Iyo Sky and Naomi organized an extraordinary match that pushed the pace and continued to drive the WWE world champion Naomi as an accomplished veteran. The finish, when Naomi took advantage of an avalanche riptide on the Sky to roll Ripley and sneak up as a champion, was the logical conclusion for how this story moves further. As good as it was, it is difficult not to compare this with the wrestlemania 41 triple threatening game between Ripley, Sky and Bianca Belair, and it did not quite achieve this level.
What stands out is how much chemistry Ripley and Sky and their ability to bend seamlessly between triple and singles games. Sky may have been the wrestler of the year in the WWE throughout the year 2025, and Ripley is on the best way to be the greatest wrestler for women in WWE history if it is not there yet. Naomi continues as a master in front of an already planned showdown on August 31 with Stephanie Vaquer at the Clash in Paris Event in a match, in which another swing of the dynamics at the top of the “WWE RAW” -Women's Division could be seen. The image of the Women's World Cup is currently crazy to lack talent or challenger.
3. Tables, ladders, chairs and chaos
DIY, the Motor City machine guns and the street profits have missed a wrestlemania 41, which is a one at the beginning of this year TLC -Match “Friday Night Smackdown” It felt very much as if they had sent a message – they belonged to the map.
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WWE did not miss his second chance to bring the WWE-TAG team championships in one of the biggest shows of the year, which led to an absolutely awkward TLC match with Six-Pack. In a shop window of the most stacked tag team department of the doctorate, all their moments had.
Candice Lerae's fall from the ladder within the ring, on the side by a ladder from the outside, looked brutally. The coordination of table spots around all four corners of the ring was brilliant. Nathan Frazier creates the rim spear on Tommaso Ciampa, which hangs on the ladder, but the lack was perfect.
The finish felt a bit flat, since everything signaled that new champions were crowned in the frenetic run until the end of the game. Run-in after Run-in gave the Wyatt diseases victory and remembered too much of the last years of the Bloodline run.
4. Lyra Valkyria and Becky Lynch never needed DQS
Lyra Valkyria and Becky Lynch organized some of the best games in the best rivalry in the WWE this year. Valkyria and Lynch were positioned on the map after the six-pack TLC match and were in a difficult position before the bell rang. But opening the door so that your match also has an element of chaos without disqualifications felt like poor structuring of the card. The TLC match would have huge spots and the card took time to breathe before entering a weapon-heavy match again.
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Lynch and Valkyria never felt that it needed a “No DQs” determination and that my preference for a standard one -playing game would have been. But the duo did the best that they could do with what was given to them. Valkyria, which struggles with a piece of the game with tied hands, was fantastic, and adding Bayley to the goal was always useful.
Bayley declined Lynch's offer to accidentally meet her to accidentally meet Valkyria, and cost her the chance to fight the Intercontinental Championship of women while Lynch Champion is fascinating here. A Bayley victory against Lynch in the near future could make the trilogy senseless on Sunday. We have to see how this is going on and where Valkyria goes with Lynch after an excellent rivalry.
5. Solo Sikoa has to find his fight
There was a moment when Solo -Sikoa seemed one of the worst guys in the WWE. He was the muscle for Roman Reigns, the reason why people like Cody Rhodes and Drew Mcintyre were unable to overcome the bloodline, and seemed to be well positioned to make a huge leap forward when his family continued to feel their presence. While his relationship with Reigns only passed last year, he nevertheless ranks Rhodes and Reigns in a day team main event of a PL and then called for Reigns at the “Monday Raw” Netflix debut in the tribal fight.
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There is no question that Jacob Fatu is a future world champion and is cultivated as such. But the trust that Sikoa has for the MFT and see how far he has fallen from a legitimate challenger for the world championship title is difficult to see. He kept the United States Championship in such a way that he felt like Shawn Michaels, who needed the help of diesel to record his title with other words, no serious threat to the fastest rising star from WWE. Hopefully this positioning will change when your rivalry develops.
Other thoughts:
-Montez Ford continues to work like a big star, with charisma, the appearance and the in-ring ability, which should mean more runway as singles wrestler. It is not wrong that he continues to see success as a member of the street winnings, but I would like to see more opportunities for a man who is more intense.
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-Dominics Mysterio and AJ Styles, which were delivered as a breather in the middle of a card with end-to-end energy. Eddie Guerrero gave fantastic recalls, from styles, who exchanges a homage with its entrance and its equipment, the duo, the fake stool shots and the Mysterio Ending Styles Night with a boot on the head. Mysterio remains a ray of hope wherever it is positioned and has bent over the squad in a way that his father made a career. The future remains Hell for Mysterio.