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PHILADELPHIA – All the might of The World’s Strongest Man wasn’t enough to wrest the WWE Championship from its world-beating bearer, as John Cena prevailed over a motivated, menacing Mark Henry to retain his prize for the third straight pay-per-view event at Money in the Bank 2013.

It was a challenge that Henry had feigned retirement and played every dirty trick in the book to attain, a bout meant to cap off a nearly 20-year career that had never included a WWE Title win. It was a brutal, inspired effort by one of WWE’s most enduring Superstars against its most decorated champion. It was one part physical, one part mental … and, when the dust had settled, it was still not enough for Mark Henry to get the job done.

It had, for some time, been looking like Cena’s days at the top were numbered. From Henry’s SAG-qualifying “retirement” speech to his foreboding threats toward The Champ over the last two weeks, the No. 1 contender had Cena’s number in the weeks leading up to the match. Henry’s career spent holding all major accolades except the WWE Championship seemed to have pushed him to a new level of aggression in pursuit of the ultimate prize, but Henry’s dismissal of Cena’s resilience was, ultimately, misplaced

The No. 1 contender seemed eager to assert his dominance over The Champ from the get-go at Money in the Bank. Henry kicked off his challenge by throwing powerful strikes and headbutts that drove Cena into the corner, but the behemoth seemed in no hurry to put the champion away quickly. Seemingly reveling in the opportunity to pick Cena apart, Henry used the ring itself to his advantage, slamming Cena into the steps and bouncing his head off the ropes in a grisly opening salvo that left the champion reeling, culminating the sequence in a pair of “kaiju”-caliber giant body swings that sent The Champ airborne.


Henry’s maneuvers weren’t enough to put Cena away for the three-count, but The World’s Strongest Man seemed far more preoccupied with the dismantling of Cena’s legend than his body. Humiliation was what he aimed to do in Philadelphia, and he certainly accomplished it for the better part by virtue of sheer power. An early attempt by Cena to hoist his 400-pound challenger up for a bodyslam went about as well as it did on Raw, and it looked for a very long time as if the mighty Cenation general was destined to be simply outpowered in the contest.

Cena found some wind by throwing body shots and shoulder blocks that finally took Henry off his feet, but while the subsequent Five-Knuckle Shuffle hit home, The Champ was unable to complete his famous finishing sequence and execute the Attitude Adjustment when his legs buckled under Henry’s weight once again. As Henry hoisted Cena up for further punishment, The Champ countered with a tornado DDT and, using every ounce of his strength, finally heaved The World's Strongest Man into the air for an Attitude Adjustment.

Alas for Cena, it was not enough.


The triumph of Cena’s Attitude Adjustment turned sour when he attempted a cross-body and Henry snatched The Champ out of the sky. He pulverized the titleholder with the World’s Strongest Slam, but Cena kicked out yet again to keep his reign alive. Henry turned to chicanery at this point, exposing a turnbuckle to use as a weapon — a strategy that backfired when The Champ shoved Henry himself into the bare steel and capitalized off his disorientation to lock in the STF.

The World’ Strongest Man escaped the hold by reaching the ropes, however, as Cena’s resilience began to build, Henry’s own confidence began to fade and he went for his most blatant cheap shot yet, shoving Cena into the referee and booting The Champ with a low-blow while the official regained his bearings. The illicit kick wasn’t enough to get the job done either, though, and The Champ kicked out at two once again.


At this point, the No. 1 contender looked to put the contest away with another World’s Strongest Slam, which Cena writhed his way out of, slipping from Henry’s clutches and to lock in the STF once again. Henry seemed as though he’d break the hold with the ropes again, but The Champ proved once again that heart is the strongest muscle when he grabbed the titan by his ankle and hauled him to the middle of the ring. With no sanctuary available to him, Henry finally succumbed to the submission hold and ended the bout with three taps to the canvas.

While Henry hobbled his way out of the ring, Cena immediately sprang to his feet in a dramatic reversal of their roles of late, seizing his title in preparation to fight lest The World’s Strongest Man look to make an example of him once again. Such a scrap was not to be, though. The humbled Henry slowly trudged back to the locker room in defeat lamenting what could have been, while a short distance away, Cena ascended the turnbuckle and basked in the glory of his Philadelphia win.


For all his power, Henry had considered himself a lock to win from the minute the match was announced. But perhaps he shouldn’t have been surprised that John Cena prevailed to defy the odds. It is, after all, what he does.

source: wwe.com


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in CHICAGO — The name Three Stages of Hell began to feel like an understatement by the time WWE Champion John Cena sent Ryback crashing through the roof of an ambulance at the end of their grueling trilogy at WWE Payback. A trip to the underworld would have felt like a weekend at the beach compared to what the Cenation leader and the "Human Wrecking Ball" put their bodies through in Chicago’s Allstate Arena.


In what was only the fourth Three Stages of Hell Match in WWE history, Cena fell to Ryback in the Lumberjack Match that opened their merciless series, but rallied to defeat the monster in a Tables Match and an Ambulance Match to retain his WWE Title. To finally stop his seemingly indestructible foe, Cena delivered an Attitude Adjustment to Ryback atop the ambulance, brutally driving the challenger’s 290-pound frame through the unforgiving steel roof.


It was a shocking visual that perfectly summed up what was one of the most physical rivalries of the WWE Champion’s career. Cena may have grown accustomed to adversaries who were willing to be more depraved than him, but he clearly struggled in the unfamiliar position of a man who was overpowered.


Maybe that’s why the determined Superstar appeared uncharacteristically cautious as he approached Ryback in the early goings of the Lumberjack Match. It’s possible that the 11-time WWE Champion was looking to preserve energy in what would be the sports-entertainment equivalent of a triathlon, but it’s more likely that the big man had Cena’s number from the jump.


With 30 Superstars surrounding the ring — including newly crowned Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel and brutes like Kane and Sheamus — the rivals had no opportunity to roll to the outside for a second of reprieve. This became a serious issue for Cena as Ryback repeatedly hoisted The Champ in the air and tossed him back to the mat as if he were a dumbbell. When the challenger launched Cena to the outside, villains like Antonio Cesaro and Cody Rhodes swarmed on the Superstar like lions on a wounded antelope.

Ryback wasn’t immune to the wrath of the Lumberjacks, but when all 30 Superstars ganged up on the "Human Wrecking Ball," Cena climbed to the top rope and threw his 250-pound frame onto the scrum. The high-risk dive may have been a tactical error on The Champ’s part as Ryback was able to Shell Shock Cena soon after to pin the WWE Champion and claim the first fall.

Now at a disadvantage, the Cenation leader knew he had to win the ensuing Tables Match, but the effects of Ryback’s finishing maneuver left the Superstar reeling. Cena had lost the WWE Title to Sheamus in a Tables Match at WWE TLC in 2009, and he had no interest in repeating that disappointing evening in Chicago. Still, there was little he could do against his hungry opponent.

The Champ’s unbreakable spirit propelled him forward, but Ryback beat Cena like the man owed him money. In a city that’s synonymous with rough-and-tumble competitors like The Road Warriors and One Man Gang, the "Human Wrecking Ball" displayed a brutality that’s uncommon in the current climate of sports-entertainment as he clobbered Cena with meaty clotheslines and even the steel steps.


Just when it looked like Cena’s fate was sealed, the WWE Champion managed to reverse Shell Shocked and send Ryback through the pine with an Attitude Adjustment. The Three Stages of Hell Match was now even, but the Superstar from Sin City still held the upper hand — something he made abundantly clear when he viciously powerbombed Cena through the announce table.

The rules of the Ambulance Match dictated that a Superstar had to place his opponent in the vehicle and close the doors in order to win. These dangerous stakes led Ryback to drag Cena up the entryway of the Allstate Arena into a chaotic environment of sharp steel and unforgiving concrete. Sensing that both his WWE Title and physical wellbeing were now in serious jeopardy, Cena brought the fight to Ryback, blasting him with crutches and throwing him into the side of the ambulance with such force that the door flew off.

The ambulance itself became a weapon as the "Human Wrecking Ball" tore off a piece of paneling and teed off on the champion. The two Superstars then scrambled onto the vehicle's hood, where Cena whacked his destructive opponent with the ambulance’s flashing lights. No matter what The Champ hit Ryback with, the monster continued to come forward — until both men stood atop the ambulance.

As the capacity Chicago crowd hit their feet, the Cenation leader hoisted all 290-pounds of Ryback onto his shoulders and executed an Attitude Adjustment, plunging him right through the steel roof. Not only was it a physically remarkable feat, but it was strategically brilliant — by putting Ryback inside the ambulance, Cena had won the match and successfully defended his WWE Title.

The brutality of Three Stages of Hell had clearly taken its toll on The Champ, but as Cena rose to embrace the WWE Universe with his title in hand, it was apparent that even the devil himself would have second thoughts about testing this man’s resolve.


source: wwe.com

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