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The main event of the July 27, 2015 WWE Raw featured a preview of one of SummerSlam's biggest matches, as John Cena put his United States championship on the line against WWE champion Seth Rollins.
It was a solid back and forth match that ended with the latest troublesome instance of Cena making one of the company's rising young stars (and Triple H guys) tap out to his sloppy STF. The finish was actually really dramatic and exciting, however, because a misplaced knee strike by Rollins lead to a bloodied up U.S. champ.
Here's the blow that did it:
.@JohnCena suffers a possible broken nose in his match vs. @WWERolliins #RAW #CenaVsRollins #Replay pic.twitter.com/9gjEE8yJWK
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) July 28, 2015
And for anyone considering that it might be a work, here's a few screenshots of Cena's face after taking that knee:
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That third pic is from one of the times that WWE doctors came in to check on Cena. Because he's a tough son of a gun who knows his gimmick, the U.S. champ perserved and went through with all the big spots planned for the final five-plus of the bout.
And even folks fuming at Creative's sacrifice of another former NXT champ at the altar of the 38 year old, 15-time world champ have to tip their cap to "Big Match John" for turning it up a notch when his face looked like that.
You can also see the knee at 1:05 of this video, along with highlights of the finishing sequences they worked post-nose break:
Keep it here for more details on the injury, Cena's short and long-term availablity, and inevitable rumors of heat on Rollins.