WWE Battleground 2017 highlights: John Cena vs. Rusev

An old rivalry was renewed on Sunday night at WWE Battleground as John Cena battled Rusev in a Flag Match.

It’s been more than two years since Rusev came out in a freaking tank to battle it out with John Cena at WrestleMania 31, and the rivalry was back on at WWE Battleground on Sunday night in Philadelphia.

I don’t think I’m alone in thinking that this feels like a quick little filler program to get to the next thing but WWE wasn’t going to not have John Cena on a pay-per-view while he’s available, so here we are. And while the Flag Match seemed like a fun idea when Cena returned to SmackDown Live on July 4, it really didn’t make much sense to move it to Battleground.

But again, here we are so let’s take a look at some of the highlights.

The Philly crowd was pretty lively for the matches leading up to this one but much like a lot of people in the WWE Universe, they really didn’t care about this match as it got underway. Starting with a headlock didn’t help matters. The pace was very slow in the early going with each man trying to get to their respective flags. There were a couple of decent top-rope spots in the first 10 minutes or so, including this sort-of powerbomb from Rusev.

Rusev was the first man to pull his flag down but Cena knocked it out of his hands and then was able to hit an AA and slap on the STF. The Bulgarian Brute tapped out, which obviously meant nothing, and Cena climbed up and pulled down the American flag and Rusev got quick revenge by knocking it out of the 16-time champ’s hands.

The action moved to the outside as Cena made his way up the ramp but was attacked from behind as Rusev went back on offense, even using the stairs as a weapon. They soon made it to the stage and battled by the podiums for a few minutes. Rusev got a couple of tables out and mocked Cena for a minute, which was actually pretty funny.

The end naturally saw Cena power out of Rusev’s finisher and go right into an AA from the podium onto the very tables that Rusev himself put up. Cena climbed down, grabbed the American flag and that was that.

The announcers wanted you to believe that this was some sort of epic battle, but overall, it was pretty average. I wonder which non-American Cena will target next. We all know it’s coming.

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