John Cena Magic on Display During SummerSlam Losing Streak

WWE SummerSlam has been John Cena's kryptonite in the last several years. And the Superman of the squared circle has elevated rival after rival in the process.

Cena enters Sunday's SummerSlam against Baron Corbin on a surprising losing streak. The powerhouse has suffered six defeats in a row at the marquee pay-pay-view. 

Forget his reputation among many fans as a guy who "buries" other wrestlers and refuses to put over new faces. That hasn't been true in the least at SummerSlam of late.   

It's at this event where WWE has most taken advantage of the career-changing power of beating Cena.  

SummerSlam has seen him help turn emerging talent into made men. Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles and CM Punk's careers were all better off thanks to their SummerSlam showdowns with Cena.

And the 16-time world champ has churned out a number of classics along the way.

Cena vs. Styles last year was arguably the best WWE match of the year. WWE.com named Cena vs. Bryan the No. 2 bout of 2013.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t the Internet Wrestling Database) rated four of Cena's recent SummerSlam losses 4.25 stars or higher (out of five). The average match rating during this streak is four stars.

Cena has made SummerSlam his stage even without a victory to his name at the PPV since 2010.

        

CM Punk (2011), CM Punk and Big Show (2012)

Punk twice came out on top against Cena at SummerSlam. Those wins solidified the idea that Punk was not only Cena's level but that he had the megastar's number.

Cena made the perfect rival for Punk, the corporate-approved Boy Scout to his irreverent rebel. 

Their second SummerSlam meeting came in the midst of Punk's historic 435-day reign as WWE champ. Cena was one of the many foes Punk outsmarted and outlasted, but there's always something special about taking down the golden boy, even in a Triple Threat scenario.

Punk would have never had the momentum he generated had he not had such a major name as his foil, one WWE clearly felt comfortable letting him topple.

Daniel Bryan (2013)

Bryan's victory at WrestleMania XXX with a pair of championship titles in his hands and confetti raining on him was the climax of a story that began at SummerSlam.

Cena selected Bryan as his opponent that year, offering him a shot at the WWE title. Bryan, with a surging fanbase behind him, made the most of it. He and Cena put on a thriller, one where Bryan surprisingly beat Cena in decisive fashion.

Bryan wrote in Yes! My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania: "It was still the biggest moment of my career up until then. Very few people beat John Cena clean in the middle of the ring, and I got to do it in the main event of SummerSlam."

Beating Cena helped Bryan looked like a main eventer. It was a key moment on the timeline leading up to his career peak.

        

Brock Lesnar (2014)

Lesnar, unlike Bryan and Punk, didn't need to take down Cena to vault himself into the top tier. The Beast Incarnate, though, used an absolute devouring of the champ to become a monster like no other.

Had Lesnar destroyed Alberto Del Rio or Sheamus to capture the WWE title as he did at SummerSlam 2014, it wouldn't have had nearly the impact that steamrolling Cena did.

A flood of suplexes left Cena dizzy, wounded, helpless. Lesnar beat him more emphatically than anyone else ever had.

        

Seth Rollins (2015)

Rollins ended SummerSlam 2015 standing triumphantly in the ring with both the WWE and United States Championships in his grasp.

Credit: WWE.comSeth Rollins celebrates his SummerSlam win over John Cena.

His win over Cena was one of the biggest of his career. He had downed an icon, albeit with interference from comedian Jon Stewart, and achieved the rare feat of holding two titles at once. Along the way, going toe to toe with The Cenation Leader, Rollins looked tremendous.

Rob McCarron of Voices of Wrestling summed it up perfectly: "This was a fantastic showcase of Seth Rollins as a credible champion from start to finish...Rollins looked like a star."

That's in large part because of Cena. The powerhouse was not only able to give him a great match on the grand stage; he served as the best hunting trophy on Rollins' wall.

        

AJ Styles (2016)

Styles charged into WWE in 2016, making himself comfortable in the company's upper echelon rather quickly.

Tangling with Roman Reigns and Chris Jericho certainly helped in that process. But there was no bigger win during Styles' run than the one against Cena at SummerSlam. That victory made it clear Styles was going to a major player.

The clean win put him in select company.

It was one Styles used as a key component for his character for weeks. The Phenomenal One incessantly bragged about beating Cena. He demanded to be called The Face That Runs the Place after knocking off the original guy to go by that moniker.

And Styles added to his WWE resume with another top-flight performance that night in August. Critics like Miami Heraldcolumnist Scott Fishman raved about the match:

Styles became the latest wrestler to gain momentum from a SummerSlam clash with Cena. A great match and an impressive win catapulted him forward.

Will Corbin get that same treatment on Sunday?

He sure needs it after failing to win the WWE title despite cashing in his Money in the Bank contract on Tuesday. Recent history suggests that he has a shot to score the biggest win of his career, and win or lose, a stellar showing is likely on the way.

Cena has been killing it on SummerSlam, even as his record worsens and his losing streak grows.