Retro Wednesday: John Cena Vs. Brock Lesnar - First PPV Match

Looking back at history can be so interesting. Specifically, the history between the participants of this year's SummerSlam spectacle, WWE World Heavyweight Champion John Cena and his opponent, Brock Lesnar.

Nearly a dozen years ago, a red-hot John Cena was garnering attention with his newly-formed "Word Life" gimmick. Far-gone from the cookie-cutter wrestling "prototype" he debuted with, he now was donning chains, throwback jerseys and tennis shoes. While many compared him to a generic Marky-Mark, Cena was climbing up the championship ladder, silencing all the critics.

However, he had a huge wall to break through by the name of Brock Lesnar.

A month before, Lesnar regained the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 19 after a hard-fought victory against Kurt Angle. To determine the number one contender for Lesnar's title, a tournament was held on SmackDown, in which John Cena defeated Chris Benoit in the finals to win. Heading into their match at Backlash, Cena seemed to have the psychological advantage over Lesnar in his quest to win his first world championship.

At Backlash, Cena tried with all his might to dethrone Lesnar from the top after only one month. However, his attempt was unsuccessful, and Cena had to wait another two years before he felt how it is to be the top guy, defeating JBL at WrestleMania 21 for the WWE Championship.

Technically, SummerSlam would be the PPV rubber match between Lesnar and Cena. With both Cena and Lesnar claiming a PPV victory, it should be interesting to see how this match unfolds. Only this time, Lesnar is the hunter, and Cena is the hunted.

Which Cena vs. Lesnar was better: Backlash '03, or Extreme Rules '12? Sound off below.