Triple H taunts John Cena and his supporters with The Cenation Leader's signature hand gesture. Courtesy of the award-winning WWE Network.
Show
Greatest Royal Rumble
Match Results
Date and location
Friday, Apr 27 | 12 PM
King Abdullah Sports City Stadium
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
John Cena def. Triple H
JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA — For John Cena, this was more like it.
After coming off a WrestleMania where the 16-time World Champion attempted to goad The Undertaker back into the ring and was trounced when The Deadman finally showed up, The Cenation Leader earned a grinding, hard-fought victory over Triple H in the larger-than-life exhibition that started WWE’s Greatest Royal Rumble event.
Indeed, for Cena, this match was everything that his WrestleMania bout was not: He seemed far more comfortable from the start, entering the ring flanked by a group of Saudi children in his colors and goading The Game into a test of strength just moments in. Even when The Cerebral Assassin — coming off his own WrestleMania defeat — gained the early advantage, Cena never let the match get away from him, though Triple H made it a point of interrupting the Five Knuckle Shuffle, no doubt aware that it typically presages the Attitude Adjustment.
Cena changed course accordingly, ensnaring The Game in the STF before administering an AA that went for a two-and-nine-tenths count that was so close that Michael Cole almost called it a pin. Triple H responded with a Pedigree, but that wasn’t enough either. After kicking out of the maneuver, Cena rolled up The Game’s follow-up attempt to once again lock in the STF. The Cerebral Assassin took his last, best shot by reversing the hold into a crossface, and Cena answered in massive fashion, hitting an Attitude Adjustment, a slingshot into the turnbuckle and, finally, a third AA to put his foe away.
With the match over, Cena took center stage in the ring and grabbed hold of a microphone, thanking the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the “honor” and “privilege” of allowing him to compete at the Greatest Royal Rumble. He left with one last expression of gratitude for the Kingdom’s “unmatched hospitality,” but it was his request that the capacity crowd enjoy the rest of the event that carried the true spirit of the evening: John Cena may have a victory in the books, but as he, Triple H and the entire King Abdullah Sports City Stadium well knew, history was the name of the game.
Published on
JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA — For John Cena, this was more like it.
After coming off a WrestleMania where the 16-time World Champion attempted to goad The Undertaker back into the ring and was trounced when The Deadman finally showed up, The Cenation Leader earned a grinding, hard-fought victory over Triple H in the larger-than-life exhibition that started WWE’s Greatest Royal Rumble event.
Indeed, for Cena, this match was everything that his WrestleMania bout was not: He seemed far more comfortable from the start, entering the ring flanked by a group of Saudi children in his colors and goading The Game into a test of strength just moments in. Even when The Cerebral Assassin — coming off his own WrestleMania defeat — gained the early advantage, Cena never let the match get away from him, though Triple H made it a point of interrupting the Five Knuckle Shuffle, no doubt aware that it typically presages the Attitude Adjustment.
Cena changed course accordingly, ensnaring The Game in the STF before administering an AA that went for a two-and-nine-tenths count that was so close that Michael Cole almost called it a pin. Triple H responded with a Pedigree, but that wasn’t enough either. After kicking out of the maneuver, Cena rolled up The Game’s follow-up attempt to once again lock in the STF. The Cerebral Assassin took his last, best shot by reversing the hold into a crossface, and Cena answered in massive fashion, hitting an Attitude Adjustment, a slingshot into the turnbuckle and, finally, a third AA to put his foe away.
With the match over, Cena took center stage in the ring and grabbed hold of a microphone, thanking the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the “honor” and “privilege” of allowing him to compete at the Greatest Royal Rumble. He left with one last expression of gratitude for the Kingdom’s “unmatched hospitality,” but it was his request that the capacity crowd enjoy the rest of the event that carried the true spirit of the evening: John Cena may have a victory in the books, but as he, Triple H and the entire King Abdullah Sports City Stadium well knew, history was the name of the game.
Published on
