John Cena def. Brock Lesnar (Extreme Rules Match)

CHICAGO — The pain came, was felt and was conquered by John Cena at Extreme Rules, where the dogged warrior reacquainted himself with ruthless aggression against a reborn threat in Brock Lesnar. In a grisly, torturous and barbaric Extreme Rules Match, the Cenation leader stood blow-for-blow with a veritable fighting machine, hell-bent on reshaping WWE in his chiseled likeness. ( HIGHLIGHTS | MATCH PHOTOS)

Lesnar, the man who dismissed the moniker of “Superstar” and vowed to “legitimize” WWE, had very specific plans for his emerald green-teed opponent, who’s long represented the idealistic mores of hustle, loyalty and respect. Under such extreme conditions where literally no rule was more tantamount than to maul, batter and disable your opponent by any means necessary, the hard-hitting beast named Brock aimed to deconstruct John Cena and make him know pain. ( CENA INJURY REPORT)

A human wrecking ball was on the downswing and swooping toward Cena with just enough velocity to demolish a near decade-long legacy as WWE’s most brilliant star. And if The Cenation Commander-in-Chief couldn’t withstand its force, that ball’s trajectory would pummel WWE and require a landscape-wide reimagining – the age of Brock.

But this brave, new world, it would seem, was not meant to be at Extreme Rules.

Cena and Brock enter into battle

It was starting to look like the worst month in the career of the jocular, ever-triumphant John Cena. Spinning out of a devastating defeat on The Grandest Stage of Them All to The Rock, the Cenation leader succumbed to the ruthless aggression of a past foe just 24 hours after WrestleMania XXVIII. Brock Lesnar reemerged in WWE after an eight-year hiatus on April 2 and delivered an F-5 that sent all of WWE into a tailspin. ( WATCH) The ensuing weeks were progressively worse for Cena as he left Raw wounded, embarrassed and beaten.

And yet, John Cena signed the contract for an anything-goes encounter with an unpredictable individual who returned simply for fame and glory, if not to see his namesake on the marquee of Monday Night Raw.

Wholly committed to WWE – even against the harshly audible disapproval of the crowd around him in Chicago – Cena charged into battle not just for himself, but for an entire universe. Reminiscent of his last pay-per-view bout in the Allstate Arena against red-hot hometown hero CM Punk at Money in the Bank, the 10-time WWE Champion was met by deafening jeers against the callous goliath.

Fueled perhaps by the “Cutting Edge” pep talk from The Rated-R Superstar on Raw SuperShow ( WATCH) or maybe by the pair of F-5s (and flagrant low blow) sustained at the hands of Lesnar, Cena arrived in the Windy City without the fear Brock expected he’d instilled. With Edge’s words resonating on the other side of his tight and high fade, Cena’s mind was focused the former UFC champion.

Brock draws first blood

The bell rang and the two collided in the immediate center of the ring, with Lesnar taking Cena down to the mat for a series of wounding blows to the skull. Blood flowed from Brock’s prey as WWE medical technicians tended to The Cenation Commander-in-Chief, who exploded back at his gloved enemy. Still, no haymaker or shoulder tackle could rattle Lesnar, a former Royal Rumble winner and King of the Ring, as he dismantled Cena.

The bloodied lip administered weeks ago by Brock was just a preview of the abuse Lesnar unfurled onto his denim-shorted rival. Systematically cruel, Brock channeled the skillset honed within the octagon by targeting Cena’s body and limbs. After working his left arm, the former mixed martial arts heavyweight hung his foe from the ringpost just above his hightops, while the blood kept pouring. Slowly, it appeared the demands by Lesnar were a mere three-count or submission away.

Cena endures the pain

Toyed with by his much taller aggressor, Cena struggled to regain his footing and found himself countered at every turn, eventually caught in a crushing Kimura Lock atop the steel ringsteps tossed into the squared circle by Brock. Amused by the carnage, Lesnar made a crucial mistake, taking a high risk leap toward an apron-planted Cena. The bloodied Superstar was ready for Brock, who propelled directly into a steel chain-wrapped fist, which drew crimson fluid from Lesnar’s head.

Then, it was ultimately the move derived from Brock’s own F-5 roughly nine years ago – the Attitude Adjustment – that wrought an end to the mayhem. ( CENA AND BROCK'S HISTORY) Hoisted upon the Cenation leader’s shoulders, Lesnar couldn’t escape the plummet onto the steel steps that followed and the resounding pinfall defeat at the hands of WWE’s square-jawed hero – a moment that actually brought even the staunchest anti-Cena crowd in the Windy City to its feet. ( MATCH PHOTOS)

As the world witnessed, there was clearly nothing “running down his leg” like Lesnar teased. Rather, it was adrenaline running through Cena’s bruised body. In the sold-out scene of Chicago’s Allstate Arena, the resilient Cena felled the “wrecking machine” and took the first step toward rebuilding.

While the world waits to learn the fate of John Cena, who alluded to possibly “going away for a while” in the aftermath of the brawl on pay-per-view, the WWE Universe takes solace in knowing there will be no “new face of WWE.”

On the contrary, in the fallout of Extreme Rules 2012, the face of WWE still features a tightly formed salute below the brim of a bright green hat. For now.