Turns out Brock Lesnar wasn’t always closing the show. After Night One of SummerSlam ended with Lesnar and Oba Femi tearing each other apart inside Hell in a Cell, a new backstage report claims WWE didn’t settle on that main event until the very last minute.
Speaking during a WrestleVotes Q&A, JoeyVotes revealed Lesnar vs. Oba Femi wasn’t penciled in to headline the show just a few days before SummerSlam.
“It wasn’t the plan Monday night, that’s for sure. We can report that.”
TC didn’t leave much room for interpretation: “Absolutely. That was a last-minute decision.” That’s a pretty significant change considering most fans expected CM Punk and Cody Rhodes’ Undisputed WWE Championship match to close Night One.
Instead, WWE made the switch, handed the final spot to Lesnar and Oba Femi, and watched the two deliver a Hell in a Cell match that literally ended with the ring ripped apart. It also wasn’t the first backstage detail to emerge about Lesnar’s spot on the card.
We had previously reported that Lesnar himself pushed to headline while WWE was in Minneapolis, as it was noted that being in Brock’s home market made staying until the end of the night far less of an issue than usual.
What is clear is that something changed during SummerSlam week. By the time Saturday rolled around, Cody Rhodes and CM Punk were no longer closing the show. That spot belonged to Brock Lesnar.
And after Lesnar called Oba Femi “the future of WWE” while standing over the wreckage of the ring, it’s hard to argue WWE didn’t get exactly the ending it was looking for.
Do you think WWE made the right call changing the Night One main event, or should Cody Rhodes and CM Punk have closed the show? Let us know in the comments below.
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