John Cena defeated Brock Lesnar in a brutal fight at Extreme Rules 2012, but the top superstar in the WWE may have paid the ultimate price.
Lesnar destroyed and manhandled Cena throughout the match. He put Cena in multiple submission maneuvers and busted him open early in the match with an elbow to the head. In the final minutes of the match, Lesnar once again had Cena in a variation of an armbar, but Cena was able to pick Lesnar up and slam him down onto the steel steps to break the hold.
Cena ultimately won with an Attitude Adjustment move on the steel steps in a shocking victory. At no point during the match did it seem like Cena was legitimately hurt, though he was selling the repeated armbars towards the end of the match.
In a post-match victory speech, Cena stated that he will be taking time off from the company. At this time, it isn't clear whether or not this was a planned break or vacation, but he did suggest that hurt his left arm and will be out for an extended period of time.
Even though winning the battle in defeating Brock Lesnar, Cena did not win the war as it was visible noticeable that he had suffered a possible injury to his left arm during the match Sunday night.
Here’s a quote from the article posted on WWE.com:
"The most obvious injury was the laceration to his head, which caused a substantial amount of bleeding," said WWE locker room physician Dr. Chris Amann. "He also has suffered a shoulder injury. Initial testing in the training room leads me to believe there may be torn muscles, possibly a torn rotator cuff or a biceps muscle."
With the possible torn muscle in his left arm, I truly believe that during the middle of the match as Lesnar locked Cena in a Kimura, a submission that usually is saved for MMA, that all but curtained did the damage to the arm of Cena.