Everything you need to know about Jon Stewart hosting WWE’s SummerSlam
Jon Stewart was back on TV hosting Sunday night, but not like you’ve ever seen him before. Here’s everything you need to know about Stewart’s stint at WWE’s SummerSlam pay-per-view.
1. Stewart is a lifelong wrestling fan.
As surprising as it may be for some that Jon Stewart would make his first post-retirement job hosting an event for WWE, it actually makes a lot of sense given the comedian’s longtime affinity for professional wrestling. Stewart had several wrestlers as guests on “The Daily Show,” even before his spring feud with Seth Rollins. (More on Rollins to come.) The fandom is clearly something Stewart is keeping in the family — his son Nate was also present for the festivities.
2. Seth Rollins was facing John Cena for control of both the world heavyweight and U.S. titles.
For reasons too complicated to address in a brief overview, WWE has two title belts for two separate championships, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and the United States Championship. Heading into Sunday’s match, Seth Rollins held the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and John Cena, the U.S. Championship. Their SummerSlam match was for both titles, making it a winner-take-all scenario. As is often the case in WWE matches, one wrestler is considered a face (short for babyface), the good guy, and the other, the heel. As far as WWE goes, John Cena is generally always the face, as he has come to represent everything good about America, a role that has actually earned him a certain amount of disdain amongst the wrestling faithful. To counter that, Seth Rollins is currently a heel.
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3. Jon Stewart and Seth Rollins have a history.
In February, Stewart called out Rollins for disrespecting the show and his hosting of it, a move that caused Rollins to interrupt a later show’s “Moment of Zen” and spur the two to attempt to settle their differences on an episode of “Monday Night Raw,” in which Stewart may or may not (he did) have kicked Rollins in the groin to escape a beatdown. Of course, since professional wrestling remains a scripted entertainment, the two remain close, as evidenced by Rollins surprising Stewart with a custom “The Daily Show” WWE championship belt to commemorate his retirement.
4. Jon Stewart turned heel.
In a decidedly unexpected move, Jon Stewart himself inserted himself into the championship match and attacked John Cena with a steel chair, before scurrying from the ring and leaving the chair behind for Seth Rollins to use in order to finish Cena off. As is the norm in professional wrestling events, the referee on hand saw none of these shenanigans, and so Stewart’s heel turn led Rollins to victory and sabotaged the match for Cena. Such events are standard operating procedure for WWE events, particularly pay-per-view matches, but all the same, Stewart’s turn for the dark side caught many off guard.
5. Jon Stewart made children cry.
Though maybe not directly, Stewart’s actions did have great reverberations throughout the greater WWE universe, as Cena’s most vocal fanbase resides in those WWE fans 10 and under. Which means that scenes like this were likely more common than not. For shame, Jon Stewart. Welcome to heel life.
Follow me on Twitter at @midwestspitfire.
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