Roman Reigns continues to solidify himself as the next big face of the WWE, and he really put a stamp on that claim last month when he downed John Cena in one-on-one action at No Mercy on pay-per-view (PPV).
After a brief hiatus from WWE TV following WrestleMania 33, John Cena returned to SmackDown Live for a small program in which he ended up putting over former New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Shinsuke Nakamura. He would then return to Monday Night RAW in order to confront Roman Reigns, who has bee deemed "The Guy" since Cena has taken a back step from the main event scene of things.
The pair engaged in some brilliant back-and-forth for several weeks, cutting multiple promos on one another that tended to get pretty personal at times. All of that went out the window when the clashed inside the ring, however, and after overcoming several Attitude Adjustments Reigns was able to hit a spear to end the night with a three count for the win.
Reigns recently did an interview with the Mirror to promote some live event coming to the UK soon and discussed his feud with "The Leader Of The Cenation." Reigns revealed a key lesson he learned from working with Cena during their epic feud (quotes via IWNerd):
“I think I learned that I’m up for any challenge. That was one of the biggest challenges for me and that’s what great competitors do.
"If I had to lower myself to compete with John Cena, then there’s no point in competing with John Cena. But what he did, like any great competitor, any great superstar, he forced me to step up.
"As he said, ‘you either step up or you step aside’. I’m very proud to show that I’m able to do these different things. For a long time my strength has always been in the ring and I haven’t had these barn burner promos that everybody talks about the next day.
"But, I know inside that I’m able to step up. I know what I have ability wise and talent wise and I think that’s all that John was trying to do, he wanted to bring out the best in me and I think he did that and I’m very grateful for that
“I think that’s my job, that’s the most important thing about being the top guy, that you lift everybody up, that you bring everybody up to that standard.
"It can’t be the other way around because if that’s the case, then the whole structure is off. I think he did a great job of lighting a fire under my ass and I think I did a great job of stepping up to the occasion and we made great TV for it”
What are your thoughts on Reigns' comments regarding what he learned from Cena while working against him? Did you enjoy the program between the two mega-stars? And do you view Reigns as the new face of the company now that he has dethroned the likes of Cena and The Undertaker? Have YOUR say in the comments section below, and the fourth episode of GiveMeSport’s WWE podcast is here!
Check it out via this link: https://soundcloud.com/user-818579649/gms-wwe-podcast-money-in-the-bank-fallout
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