Roman Reigns and John Cena are two of the biggest stars in WWE history, and two men who have regularly been compared to one another.
Both were positioned as the No.1 guy in the company after becoming popular on the undercard. Both were rammed down audience’s throats for years despite waning support from sections. Cena was far more respected than Reigns as a face, but fans pleaded with Vince McMahon to turn both men heel. Only Reigns did, which changed the direction of his career.
With all of this content, surely any promo battle between the pair would be money? It might not have been in 2017 given Reigns’ shakiness on the microphone but by 2021, he had grown and was comfortable going toe to toe with the 16-time Champ and one of the best talkers in WWE history.
Cena had returned to set up the mega title match
To set the scene, Cena had stunningly returned at Money in the Bank to a raucous ovation after a 15-month absence. He challenged Reigns for his then-only Universal Championship at Summerslam in what marked a year since The Tribal Chief’s return as the dominant force we know today.
It was a main event fitting of a WrestleMania, and a powerful way of selling WWE’s summer marquee show. A battle of generations, a battle between Cena and the guy WWE replaced him with when he went to Hollywood.
This was the underbelly for a cracking exchange between the pair on the go-home episode of Smackdown, where the gloves well and truly came off.
A clip shared on Twitter by @JustTalkWrestle shows some of the most cutting comments from the two WWE icons.
VIDEO: John Cena and Roman Reigns' 2021 promo exchange
The promo is the perfect mix of reality and fiction
For just over two minutes, a lot is covered. Cena’s relationship with Nikki Bella is fairly bruising for WWE-curated content but is met in kind with damning lines in the opposite direction.
Cena claims Reigns has been protected his whole career, by The Shield, The Usos and “those giants bars of soap you have for teeth†which made for a humorous mention of Roman’s obvious dental work.
The Shield commentary is perhaps the most eye-opening – The Head of the Table is told he nearly ruined Seth Rollins and ran Dean Ambrose out of WWE. AEW’s now-John Moxley had not really been referenced on TV following his departure in 2019.
John Cena Roman Reigns
Reigns’ mega-push over the years, his five (now six) WrestleMania main events and so on are called out. Not as achievements but as proof that despite all of this, it still isn’t working. He needs to be embarrassed in Cena’s view; he needs to be put in his place. And who better to do it? The “1-2-3†line was a feature of this storyline.
The segment is a perfect meld of reality and storyline, and the work-shoot style promo that WWE could and should do more of. Fans are aware of off-screen ongoings and things are always better with a bit of truth involved.
The promo also showed how far Reigns had come from the infamous 2017 battles with Cena. He is so comfortable in his skin as the heel Bloodline leader and it comes across as natural and unforced.
As for the match, Reigns of course retained his title and has since become the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion in a generation-defining run.
What’s next for Cena and Reigns?
While it seems likely Big Match John will return to the ring at WrestleMania 39, no opponent has been set. A list of potentials are listed here.
Reigns will main event ‘Mania, possibly against The Rock. Before then, he will have to fend off the challenges of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn for his title if reports are to be believed.
Might these two WWE heavyweights cross paths once again next year?