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What's the story?
Roman Reigns and John Cena's sudden rivalry is leading to a WrestleMania worthy match at No Mercy. Their encounter not only elevates the No Mercy pay-per-view but could lead to more things down the line. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter speculates what could be next for these two giants of sports entertainment following their big match in Los Angeles.
In case you didn't know...
John Cena was the face of WWE for over a decade but as he seems to transition into the next phases of his career WWE needs to find a suitable replacement. Roman Reigns has been hand-picked to be the next face of WWE for quite a while now and the fans have seemed to resent him for it.
But when Free Agent John Cena jumped over to Raw after defeating Baron Corbin at SummerSlam he had The Big Dog in his sights. Cena called out Roman Reigns and the rest, as they say, is history.
These two took part in some serious microphone battles which blurred the line between real and part of the show. But Cena seemed to get over on Reigns every time.
The heart of the matter
These two huge names in pro wrestling will do battle on September 24th in Los Angeles at No Mercy. But while many people consider this a feud to get Roman Reigns over so he can move on to his next opponent, Dave Meltzer speculated in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that this rivalry might have more than one match in it.
It is believed John Cena will be the overwhelming babyface in this matchup and will receive the lion's share of the cheers. If Cena wins, then expectations are this feud could go even further. However, if this feud is a one-and-done rivalry then Roman Reigns has to win according to Meltzer.
The entire purpose of this program is for John Cena to endorse Roman Reigns as the new face of WWE so Reigns is most likely going to eventually come out on top when all is said and done.
What's next?
WWE will keep pushing Roman Reigns until they've won everybody over. They've made several attempts in the past to get the fans to rally behind Reigns, but nothing has seemed to work. True, they've made some progress but there are plenty more tricks up Vince McMahon's sleeve and he'll pull out all the stops in order to solidify Roman Reigns' position at the top.
John Cena has a very busy schedule lined up for him so who knows how many towns he will be able to make with WWE in the upcoming years. Therefore, WWE needs a new top guy and Vince McMahon wants Roman Reigns to be that Big Dog.
Author's take
If they're going to let Roman Reigns go "off-script" and start bashing the audience like his cousin before him then that might work. A full heel turn could eventually turn into the kind of character people can rally behind.
After all, once Roman Reigns has won over that "vocal minority" people will stop giving him so much legit heat. But if WWE keeps protecting Roman Reigns and handing him every big win they possibly can in order to get him over it might be a long time before the fans will be ready to fully accept Reigns.
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