Who won the last match between John Cena and Roman Reigns?

At Money in the Bank 2021, John Cena made his long-awaited return to WWE after over 15 months away. He immediately confronted main event winner and Universal Champion Roman Reigns, seemingly setting up a match for SummerSlam 2021.

THIS. IS. SURREAL.#MITB @JohnCena @WWERomanReigns @HeymanHustle pic.twitter.com/0XAEOTxcUT

— WWE (@WWE) July 19, 2021

The circumstances of their blockbuster encounter at the Allegiant Stadium will be very different from four years ago - where Roman Reigns and John Cena began a feud post-SummerSlam 2017.

John Cena was the face of WWE, while Roman Reigns was supposed to be the man to succeed him. In a surprising move, WWE rushed their feud to just a one-month program and booked it as the co-main event of No Mercy 2017.

On that occasion, Roman Reigns defeated John Cena clean. However, many don't remember much about the match because it wasn't a memorable or iconic one. Several fans questioned WWE's decision to keep such a program for a pay-per-view like No Mercy and as the co-main event at that.

Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman was the preferred main event, as it was for the Universal Championship.

What went wrong with the John Cena-Roman Reigns feud in 2017?

Hustle, Loyalty, Respect isn't just a saying for @JohnCena. #WWENoMercy @WWERomanReigns pic.twitter.com/5HeHGpnVj5

— WWE (@WWE) September 25, 2017

Roman Reigns wasn't the character he is today four years ago. At the time, Roman Reigns was still a struggling, rejected babyface who couldn't find the approval from the WWE Universe that he would have wanted.

It was clear that Roman Reigns was far from ready to take John Cena's place as the face of WWE, but the company continued to push him as the top babyface star regardless. Roman Reigns received the biggest push of his generation, but it didn't work out the way WWE would have hoped.

To add to that, the promos between John Cena and Roman Reigns were extremely one-sided in favor of Cena. One particular segment resulted in Roman Reigns getting verbally humiliated by John Cena, who didn't pull his punches.

It was essentially Roman Reigns getting thrown in the deep water, and he wasn't as ready as he is today. It had all the makings of an underwhelming feud. WWE will look to right that wrong at SummerSlam 2021.