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After weeks of build-up, finally, it was show time for John Cena and Roman Reigns at No Mercy 2017. John Cena accused Roman Reigns of being a corporately created version of him, whereas Roman Reigns believed that John Cena was just a part-timer and that his day in the sun was over.
This match turned out to be a much better treat than the main event. However, there were various moments which were missed by wrestling fans around the globe.
A few moments reminded us of past WWE matches, whereas few others indicated towards plausible future ones.
#1 Cena released STF Lock
Halfway through the match, John Cena locked Roman Reigns into STF, his signature submission manoeuvre. As Roman Reigns desperately tried to reach the bottom rope, Cena dragged him back to the centre and locked him again. It was clear that Roman Reigns had nowhere to go and we expected "The Big Dog" to dig deep and power out of the STF.
Ironically, it was John Cena who released the lock to let the match continue.
It was visible for fans to see Cena actually lift his left leg to let Roman Reigns get loose so he could break the hold. However, it was hidden with a well-placed camera position.
John Cena had his left leg pressing over Roman Reigns' leg. The STF bends the opponent's knee enabling him to reach towards ropes to break this hold. The amount of pressure it puts on the back makes crawling tougher for the person locked inside. Here is another angle.
It looked like Cena got the hold locked in a far better way than anticipated forcing him to help Roman Reigns to break the STF.
#2 Cena steps out of the match
The WWE Universe is known for conveying their voice loud and clear to the wrestlers performing inside the squared circle. It is famously termed as crowd response 'best served cold'. John Cena and Roman Reigns were at the receiving end of the same at No Mercy, when within the first minute of their match, fans loudly shouted with 'You Both Suck' chants.
Cena has been at the receiving end of the WWE Universe's boos for a couple of years now and the same has happened to Roman Reigns since The Rock helped him win the Royal Rumble match in 2015. During the match at No Mercy against Reigns, "The Leader of the Cenation" stepped out of ring owing to crowd's reaction.
John Cena is known for his spontaneous in-ring gimmicks, but surprisingly people were cheering when he intended to leave the match. It was a nice attempt to let Roman Reigns be the tough guy who wants to fight. However, it backfired since the crowd wasn't behind either of the two wrestlers for the first few minutes of the match.
#3 Cena too impressed by Reigns' in-ring ability
The match began with Roman Reigns holding John Cena with a headlock. John Cena pushed Roman Reigns towards the ropes, forcing him to release the headlock but Reigns tackled down John Cena after rebounding from the ropes.
This simple manoeuvre is used day in and day out in wrestling ring. Wasn't John Cena expecting even this from Roman Reigns? It seemed like it was far too much appreciation for a vanilla move. Or was John Cena trying to sell Roman Reigns a little more than usual to the WWE Universe?
#4 Reading the old book
John Cena tried to deliver a leg drop from the top rope but Roman Reigns countered it with a well-timed powerbomb. This reminded us of the first match between John Cena and Batista from Summerslam 2008.
Moments before the end of that classic match, John Cena tried a similar move but landed into a powerbomb smashing his head on the mat. A raging Batista then kicked a helpless John Cena on his head. Till the kick, it was an icon vs icon match, but that kick made fans switch to John Cena's camp, resulting in a later Wrestle Mania main event.
Minutes later, Roman Reigns executed his infamous spear which broke both John Cena and the announce table into the half. This was a risky move, given that Roman Reigns actually fell right on his head and could have been severely injured. It was sheer luck that John Cena's hand prevented Roman Reigns from the direct impact.
At Wrestlemania XIX, Brock Lesnar attempted a shooting star press on Kurt Angle who was lying far down the ring. As a result, Brock Lesnar landed on his head.
The Undertaker landed in a similarly painful way while attempting a top rope jump over Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania XXV.
#5 AA, followed by AA
John Cena has developed a move which is even more devastating than an Attitude Adjustment -- an Attitude Adjustment rolled up into another Attitude Adjustment.
Allow me to take you back to Royal Rumble earlier this year when John Cena squared off against AJ Styles for the WWE championship. Cena caught Styles before he could deliver The Phenomenal Forearm and countered it with an Attitude Adjustment.
Instead of an obvious cover for the pin-fall, John Cena rolled over AJ Styles, put him over his shoulders for another thunderous Attitude Adjustment. This marked John Cena's sixteenth world championship.
This double Attitude Adjustment ensured that the opponent was unable to recover. His ability to roll up from neck position and his raw power to deadlift his opponent over his head made it a treat to watch.
No Mercy 2017 featured this move when John Cena tried to pin Roman Reigns.
But Roman Reigns kicked out. This showed that Cena was not able to ground Reigns even with his best move. It showcased that the move which earned John Cena his sixteenth world championship was not good enough to get past Roman Reigns.
Nothing could have been a more fitting last move from John Cena in this match.
This was the moment that transcends time for WWE when John Cena looked across the squared circle into eyes of Roman Reigns and then later raised his hand, asking himself what more he could do win the match. The match was over then and there as Roman Reigns had John Cena beat in Cena's mind.
#6 The torch is passed, again
And yes, it is officially Roman Reigns' yard now. He has passed the final test to become "The Face of the WWE" - beat John Cena. He defeated the most decorated WWE wrestler who showcased more Wrestlemania main events than any other wrestler in the history of this business.
Four years ago, the torch was passed to John Cena by The Rock.
And now, John Cena passed it to the next big thing, or better known as "The Big Dog", Roman Reigns.
As we have seen in the WWE in the past, the 'torch' has been passed on from Superstars like Andre the Giant to Hulk Hogan, from Bret Hart to Shawn Michaels, and then later to Austin and Roc, and finally John Cena. And now, it is with Roman Reigns.
However, there is a clash of opinions both in the media and at arenas of whether Roman Reigns deserves this. Is he being pushed too much as WWE fed him the retiring Undertaker and now John Cena? Everyone before him had earned their way up and fans too supported them with their incredible support.
However, till now, the path has been very different for Roman Reigns. Though he has the torch, there is a long storm waiting to rain on his run.
#7 The future of John Cena
John Cena mentioned in his post-match interview that he is relieved that Roman Reigns stepped up. He felt that a huge burden was lifted off his shoulders at the same building where he won his first WWE championship. He mentioned that he is now 40 years old and it's not easy wrestling day in and day out as it was fifteen years ago.
However, there is a lot of mist that needs to clear regarding his future. It seems unlikely that we will see him again in the near future in full capacity until the road to Wrestlemania 34 begins at Royal Rumble 2018.
John Cena handed over his wristband to a child in the crowd post-match and did his signature hustle, loyalty and respect symbol with his back turned to the crowd. This was similar to The Undertaker's last match when he left his coat and hat in the ring and raised his hand one final time before leaving the arena after Roman Reigns retired him earlier this year.
However, the moment which lingered with people is when he tapped the titantantron twice like patting an old friend goodbye. It shows how much he loves this place. He is indeed one of the few wrestlers who has spent almost their entire career as the face of the company.
It is going to be difficult to fill in the shoes of John Cena, but more importantly, is next year going to be his last Wrestlemania? If so, against whom?
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
