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What’s the story?
The biggest talking point from this week’s episode of RAW was the contract signing segment between John Cena and Roman Reigns for their match scheduled to take place at the No Mercy pay-per-view.
The internet went into a frenzy following the confrontation between the two stars, leading to speculation online whether the segment was unscripted. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, the promo between Cena and Reigns was completely scripted. However, there was one part of the segment that wasn't.
In case you didn’t know…
Free Agent John Cena made his RAW return last week and immediately confronted Roman Reigns. In the build-up to this week’s edition of the flagship show, a bout between the two was confirmed, along with the contract signing,
During the note-worthy confrontation with General Manager Kurt Angle also present in the ring, Reigns and Cena traded some personal insults and jabs at each other, which were the general fan sentiments about the two superstars.
Reigns pointed out how Cena ‘carries a shovel’ and ‘buries younger talent’ while some of the notable lines from the 16-time World Champion included ‘you’re just a cheap a**, corporately created John Cena bootleg’, ‘I'm here because you can’t do your job’ and ‘I can do this better part-time than you can ever do it full-time’.
The heart of the matter
In the Wrestling Observer Radio, it was revealed that the promo, which was perceived to be ‘breaking the fourth wall’ and ‘shooting from the hip, was actually scripted and went down exactly the way it was designed to go down. It was noted that neither Cena nor Reigns went off script or ad-libbed.
Dave Meltzer claims that the main verbiage from the heated showdown was completely penned down by the writing team. They added that Reigns did get lost once during the promo and forgot a key line, with Cena quickly calling him out on it. This was the part that wasn't scripted.
The report further reiterates that the segment was always slated for the show and that the only big change made for RAW was that Samoa Joe was scheduled to go one-on-one with Cena but those plans were scrapped after Joe went down with a knee injury during the weekend.
What’s next?
John Cena will be present at the Septemeber 4 edition of RAW, which will be held from Omaha, Nebraska, and will likely continue to build-up his match against Reigns. No Mercy will take place on September 24 from Staples Centre in Los Angeles, California.
Author’s take
My only real thoughts on this segment are if they wanted this segment to take place, they went with it too early considering there are three more RAWs to go before the No Mercy PPV. Maybe they should have waited until the go-home show for this segment to take place and then end it with a brawl to build up the anticipation for the match even more.
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