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What's the story?
No Mercy 2017 contains a contest some thought would be a marquee WrestleMania matchup. Roman Reigns is set to square off against John Cena to prove it's really his yard.
When John Cena spoke to Edge and Christian on E&C's Pod Of Awesomeness he revealed their feud really goes much deeper than anything you're going to see on television.
In case you didn't know....
John Cena and Roman Reigns have taken part in some pretty great promo work on the way to their match at No Mercy.
Some of the promos these two Superstars have cut with each other border on crossing the line between real and part of the show.
The heart of the matter
John Cena discussed with Edge and Christian how he is obsessed with telling a story in the ring. He wanted to push Roman Reigns during their feud and wouldn't stop until he brought it out of The Big Dog.
"In a very legitimate sense, my biggest hangup with Roman Reigns as a frontrunner of the WWE is the fact that he seems to lack with his ability to communicate with the audience."
Cena said he knows Roman Reigns has it in him because he has a presence that's undeniable but nobody has been able to bring it out of him yet.
He said it's his job in WWE to either be the best or to be "a vehicle for the best" meaning he is tasked with the job of being the guy or making other people the guy. He said he wanted to break Roman until he had enough.
Cena praised Roman Reigns' promo during the go home Raw to No Mercy in San Jose and said it gave him goosebumps. He also confirmed that he knew for a fact the promo came from Roman Reigns.
"Because even though Roman and I shake hands and play nice behind the curtain there's an edge between the two of us of 'bro I'm gonna hold onto this as long as I possibly can because I feel you're not even close to my league.' And him, as a younger talent says 'who the hell is this guy and when's he going home?'"
John Cena said there's a professional, respectful rivalry between the two of them and he's been in the same situation with The Rock before too. Cena said he's not ready to give up his spot until he knows Roman Reigns is ready to take it.
What's next?
Roman Reigns has been hand-picked to be the face of WWE for a very long time and it will only be a matter of waiting to see how long it takes to stick.
If he can perform with John Cena and hang with him he'll be well on his way to putting his name up there along with other immortals of sports entertainment.
Author's take
Roman Reigns and John Cena have been fire on the microphone and you could tell Cena hasn't held anything back. For crying out loud, Cena even called out the broken zipper on Reigns' pants.
This kind of feud is exactly what Roman Reigns needs in order to make it to the next level. Hopefully, it will be a seamless transition which will see him being accepted by the WWE Universe.
