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What's the story?
Roman Reigns and John Cena have participated in several high-profile feuds during their careers. But Roman Reigns will always look back at his match against John Cena as a truly career-defining moment. He recently spoke to The Mirror in the UK and praised John Cena on many levels.
In case you didn't know...
It is a custom that any new star in a wrestling organization needs to prove themselves by beating other top stars.
As WWE wanted to position Roman Reigns as the face of the company, he needed to defeat John Cena at No Mercy. It turns out that this is exactly what happened, and Reigns is likely to stay there for a long time.
The heart of the matter
Roman Reigns recently sat down with The Mirror in the UK to discuss the importance of this match with John Cena for his career.
The Big Dog stated that he was aware that he is up for any challenge but facing Cena was one of the biggest challenges he's had to date and it was also against one of the best competitors he's faced as well.
Reigns explained how there would be no point in this match if he had to lower himself to face Cena at No Mercy, therefore, the latter made The Shield member step it up during their entire program.
Reigns acknowledged how his strength was in the ring and not in promos but Cena was able to bring out a new side in Reigns' own promo abilities. Reigns praised his favourite opponent for making him step up his game to another level an lighting a fire in him.
"It was a huge honour. You don't really get to face people like John Cena often. He's definitely a rare breed, we had a lot of heavy things to say to each other building into the match, but I think at the end of the day we both came out of it with a lot of respect for each other, not only for what we do in the ring, but what we do for the company and all the various responsibilities that come with this role.
I'm proud to say that I was able to beat an athlete and a competitor, a superstar and a role model like John Cena, especially in hindsight, someone who has been on top of the mountain for 15 years.
Cena taught Reigns how to wrestle at an elite level of the competition. Now "The Big Dog" is incredibly thankful for Cena's long-standing contributions to the pro wrestling business and the help he extended for Reigns to have a match he can be proud of.
What's next?
Reigns' career has recently started to get good. He will be involved in many more high-profile feuds throughout the rest of his time as an active wrestler. In all honesty, he might only find himself involved in big match situations if he keeps up his current pace.
Author's take
Whether you love the new face of WWE or you don't, the fact is that "The Big Dog" deserves our respect. He's improved vastly since WrestleMania and every time he steps in the ring, it seems like he's getting a little bit better.
Reigns might have John Cena to thank for a lot of his recent improvement. Their rivalry was pretty impressive and resulted in a match that brought contentment for the entire WWE universe. A pretty great story in the ring, this feud was enjoyed by all.
