The Roman/Cena Shoot Segment

[Pay Per Ghost]

I...well where do you start?


The Memphis RAW had two high points, Brock's "Suplex City Bitch" which basically in one sentence reminded everyone why Braun might just get tossed around too and damn well should, and the Cena basically ripping Roman to pieces on the mic.

I mean, wow, WOW WWE, for all the tomfoolery you pull week in week out this was just somewhere from bizarro world. I cringed a few times because basically Cena turned on what brung him to the party boys and girls: his gift of gab.


They both went at it but Cena probably said things that really got under Roman's skin.

A) I don't get that US title jibe.
B) Cena masterful use of Angle and Reigns losing it.
C) Reigns getting embarrassed.

Fuck.

 

[Stone Cold Tea]

You throw them with the sharks and they learn how to swim. This can only be good for Roman. It's not a bad thing to not be able to duel with Cena on the mic but if you're going to be the top guy then they may as well throw you with him to learn.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

You throw them with the sharks and they learn how to swim. This can only be good for Roman. It's not a bad thing to not be able to duel with Cena on the mic but if you're going to be the top guy then they may as well throw you with him to learn.

But Reigns isn't swimming. After last night he's drowning.

Reigns can't do long promos. Yet WWE is intent on him doing them. It's one reason he's so rejected by fans.

 

[Stone Cold Tea]

That's why it's a learning process. Last night was the first night they've duelled. Give it time.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

I was thinking...

"Man, Roman is doing great against John Cena of all people. I'm surprised."

...then Cena tore him to pieces like those flying monkeys tore that poor scarecrow apart in Wizard of Oz. It was brutally excellent.

 

[Starkist]

It was a really good promo and I give Reigns his props for the "burying young talent'' line he threw out there. However, he should be highly ashamed as Cena can do more as a part timer than Reigns can do as a full timer. Such a sad but true statement.

 

[StaRRStruck]

For me it's kinda what I wanted to see. I knew Cena was gonna give Roman a hard time out their and it was nice to see him light the proverbial fire under Roman to at least get him fiery.

This feud needs to break barriers, it's two polarizing subjects involved who are essentially our "top dogs" of the WWE. The two Supers if you will. If WWE made this all just stare downs and going nose to nose, the feud would feel artificial (like every Orton feud in 2010). I like the realness and it's clearly got people buzzing. Hopefully this pushes Roman to get a little fiery instead of his same one liners as at some points Cena was EATING Roman alive. I will say I did like some of what Roman had to say, but the choke (whether it was or not is irrelevant as Cena said what he said) and depending on cheap pops by calling Cena a fake bitch wasn't enough. Even though I myself liked it, as we rarely see this side of Reigns I feel like he needs to absolutely bring it next time these guys duel on the mic.

Cena had a lot of fire in the bag this time, hopefully Roman could pull something off if they get another chance at this. I know it's a long shot but this the type of challenges Roman needs to face, especially if they're really expecting him to be a prolonged babyface.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Best way to prove you don't bury people is by making them look really stupid and out of place.

This guy nailed it.

It was fascinating and entertaining and appealing to the smark in me but I have no idea what it accomplishes.

Cena's feuds lately look like they're suffering from ADHD and cancer. Last week we have a confrontation where Joe steps in and kind of wins the segment. Then yesterday they ignore Joe and his momentum and announce this match leading to a promo where Cena murders Roman and kayfabe in one swoop.

Why was Roman doing that shtick? Are we supposed to think of him as stupid? If he is going to attack something, he should be attacking Cena's mortality. He should be criticizing SD's weak roster and all the losses he took there. He should be saying Cena is old and weaker and slower. That he doesn't belong in the main event anymore and that he is going to end him like he ended UT. Reigns should be claiming that he wanted the match so he could end Cena before Joe, Lesnar, or Strowman got their hands on him.

But no, he basically rehashes lines that were used by AJ, Ambrose, and Miz. And then worse Cena comes back with a wrestling is fake speech and you're not very good at your job Roman. What was the point? It kept my attention but doesn't make me want to see what happens next any more. They could have kept this so simple. The match sells itself. This just felt like WWE was trying to be edgy for the sake of being edgy.

And then The Club comes out to kill the mood and Cena and Reigns are forced to team up. Reigns should have "You called my mom a ****e" heat with Cena but he finishes the match with no real conflict.

I r confused.

 

[CrunKSinatrA]

It's hard to believe but Roman Reigns looked more out of place than John Cena did against The Rock.

Mr. Fruity Pebbles himself just served Roman hard.

At least Roman didn't get a silly nickname for his troubles.

Maybe history is cyclical and Roman will drop a pipe bomb on someone else a few years from now.

John Cena came back The Rock's tongue lashings and all it took was a prolonged period worth of consistently good matches w/ US Championship Open Challenges.

But WWE has been dropping the ball left and right.

Sasha, Bailey, and Shinsuke are the most glaring and recent examples.

Braun Strowman seems to be the only person that's either McMahon proof or WWE cares enough about to protect.

Roman is somehow still a work in progress.

How can someone main event so many PPVs and Wrestlemania 3 years in a row and still be considered a work in progress?

 

[rge2010]

A great segment - showed how good Cena really is on the mic. Up there with the greatest in terms of delivery. Reigns did pretty good as well.

I'm normally cynical when folk say it was a 'shoot'...the Punk Pipe bomb was all run by the big wigs but I think some of this was definately off script. Reigns and Cena can say what the hell they want.

 

[Khalifa]

Roman looked genuinely pissed. I loved the segment and Cena was at his best tonight, though at the same time (I know it's pretty much dead) but how about completely much throw everyone under the bus and kayfabe out the window. Of course it makes me want to see the match more and I think it was a good move to make the fans not fully shit on the match e.g. Orton vs Cena Rumble 2014. Cena growing his hair just the tiniest bit makes him look like the old thuganomics Cena to, and he kinda brought a bit of that last night. Getting a bit ridiculous that WWE is just throwing these ridiculous big matches on nothing PPVs and live shows so we can get matches like Styles vs Shane and Mahal vs Nakamura on the big shows but at the same time you can't save every match I know (+ Samos Joe injury).

Anyways this has shot up there for segment of the year and seeing Angles reaction was priceless. I actually liked Romans you can't bury me line out of them all because it's so fucking true.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

A great segment - showed how good Cena really is on the mic. Up there with the greatest in terms of delivery. Reigns did pretty good as well.

What I've noticed is that Cena is a lot more comfortable in his mic and character than ever before.

My main criticism regarding Cena during most of his run and after he dropped the rapper gimmick was his mic work and character was very vanilla. He would say the same things thus feeling one dimensional at times and he would usually cut these safe promos.

Sure he seems to bury people a bit more, and that's usually not a good thing, but recently it looks like he's got a bit that of swagger and edge he kind of lost after his rapper / hip hop gimmick. He also seems more fluid and natural in the mic in the last few months or so.

The question I asked was ... where was this John Cena?

 

[Sean Valjean]

My lord, that was a fun segment to watch.

I don't care to worry about how much was of it was on/off script. But Cena, to me, seemed like he was intentionally trying to fire Roman up when he started ripping Reigns for seemingly forgetting his line. Roman came back HARD after that. I especially loved his "You can't bury me" and "I'd rather be the one Roman Reigns" lines as they felt like they came from the heart.

Just when it appeared Roman might keep up with Cena, he made the eternal mistake of rehashing the same "Well yeah, but you bury everyone!" excuse that Punk, Styles, Owens, Miz, Ambrose, and countless others have resorted to with limited success. Cena, as he always does, went Super Saiyan after that and just demolished Roman. All that was missing was the Simpson's kid begging Cena to stop since Roman was already dead.

As for what this accomplished, it made me want to see the match for more than just name value. That's the most important thing. I've all but given up hope for a Roman heel turn, but my goodness have they set the table for him to do so by having him slaughter Cena to an uncomfortable degree. Unless Roman can make a big comeback, I imagine the crowd will lean in favor of Cena at No Mercy. What better way to go full evil than to needlessly murder a respected veteran for telling the hard truth about you. Or Cena wins and Roman snaps post-match. I'm not holding my breath on either possibility, but I walked away from that segment thinking WWE has created perhaps the best opportunity to create an amazing top heel.

 

[neildittmar]

Not sure what to make of this promo really...

If Reigns was actually where WWE wanted (needed?) him to be as the face of RAW (or the company as a whole), then this encounter/promo would've undeniably succeeded. Despite all the kayfabe-breaking mud that was slung, the story for the non-smark fan would be easy to tell too. It's a simple matter of young lion vs. old lion... is Roman really ready to take the reigns (pun not intended) or is Cena still better than the best guy on the roster?

Since both are polarizing figures and Roman hasn't really established himself as "the guy" yet, this promo takes a confused audience and serves to make them even more confused I think. To be sure, the context/pretext here isn't Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior by any stretch of the mind. These are two guys that the audience (as a whole) can't really decide on. If there's one career path that Cena has laid out that Reigns shouldn't be following, it's that.

It's highly doubtful that a Roman fan is going to turn on Roman despite his performance on a promo. Likewise, Cena fans aren't going anywhere for those reasons either. On the other hand, the fans who boo Roman aren't necessarily going to cheer for Cena or vice-versa. They can (will?) continue to dislike both of them, and the program suffers in that respect for it.

Said differently, if I had to guess what the goal was here, it's to get the Cena haters to get behind Roman because they dislike Cena more than they do Roman. Considering the overall reaction on Monday, I don't think that's going to happen en masse. So what's left? Cena going over Roman (despite what the actual outcome of the match is) and more damage done to Roman Reigns chances of being the guy anytime soon, if ever.

 

[Navi]

The one thing that this segment showed me was just how unready Reigns is to take Cena's spot. Sure he has the look, puts on good matches and gets chances that many other wrestler's could only dream of, but his skin is way too thin.

Cena got under his skin the other night, you could see it on Reigns face and he went right off script calling Cena a fake ass bitch. I'm sure that wasn't written by anyone in creative. So Cena responded by going off script himself and ripping Reigns a new one.

Almost everything Cena said had some truth to it and that's the sad part. The WWE has spent the better part of 4 years pushing Reigns to the top and he keeps being rejected by fans. I've no doubt they will continue to push him and in doing so other's like Strowman will get over instead.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

I loved it.

People think that Vince should protect Roman and lick Roman's ass, but that's not how the world works. The world is a terrible place and Roman isn't a child that Vince will grab his hand and just hand him out titles. Roman needs to learn to swim and if he wants to be THE guy he needs to also learn how to dive and come back up and make the sea his, not the other way around, not being controlled by the sea.

That was the message WWE wanted to deliver. The problem is, even if Roman swims or drowns WWE will still keep pushing Roman and this whole thing would have been pointless. And they shouldn't. If Roman fails this test, Roman should get the foot from the #1 babyface spot. Make him a heel. But if he fails, he can't be the guy. Not right now.

Roman you said Cena can't bury you. Yeah, Cena can't bury you because you have the entire machine backing you, but like Captain said to Ironman, take that suit off and what are you? You can't bury John Cena because he's John Cena. You can't bury Roman because he's WWE's golden child. And guess what. Cena did bury you Roman and you deserved that. You needed that slap. Legends have taken the good way and tried to tell you "you need to step up", like Austin, but you wouldn't listen. Like Cena said, you either step up and keep up or you step up and then get back down again.

Roman should use that slap as an awakening. Problem is: can he do it? Is he willing to do it? And if he doesnt, will the WWE admit their fault and take Roman back from the #1 spot, or will they phony it and keep pushing him? That segment is a biiig risk for the WWE and for Roman. If it pays off, then they make money. If it doesn't, they need something else and with Rollins and Styles in red hot positions, Roman needs to realize that he's replacable.

The only thing I didn't like from the segment was Cena downplaying Roman's victory over The Undertaker. He said that Taker was a veteran in his 50s with a bad hip. That's true, but you should never call out Taker into the legit world. Taker is kayfabe only and that victory is HUGE and so is Undertaker's retirement. Maybe they can link that to Cena vs Taker for WM 34? Maybe?

At No Mercy I want Cena to WIN so Roman can get more slaps in the face. Make him tremble a bit for his position. Make him hungry to stay at the top. Give him reason to stay at the top. Of course there must come a rematch where Roman wins, but only if Roman steps up more and more and more.

 

[Starkist]

The one thing that this segment showed me was just how unready Reigns is to take Cena's spot. Sure he has the look, puts on good matches and gets chances that many other wrestler's could only dream of, but his skin is way too thin.

Cena got under his skin the other night, you could see it on Reigns face and he went right off script calling Cena a fake ass bitch. I'm sure that wasn't written by anyone in creative. So Cena responded by going off script himself and ripping Reigns a new one.

Almost everything Cena said had some truth to it and that's the sad part. The WWE has spent the better part of 4 years pushing Reigns to the top and he keeps being rejected by fans. I've no doubt they will continue to push him and in doing so other's like Strowman will get over instead.

Reigns has the tools to succeed just not with long drawn out promos. I still mess with my buddies with the "sukaran sucha tash" line Reigns spat out on one of his promos. Cutting his promos down to 5 minutes really could help Reigns with getting his message/point across. Less is more with Reigns which the WWE fails to see.

Reigns' issue is his facial expressions. He wears how he feels on his sleeve. He should have been a heel based off of that alone. However, looks determine him to be a baby face who really did feel that the US Title was a demotion. He had a wellness violation but yet still gets title shots. He got owned by Cena and the moment was epic for sure because it is what was needed at this time. Reigns is immature in my eyes with how he is being boo'd and looking upset for being boo'd. Reigns can be something big for WWE if he would just cut a normal promo for once while being a truly badass inside of his "yard."

 

[SSJPhenom]

I enjoyed the segment. I thought that it showed something from the WWE that we haven't seen in a long time, edginess. It didn't feel like the guys were just reading from a script that some jackass at a desk wrote but that they were actually talking to each other. Cena was in rare form and showed exactly why he is one of the best on the stick and, IMO, Reigns cut the best promo that he's ever cut. Sure he wasn't as good as Cena and Cena did eat him alive, but Reigns was serious and what he said it seemed like he meant. It was a great segment and it did exactly what it was supposed to do and that's sell the match. I'm definitely more interested in the match then I was before the promo.

I'm also reading a lot of the Reigns should turn heel comments. Usually I just look at those as fans either bitching just to bitch or being picky but in this case there's actually something to it. Look at all of the top faces over the past few decades. 99% of them started out as or got over as a heel first. Let's run down the list; Austin, the Rock, Cena, Trips, HBK, 'Taker, Angle, Lesnar, Foley, CM Punk, Bryan, Batista, Orton, Flair, Hogan, Hart, Hall, Nash, and on and on. They all got over as heels before they became overwhelmingly fan favorites. Maybe it would be wise for Roman to cut his teeth as a heel, get good and comfortable with promos (cause as a heel he doesn't have to watch what he says as much), and then become the next top face. That's my opinion anyways.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

Man fuck you all, that segment annihilated any chances Roman had winning over his doubters. He got nothing out of this, ZERO. Came off looking EXTRA stupid, when he would fucking put his hand out dying to help Cena in the tag match.

No.

Roman could have brought up Cena recently burying Corbin, or how Cena mocked the part timer Rock and look where he is now. If you had forgotten how good Cena was on the mic then ok, I get it ye, it was gold. But again, it establishes Cena who is leaving and Roman still has the fans he had, he didn't win over any new ones.

This guy nailed it.

It was fascinating and entertaining and appealing to the smark in me but I have no idea what it accomplishes.

Cena's feuds lately look like they're suffering from ADHD and cancer. Last week we have a confrontation where Joe steps in and kind of wins the segment. Then yesterday they ignore Joe and his momentum and announce this match leading to a promo where Cena murders Roman and kayfabe in one swoop.

Why was Roman doing that shtick? Are we supposed to think of him as stupid? If he is going to attack something, he should be attacking Cena's mortality. He should be criticizing SD's weak roster and all the losses he took there. He should be saying Cena is old and weaker and slower. That he doesn't belong in the main event anymore and that he is going to end him like he ended UT. Reigns should be claiming that he wanted the match so he could end Cena before Joe, Lesnar, or Strowman got their hands on him.

But no, he basically rehashes lines that were used by AJ, Ambrose, and Miz. And then worse Cena comes back with a wrestling is fake speech and you're not very good at your job Roman. What was the point? It kept my attention but doesn't make me want to see what happens next any more. They could have kept this so simple. The match sells itself. This just felt like WWE was trying to be edgy for the sake of being edgy.

And then The Club comes out to kill the mood and Cena and Reigns are forced to team up. Reigns should have "You called my mom a ****e" heat with Cena but he finishes the match with no real conflict.

I r confused.

And this.

 

[ShinChan]

This segment basically proved that Roman Reigns can't be John Cena v2.0. He's nowhere near him on the mic. Nowhere near. Rollins is better and even Ambrose is but Roman Reigns doesn't feel comfortable enough on mic. At least as a face. I don't know if it was intended, but this segment made me root for Cena here. That's not right if Roman Reigns is actually "The Guy". Anyone can call what Roman Reigns did to Cena. But at least make me believe that what you're saying is truth. Cena did it. Reigns, nah. Instead of calling him fake bitch, make me believe it. Prove it. Don't just say it.

This guy nailed it.

It was fascinating and entertaining and appealing to the smark in me but I have no idea what it accomplishes.

Cena's feuds lately look like they're suffering from ADHD and cancer. Last week we have a confrontation where Joe steps in and kind of wins the segment. Then yesterday they ignore Joe and his momentum and announce this match leading to a promo where Cena murders Roman and kayfabe in one swoop.

Why was Roman doing that shtick? Are we supposed to think of him as stupid? If he is going to attack something, he should be attacking Cena's mortality. He should be criticizing SD's weak roster and all the losses he took there. He should be saying Cena is old and weaker and slower. That he doesn't belong in the main event anymore and that he is going to end him like he ended UT. Reigns should be claiming that he wanted the match so he could end Cena before Joe, Lesnar, or Strowman got their hands on him.

But no, he basically rehashes lines that were used by AJ, Ambrose, and Miz. And then worse Cena comes back with a wrestling is fake speech and you're not very good at your job Roman. What was the point? It kept my attention but doesn't make me want to see what happens next any more. They could have kept this so simple. The match sells itself. This just felt like WWE was trying to be edgy for the sake of being edgy.

And then The Club comes out to kill the mood and Cena and Reigns are forced to team up. Reigns should have "You called my mom a ****e" heat with Cena but he finishes the match with no real conflict.

I r confused.

You should start writing promos for Roman Reigns.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

That's why it's a learning process. Last night was the first night they've duelled. Give it time.

Then why make him face of the company as quick as they did, if he wasn't ready.

 

[Stone Cold Tea]

Then why make him face of the company as quick as they did, if he wasn't ready.

That's a different discussion and it's happened so get over it. Roman won't want a repeat of Monday night. He'll come bag stronger and prove people wrong.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

That's a different discussion and it's happened so get over it. Roman won't want a repeat of Monday night. He'll come bag stronger and prove people wrong.

Regardless of how you look at this and what discussion we're having, there is a fact - Reigns is not ready to be face of the company and take over Cena. And if he doesn't get better at longer promos, he never will be. And in 3 years being pushed as the guy, he hasn't gotten better.

He was embarassed and abused by Cena on Monday, and I'm sure he doesn't want it to happen again. However there's nothing he can do about it. He can't hang with Cena or any great wrestler on the mic.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

i think that last monday's segment will be a learning experience for Reigns because it's the first time since he became a single star that he had to go one on one in a promo segment with somebody that don't mind going off script to make the segment better. The fact is Reigns isn'T a bad promo, in fact he's in the top 10 as far as promos goes but he's not able to improvise when he needs to be and that's the problem that a lot of wrestlers in today'S WWE have not just Reigns.

The problem is that now, they have everything scripted for them so they go out there and recite theirs lines and goes to the back and that it's so when somebody like Cena who really don't mind going off script and Vince will not admonish him for doing it comes along, those guys look like total idiots everytime because they can go off script like Cena does. While it was awful the way he got massacre last monday night, it's a learning experience that i think reigns will learn from. Now he need to go to vince to try and get more freedom on promos and go to cena and ask for tips on how to do unscripted promo because he strong enough on the mic to be able to learn how to not always rely on the script to get his point across. He know what his character is and from listening to some of his non wwe interview, he seem like if let to his device, he could be on the same level as cena as far as promo goes in no time, he just need to freedom to do it and that'S on vince to give it to him.

 

[Navi]

i think that last monday's segment will be a learning experience for Reigns because it's the first time since he became a single star that he had to go one on one in a promo segment with somebody that don't mind going off script to make the segment better. The fact is Reigns isn'T a bad promo, in fact he's in the top 10 as far as promos goes but he's not able to improvise when he needs to be and that's the problem that a lot of wrestlers in today'S WWE have not just Reigns.

The problem is that now, they have everything scripted for them so they go out there and recite theirs lines and goes to the back and that it's so when somebody like Cena who really don't mind going off script and Vince will not admonish him for doing it comes along, those guys look like total idiots everytime because they can go off script like Cena does. While it was awful the way he got massacre last monday night, it's a learning experience that i think reigns will learn from. Now he need to go to vince to try and get more freedom on promos and go to cena and ask for tips on how to do unscripted promo because he strong enough on the mic to be able to learn how to not always rely on the script to get his point across. He know what his character is and from listening to some of his non wwe interview, he seem like if let to his device, he could be on the same level as cena as far as promo goes in no time, he just need to freedom to do it and that'S on vince to give it to him.

Oh I totally disagree. Listen Roman Reigns has a lot going for him but doing promo's isn't one of them, and letting him go off script I don't think will help him.
Look what happened when he did go off script the other night, he had to be bleeped out. Instead of having a good comeback he sounded like some guy off the street with the "fake ass bitch" comment. I'm sure the WWE doesn't want their megaface acting like that.

Reigns is someone who needs have have his promo's scripted for him and even then there are lot's of examples where he has forgotten his lines. He has even forgotten them doing interviews in the back. He can't even cover it up, all of a sudden he stops talking and gets this blank look on his face. It's so noticeable. If he could at least adlib it would help him a lot, I don't think he can even do that.

Listen I'm not expecting every wrestler to go out and cut a promo like Cena, Miz or Jericho, who really sell what they are saying. Which is another thing Reigns doesn't do, he doesn't make me believe what he is saying. It's the same old catchphrases each and every time. I mean how many times did we hear I'm not a good guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm the guy. Now he's the big dog, it's his yard now, he returned the Undertaker etc, etc. Maybe that's why some say he has no charisma because he really doesn't.