WWE News: Roman Reigns speaks about battling John Cena at No Mercy

What's the story?

WWE No Mercy takes place on September 24th in Los Angeles at The Staples Center and one of the biggest matches on the card is between WWE's two top stars Roman Reigns and John Cena.

Roman Reigns recently tweeted about the upcoming match against Cena, sending Cena a message about what it takes to earn his respect.

In case you didn’t know…

16-time world champion John Cena has been the top guy in WWE for over a decade and while many top stars have come and gone, challenging him for that top position, no one so far has been able to dethrone him.

Roman Reigns has headlined the last three Wrestlemania's in a row and has been strongly positioned for several years now to take over from Cena as the face of the company, with Cena's role in WWE television becoming ever more part time due to his increasing presence in Hollywood.

The two stars have gone toe to toe on the microphone on the last two episodes of Monday Night Raw, with neither man holding back in their war of words. And although Cena was the clear winner on the mic, its actions in the ring that Reigns is more concerned with.

The heart of the matter

As Roman Reigns tweeted, he plans to let his actions do the talking. Roman has never been one for long promos, preferring to punch faces and ask questions later. The rivalry between the two already feels very personal, with both men saying they don't respect the other, Reigns called out Cena on Raw, telling Cena to beat him up, with Cena seemingly unwilling to get involved in an altercation.

The two haven't yet come to blows, so it will be interesting to see if Reigns' claim that his actions speak louder than his words will give him the edge over Cena in this battle to be the face of the company.

Cena has faced some big challenges over the years, but this may be the first time he's faced a man that the company is hoping can replace him as their top guy.

Parallels from history

Matches of this stature in wrestling are rare, and are usually saved for the main event of Wrestlemania -- two top guys battling to be the face of the company. It mirrors the main events of Wrestlemania 6 when The Ultimate Warrior successfully defeated Hulk Hogan and Wrestlemania 17 when Austin defeated The Rock.

Hulk Hogan vs Ultimate Warrior Title Unification match

This match will have huge implications on the future direction of the company, will Cena continue his dominant reign as the face of the company, or will it be Roman Reigns that topples the Cenation?

Author’s take

It would have been nice to see this match as a Wrestlemania main event, but with Cena's decreasing WWE schedule, sometimes it's better to strike while the iron is hot and the match is available.

We missed out on matches like Hogan vs Austin and Lesnar vs Austin in the past, Cena won't be around forever. WWE probably want to get as many dream matches out of him as possible, only doing them at Wrestlemania would limit those matches.

There's a lot to look forward to with this match, the dynamic between the two stars and the reaction they both get from the fans means that it will be an electric atmosphere not to mention the rumoured possible return of a certain Deadman, that could play into the result of the match!