Roman Reigns has grown into one of the best performers on the roster, but the star was upstaged massively by John Cena during an awkward WWE Raw promo in 2017.
Reigns succeeded Cena as the face of WWE, but there were teething problems along the way for The Bloodline member.
Before Reigns became a record-breaking WWE icon, the star struggled to find a character that fans truly latched onto.
That was no more evident than when Reigns went face-to-face with Cena in a promo battle, and forgot his lines.
John Cena pounced upon Roman Reigns’ mistake on WWE Raw in 2017
Reigns was pushed by Vince McMahon as WWE’s big star, despite backlash from fans who thought he wasn’t ready.
This was exemplified when he came up against Cena in 2017, who brutally took him down during a verbal altercation.
“I’m still here because you can’t do your job. When it comes to this yard, you probably haven’t learned it yet, there’s only one rule: step up or step aside,” said Cena on WWE Raw in 2017.
The pair were gearing up for a huge singles clash at WWE No Mercy, but Reigns crumbled under the immense pressure.
“Now I look at you, and I listen to you, you should be ashamed I’m a part timer because I can do this part time better than you could ever do it full time,” said Cena with another cutting blow.
Cena’s ferociousness proved to be a little too much for Reigns at the time, who appeared to forget his lines, which the 17-time champion pounced upon.
“It’s called a promo, kid. If you can’t do one of those, you won’t get very far,” said Cena as Reigns was taught his first real lesson on the main roster.
Reigns defeated Cena at the PLE in one of his biggest victories to date, but it wouldn’t be for another few years before he truly found his footing in the company as The Tribal Chief.
Roman Reigns said John Cena promo made him ‘better’
Reigns is thankful for the lesson Cena taught him on WWE Raw in 2017 as it allowed him to become a better performer.
“I think just being in that position and going through that experience made me better,” said Reigns on Impaulsive.
“I take from everybody I’ve worked with, everyone I’ve competed with. I always try to take something that I learn from them,” added Reigns.
Reigns and Cena’s last singles match came at SummerSlam in 2021, which saw The Tribal Chief retain his WWE Championship.