You all saw that, right? The heated shoot-style segment on RAW wherein John Cena, with all his veteran superhero promos skillz, ferociously tucked Roman Reigns into bed and gave him a savage pat on the forehead, wishing him good dreams and a peaceful rest?
Now, word has it that, as loosey goosey and off-the-cuff as it felt - oh, and there were moments of improv for sure - it was all scripted to feel real and organic. It was basically a "controlled burn." Not to say that there were parts that didn't come from real, genuine places, but in the end it all came from a script.
Still, I could watch Cena verbally pants Roman week in and week out. I don't necessarily care about how "real" it all was. I don't need it to be real. Hell, I don't even want it to be. I seek artifice. A facsimile. That's all of what pro-wrestling is. It's a partnership in illusion. The NWO skyrocketed to success because the entire storyline gave off the impression of a shoot. Then, before too long, things actually became a shoot and everything collapsed. Because when it's actually real real, it can't sustain.
Whatever the case though, it was a still a hot hot segment. Especially if, like me, you happened to think Roman is an uncharismatic, unformed glob whose sole purpose is to punch, sneer, and make entire arenas loudly express their disdain. And I'm not talking about how good Roman is in the ring. I don't care that he does three moves. His matches are pretty good. His ring work is solid and he's capable of putting on some truly excellent main event bouts. People who don't like him don't often give him credit for his in-ring talents so here you are - he can go. For what he does in there, he's really good. I understand that as a WWE Superstar at his level, he's limited as far as his move-set. That's the mechanism.
That all aside now, Roman is flat out, bottom line, last rights uninteresting as a character. He's a Superman Punch, a vest, and a look. The crux of Cena's rant was that Roman, even for being the chosen one and "The Guy" and having all the opportunities he's had, still isn't the person WWE can hang their corporate hat on. It's like in The Dark Knight when Bruce Wayne sees Harvey Dent as a reason to hang up the cape and cowl. Cena would probably love to ride off int the sunset (not that he won't always be a part of WWE), but he can't because the guy they chose isn't getting the job done.
Roman's main-evented the past three 'Manias and most fans have wanted him to lose every time. Am I attacking Roman as an actual behind-the-scenes individual? As a family man in his real life? Of course not. I don't know him. But on screen, Roman stands for nothing. He supports no one but himself. I don't like Cena either but I totally understand why the people who like him do. I don't get why anyone would root for Roman. I know tons of people do, but I don't understand what they see. If he's a "badass," he's the blandest one (or at least bland enough to give Corbin a solid run for his wolf shirts). If he's a "hero," then he has yet to do anything heroic.
You know how Brock's persona (which is just a true-ish extension of himself) is that of an aloof a-hole who just shows up for a paycheck but it's okay because he's a physical freak who's better than everyone? Is that what people dig about Roman? Because, true or not, that's the vibe. That's all we get from him too: I'm here to fight. I'll fight people I'm booked against. Sometimes I'll have a feud because someone's come after me but I'll never actually interject myself in anything that doesn't directly involve a world title shot opportunity.
My point is, all of this was at the heart of what Cena was preaching. You could argue that, after he forgot his line, Roman cut "the best promo of his career." Which, broken down, was just him acting pissed off and calling Cena a bitch. Sure, if this was all scripted than it was scripted for Cena to win, which is unfair in its own right, but that's not to say the points made weren't valid.
Encapsulated, this was all about "Roman, why ARE people booing you?" Because people don't boo Roman the same way they boo Cena. I'd say, going out on a limb, that those who boo Cena, either for reals or ironically, still like him as an overall energetic presence. I think the frustration with Roman comes from something Cena said, which is that the fans "hold the keys and always have."
So when Roman comes out to an ocean of audible disapproval it makes us think "Oh, look how everyone hates him, there's no way they'll keep pushing him if he keeps coming out to this many boos." But then he keeps getting pushed. That's the disconnect. "Wait, I thought we held the keys." And I think we do, to an extent. There's a limit. And while none of the Roman hate has managed to thwart Roman's ascension I do think it's managed to prevent him from reaching the heights that Vince wants for him. After this many years of giving him the ball, that's for sure.
One day, I'll stop complaining about Roman. One day.
Anyhow, enough blathering on like a dope. It was a nasty and wonderful segment and...wait, why are they running Cena vs. Roman at No Mercy in freakin' September? Whatever. That's a question we can tackle next week. My big hope, since Cole teased it somewhat at SummerSlam with his choice of specific words, is that Roman, at 'Mania, gets Taker again. Taker has to be healthy enough, that's a given, but my dream is that Cena vs. Roman at No Mercy gets interrupted by a "GOOONNNGGG!" which causes Roman to lose.
There are two reasons I want this. Here you go. The "Big Dog" moniker is dumb and it's not sticking. Cena said as much. Roman is using his defeat and "retirement" of the Undertaker to garner heel type heat. Secondly, I really want Undertaker to retire in a match that's actually billed as his final match. I'd love for him to go out on a win, naturally, but mostly I just want us to know it's his final bout beforehand.
IF they had wanted Roman to actually punk out Cena, seeing as how it was scripted and all, wouldn't it have been a master stroke if Roman still refused to sign? He should have thrown the pen down and walked away. He could have actually left with the "last word" that way.
Man, that took a while. Let's hit up RAW and SmackDown - which both ended with a surprise ambush maneuver. Nia turned on Alexa (looks like they're finally pulling the trigger on that one) while Randy RKO'd Nakamura. There are no allies in the title picture. On the periphery of those two knockout moves was Rusev, on SmackDown, getting an unexpected bump up into the world title scene just because of his garbage feud with Randy (so, silver lining) and Sasha losing her first title defense, keeping that weird negative streak going. I guess Sasha will always have some type of "curse" to break. You'll get 'em next time, boss.
Continue on for more from RAW and SmackDown...
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