Roman Reigns is a very polarising figure and someone many wrestling fans don't believe is worthy of being the next face of WWE. However, given his achievements in recent years, it's pretty clear that that is already how he's viewed by the company, hence why he's currently on track to main event yet another WrestleMania.
While Roman is often booed out of the buildings he appears in, he sells tickets and merchandise and is pretty much everything Vince McMahon looks for in a WWE Superstar. It's also important to note that the last man to be the face who runs the place gets a similar reaction. We are, of course, talking about John Cena.
During a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Cena weighed in on Reigns essentially taking over his role and the way he's gone about doing so.
"Roman is in the trenches every night and he’s performing at an elite level with a champion caliber attitude. His performance and the response that he gets from certain audiences is indicative of an elite-level performer. He’s doing what I did in 2006, 2007, and 2008. He has all the justification in the world in saying it’s his yard.
I’m not going to take anything away from Roman. He handles his business with the utmost professionalism. He’s doing it on his own watch. He’s not one of the those guys that comes over to me and asks me, ‘What happens next?’ He’s doing it his way, and I think that’s the best way to do it. He’s not trying to be the next John Cena, but he is being the only Roman Reigns — and that’s why it’s met with so much adversity. I can tell you from first-hand because I know. I wasn’t trying to be Stone Cold or The Rock, I was John Cena. That was met with adversity from people looking for the next Stone Cold or the next Rock. That’s what creates the dichotomy, the polarizing environment. I think Roman is doing a fantastic job, and he has an entire roster stacked with unbelievably gifted performers. It’s a good time to be a member of the WWE Universe."
It's interesting to hear Cena's thoughts on this, and while he's very much a company man, it's hard not to wonder if this is how he really feels. Then again, this Hollywood calling to him, Cena may be more than happy to hand over the reigns to Roman in the same way The Rock did when he left WWE anda space was opened for Cena to fill his shoes!
What do you guys think? As always, let us know in the comments section down below.