10 Facts To Silence The Roman Reigns Critics
6. The Machine Is Partly To Blame
John Cena, during that promo, used his own initiative to bury Reigns. Reigns trailed off when trying to make a point. He smirked, obviously uncomfortable (and if this was worked into the segment, he worked absolutely everybody) - and Cena pounced. "Go ahead, find it, go ahead. I'll wait. "It's called a promo. If you wanna be the Big Dog, you're gonna have to learn how to do it. So go ahead. See ya, fourth wall!"
Roman Reigns was bled into the business a full decade after scripted promos became the norm. He was and is under firm instructions to orate the words of others verbatim. It's no bloody wonder he can't cut a promo on the spot. The machine won't let him. He stuttered. Of course he did; you don't rid yourself of the shackles opposite a guy who worked his way to the top by excelling at freestyle rapping, and he wasn't playing on a level field. It's like asking Cena to wrestle in a full lucha libre style he isn't prepared for. You know how that would go.
Besides which - Reigns did speak off the cuff. When Reigns told Cena that people boo him because he sucked, in another suck-up plea, he put his arm around Kurt Angle and tried to create a false equivalency. "According to them, so does he, but that's okay, he won a gold medal." Reigns was having none of it. "Just shut up for a while, how about that?" Reigns also recovered from the stall to speak forthrightly and with confidence. He just about passed the pressure test.
Cena didn't so much "own" Reigns as WWE owns everything about its roster, agency and all.