From the WWE Rumor Mill: Backstage update on Roman Reigns vs John Cena at No Mercy
What's the story?
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting the reason behind feud between John Cena and Roman Reigns. The duo will face-off at No Mercy and have been in a war of words for the last couple of weeks.
The Observer reports that WWE officials have booked this match with the long-term goal of setting Roman up as a talisman of the company at WrestleMania.
In case you didn't know...
WWE is still looking to push Roman Reigns as the face of WWE despite major fan backlash in the past. Reigns and Cena have cut scathing promos on each other in the last couple of weeks and are now booked to face each other at No Mercy.
Cena moved to RAW after SummerSlam and according to rumours, was originally slated to feud with Samoa Joe before the latter's injury.
The heart of the matter
According to Observer, the main purpose of having Reigns feud with Cena is to get Reigns over with fans. Officials see this WrestleMania as Roman Reigns' coronation and they want to build Roman up for his big moment.
As far as the No Mercy match is concerned, with the point being to get Roman over, he will probably leave with the win. Although, if he does end up taking the loss, it will be because officials feel that will be better for him in the long run.
What's next?
Roman Reigns will face John Cena at No Mercy. The show already has a stacked card with Brock Lesnar facing Braun Strowman for the WWE Universal Championship.
Author's take
WWE have already tried to coronate Roman Reigns in the past and those have not really succeeded. Roman is still as polarizing as ever so it will be interesting to see why WWE officials think this WrestleMania can be different.