Backstage news on John Cena and Roman Reigns' promo battle on WWE SmackDown
John Cena and Roman Reigns were engaged in a fiery promo battle on the latest episode of WWE SmackDown. The two stars exchanged harsh remarks leading up to their Universal Championship match at SummerSlam.
According to Dave Melzter of F4WOnline, the two stars didn't participate in rehearsals for the promo. The Leader of the Cenation was responsible for his lines while The Tribal Chief and his special counsel Paul Heyman were responsible for Reigns'.
John Cena and Roman Reigns exchanged some intense dialog that surprised many fans. This promo has made their much-anticipated match, which is set to take place in the main event of SummerSlam, even more must-see.
The report also mentions that Michael Kirschenbaum was the assigned writer for the promo, but his role was simply to prevent things from going in the wrong direction. Kirschenbaum was accountable to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, and he also reported to Kevin Dunn for music purposes.
As per Melzter, John Cena always writes his own promos while Roman Reigns and Heyman are doing the same for theirs. Reigns and Heyman apparently wanted to add some shock value to the promo to get the fans talking.
Roman Reigns and John Cena's promo was produced by Jamie Noble
While Reigns and Cena had a significant amount of freedom in regards to the promo that they delivered on Friday Night Smackdown, WWE producer Jamie Noble was the person behind the segment.
According to Fightful, Noble was listed as the producer for the opening SmackDown segment.
"Jamie Noble produced the opening segment that featured John Cena and Roman Reigns or at least was listed as such. It’s worth noting that Paul Heyman has also had heavy influence over Reigns’ stories, and Reigns and Cena have a significant more amount of freedom over their segments than most."
At SummerSlam, Roman Reigns and John Cena will clash once again for the biggest prize on the blue brand. If Cena captures the title, he'll make history by becoming the first-ever 17-time WWE World Champion.
What did you think about the war of words between Cena and Reigns? Sound off in the comments below.