Edge And Christian On How Roman Reigns Performed During His Promo With John Cena
Recently on E&C's Pod Of Awesomeness, pro wrestling legends Edge and Christian weighed in on the seemingly worked shoot promo with WWE Monday Night RAW Superstars Roman Reigns and John Cena. While Christian described the segment as "cool" and provided some advice to Reigns, Edge was fixated on the notion that Reigns versus Cena should be saved for WrestleMania 34.
Christian claimed that the promo in question succeeded in adding an element of personal animosity between the combatants. With that said, 'Captain Charisma' warned that there is a danger in going to the proverbial well too often with this type of segment.
"I like them to feel organic, in a sense. Do you know what I mean? Where it's not scripted and I did feel like I don't think they're the type of promo that should be done a lot. Do you know what I mean? And I think it's kind of the right time for something like this to happen. And they addressed a lot of the things and sometimes when things are addressed that are on the internet or out there in the dirtsheets, brother, that sometimes they ignore it or pay no attention to it or whatever, which is what you have to do most times. But sometimes, it's good to do something like that. It's like, 'whoa, hold on a second?' They're addressing all of the things people say about them or think about them and people think there are legit facts about certain situations and they threw it back and forth at each other and turned it into a real situation that was something that could help a feud like that. These guys are kind of in the same boat. They kind of get similar reactions, so it'll be interesting and I think it added maybe a little bit of a personal edge to if they're going to have a match or a feud for however long it's going to go. I think that it gave them that something personal instead of two guys, 'I want your spot because you're leaving – you keep coming back – I want your spot' kind of thing."
In Edge's learned opinion, Reigns versus Cena should have been saved for WrestleMania, just as Brock Lesnar versus Samoa Joe should have been saved for 'The Showcase Of The Immortals' as well.
"It's all the things people assume they think about each other and now it was just validated, like, 'yeah, that really does happen.' So here's where I've got to start: why No Mercy? Why? There [has] got to be something going on there. You don't do this at [No Mercy]. That's a WrestleMania match! Back to my Brock Lesnar/Samoa Joe [soapbox]. Imagine you put Brock Lesnar/Samoa Joe and Roman Reigns/John Cena on WrestleMania. Sold. Hold on! I'm great-balls-of-fired-up about it, man! You put it on Great Balls Of Fire and you put it on No Mercy. Come on! Like, what?" Edge added, "they each have all kinds of opponents. You didn't have to [book the match now]. That's all I'm saying, man. There [are] loads of people that you could've got through and started those around Royal Rumble season and nobody would've touched each other and you have two fresh matches that haven't happened that people want to see and want to talk about. That's my take on that."
Edge continued with his 'armchair arm-dragging,' believing that Reigns had more venom to spew Cena's way, but indicating that the Monday Night RAW contract signing was Reigns' best promo to date.
"Now, the promo itself, here's what I thought it did. John [has] been in that situation before whether it's with The Rock? he [has] had to deal with that before and he's good at it. Reigns hasn't and you could tell. You could tell that this was his first kind of, 'okay, how exactly do I do this?' But I will say, it's the best promo I've ever seen him do because you could tell he really felt what he was saying. Now, I think with more practice, more tune up, he [has] got it because there were a lot more points that he could've hit about John that he didn't. I mean, he could've speed bagged John with some of the stuff he could say and he didn't go there."
Christian suggested that Reigns was exposed when Cena pointed out that 'The Big Dog' ran out of things to say. It is unclear whether Reigns forgot what he was supposed to say or whether he was simply following instructions to not deviate from the script.
"I found kind of a shift in [Reigns' promo] where seemingly he ran out of words to say and John called him on it and said, 'this is the reason I had to come back, because you're not ready, basically, to do this.' Do you know what I mean? 'If you're in this spot, you're going to have to be able to do this.' And he called him on it on live television. You could see Roman, almost the steam coming out of his ears. And I think that almost took him to another level. I've been there and gone blank on live TV and it's not a fun feeling and it does something to you."
Along these lines, Christian stressed that Reigns should try to put his promos in his own words and to not be afraid to ad-lib when promos get a little freewheeling.
"You can't go out there and rely on somebody else's words, right? Somebody can't hand you a sheet of paper and say, 'go out there and read this and you're going to get over with what's written on here.' Almost take the bullet points of it and have the gumption, the initiative, the like [Edge] said, [to] make it your own." Christian explained, "sometimes things happen out there that aren't necessarily a bullet point or on a piece of paper and you have to take advantage of those and you can't be afraid to take advantage of those, right?"
According to Edge, the promo was a bit of a trial by fire for Reigns; however, Reigns can justifiably assume Cena's mantel if 'The Samoan Badass” mic skills "catch up" to the rest of his game.
"That was a hard way to practice, but I think that was a good learning lesson for Reigns. I feel weird calling him Roman. I don't know why. But I think that's where he needs to get to with all of his promos. And that's how I always looked at things. If you get to a certain place and 'oh, okay, that is the pocket I need to get to for a promo to feel authentic, genuine, fired up. That's when people believe. And if you can get there for every promo and find that space and whatever that trigger you need to get you there, that's where you've got to get to in every promo and not every promo needs to be screaming and yelling, but he needs to get to that place for his promos. And if he can find that place for all his promos, man, if his promos catch up to his work and his look, now he is ready to take over and John can go to The Today Show or whatever it is." Edge professed, "you've got to be able to think on your feet, know what you're trying to get across, and go from there. And like I said, I thought that was the best, impassioned kind of promo, that I've seen out of him. I mean, it was a very tough situation to have to do it. And, sure, there were some awkward moments for him, but I think he stepped up. I really do."
In response to Edge's position that there were "awkward moments" for Reigns during the contract signing, Christian argued that the promo was meant to be awkward and get people talking.
"It was supposed to be awkward. I mean, that's the feeling people were supposed to have coming away from it, right? It got people talking and that's what it's about. Whether it was awkward, whether he got confused in his head and didn't have the right words to respond to John to, but it was a great moment, like, it was impactful."
Although common consensus is that Cena got the better of Reigns during their exchange on Monday Night RAW, Edge averred that 'The Face That Runs The Place' did not walk away unscathed from the encounter.
"A couple of those moments got to John too. I know John's reaction when things get to him. That got to him a little bit, but it was good. Again, it's WrestleMania. I don't know why it's happening at No Mercy. There [has] got to be something scheduling-wise as to why it's not. Otherwise, 'WTF,' as the kids say these days, Bird."
Get smacked with this audio con-chair-to from Edge and Christian here. If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit E&C's Pod Of Awesomeness with an H/T to WrestlingINC for the transcription.
Source: E&C's Pod Of Awesomeness