Why Roman Reigns Had To Break Free From John Cena’s WWE Example
Roman Reigns has taken frequent breaks from WWE TV and worked a limited schedule when he was at the top of the roster as the Undisputed WWE Champion.
Interestingly, this is usually not how a champion works in WWE. More often than not, top superstars work multiple dates and shows to ensure the audience continues to fill up the arenas.
In Reigns’ case, it was completely different. Fans were always yearning for his segments, so whenever WWE advertised him, tickets sold like hot cakes!
Roman Reigns did not want to follow in John Cena’s footsteps
Recently, The OTC appeared on What’s Your Story? With Stephanie McMahon. The duo discussed several elements of Reigns’ life, and his constant zest to have a proper work-life balance was one of the topics.
The Billion Dollar Princess pointed out that John Cena was WWE’s ‘yes man’, and he would get up and leave whenever the office called. Roman Reigns acknowledged that he was expected to follow suit, but after a point, he decided to be true to himself.
John was the man before me. So, having someone who never said no, always available, phones in an hour, ‘yep, I’m on it’. You know what I mean? That was the standard, and I was the guy that was supposed to follow this, and I did my best for as long as I could, but at the end of the day, I had to just be true to me. I had to be authentic to who I was, and then also, you know, like this place needed me as a superstar, not one of the boys.
So, I had to figure that out as well and find that happy medium of ‘okay, this serves everybody, but it’s also, it’s right for me and it’s authentic to me and who I am’. And, at the end of the day, if we want to have something original, if we want to have something organic that’s never been done before, I can’t emulate somebody else. I have to do it my way respectfully, but it’s got to be mine.
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Today, despite working a limited schedule with a handful of appearances, Roman Reigns is one of WWE’s most popular assets! He is booked for Clash in Paris against Bronson Reed in a singles match.