[8.0] "I remember that this was good - in fact, too good - for a B PPV like No Mercy, especially when SummerSlam exists. A rare glimpse into how Roman can work if you give him the effort to do so."
[9.0] "This should have main evented WrestleMania 34, absolutely insane that it didn? t even main event No Mercy. A masterful passing of the torch that genuinely felt seismic to watch live, and still provides chills going back to it in 2020. Roman? s leukaemia and immunodeficiency has prevented the epic world title reign he? s deserving of twice now, but going back to this proves that as soon as he? s healthy, he should be trusted with the top prize for as long as he wants."
[8.0] "Good match well booked. Reigns clears 4 AA during this match. At first the crowd chants "You both sucks" and Cena leaves the ring. Reigns comes for him and Cena is surprised. I don't understand this improvisation, how Cena could leave the ring and get counted out and let himself be surprised by Reigns who comes to get him. The rest is really good even if the match is not exceptional. The crowd is present throughout the match. (4*)"
[7.0] "Ebenfalls besser als ich es in Erinnerung hatte. Schönes Match mit Big-Time-Atmosphäre. Reigns wurde stark dargestellt (...natürlich wurde er das...), ohne dass Cena zu krass einstecken musste. Definitiv das richtige Ergebnis, gute emotionale Achterbahnfahrt."
[8.0] "Ok so on a rewatch this doesn't bore me as much as it did when I watched it for the 1st time. This match has a special atmosphere since its two of the WWE must-pushed faces yet they are still so polarizing with the crowd. Romans' first control segment isn't good at all and even generates some boring chants but things pick up when he hits Cena with a right hand when Johns attempting his comeback. When they start trading their big moves the crowd is very much into and it's very entertaining. Like their SS match in 2021 Reigns took an insane amount of AA's while only needing 1-2 spears to beat Cena.***3/4"
[6.0] "Crowd doesn't want to see this match so Cena leaves. Reigns gets him back in the ring. Reigns controls the match and Cena gets some flurries of offense. Reigns kicks out of four AAs. The spear through the table was nice."
[8.0] "Great match between Reigns and Cena which for me completely delivered to the hype since at the time it was a real dream match that was served to us on a platter on this PPV and it's obvious that this match was not at all unanimous with the fans, you only have to see the ratings here to realize how much it was not greatly appreciated and to be quite honest I can totally understand why although I don't share the same opinion. Simply because it was one of those famous Big Match John that often divide the fans, some will love this kind of finisher-fest with lots of nearfalls while others will hate it but I'm one of those who have no problem with it when it's well done and in this case it was perfectly done. Reigns' haters were obviously mad at the time and that too is understandable, the guy kicked out of four Attitude Adjustment without too much difficulty and wins with one single Spear. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a good time in front of it, for me it's typically the kind of big spectacle that only this company has the secret to and I found it so enjoyable to watch. It was really sold to us as a big deal and it was worked as such with lots of great moments and action-packed stuff, but I also have to underline how red hot the atmosphere in the Staples Center was. I don't think they stole the show because the tag match earlier in the card was qualitatively superior to this one, and I don't think it was better than their SummerSlam bout this year either, but I certainly don't share the heat that this match gets."
"Das Match war gut es hätte ehrlich gesagt eine größere Stage verdient wie Wrestlemania oder Survivor Series. Der Aufbau war echt Top weil Roman Reigns hier zum ersten Mal wirklich starke Promos lieferte."
[5.0] "Eh, boring finisherfest, i really think these two can do it more together, the post-match was a tease of how Cena's retirement will be painful, **1/2."
[5.0] "Fucking boring. It had pretty much the same structure as Cena's match with AJ from last year's Summerslam, but the difference is that Reigns isn't AJ Styles. Reigns was supposed to show aggression, show that what he said about Cena was true, but he just managed to be boring. And then Cena's maneuvers followed. It was clear how Reigns was going to win, we've seen this before. The ending I've been anticipating since the first promo between the two, when the match wasn't even announced. Cena will take a break to film some crappy movie"
[6.0] "There's not much in the way of storytelling or nuanced ring work here, it's just a big match Jawn epic b/w two of the biggest stars in the company and I liked it. The first act doesn't offer too much but it's short enough to not be an issue. Second act has some pretty neat counters and the finishing sequence is a lot of nearfalls, most of which I enjoyed thoroughly. The one problem I do have is that the match is structured to get Roman as much shine as possible after he was verbally murdered by Cena and that sometimes worked to the bout's detriment, especially in the finish where Roman kicked out of 3 finishers and 1 super finisher, only to do his best Randy Orton impression by all of a sudden winning with a single spear. It was a deflating end to an otherwise very sports-entertaining contest. ***"
[0.0] "really boring, and this was even a spotfest. there were no heart in this match, it was just ordinary administration. Reigns wasn't ready for this fight, too high level. Now he can be. The fact that it was in the middle of a secondary ppv... didn't help. after the match, i was just pissed. cena went down with just two spear, wtf? At lest, they would have included the fact that he doesn't care anymore of doing wrestling, beacuse in 2010 he would had been struggled for this defeat."
[9.0] "Awesome match. Old, experienced lion vs. young, hungry lion vibe. Cool passing of the torch moment; could be argued Reigns took over from Cena as face of WWE that very night."
[6.0] "I will never forget how much I hated this match. I loved the build to it, but this match was a WWE attempt at a "forced classic" and it didn't click for me. Recently, I watched it again since my sourness towards it was gone due to so much time having passed. I liked it more this time around for that reason. It still didn't live up to expectations, but I can give it a 6/10 now and not feel bad about doing so."
[6.0] "A match of two halves; once Roman countered into a Samoan Drop, from there the match was pretty good. Lots of intensity by both men, a hot crowd cheering/booing whoever they saw fit to and many false finishes near the end making it suspenseful. However, I though everything before then was a confusing and boring half to get through; Cena overselling out of the gate, only to lose that selling a few minutes later, along with everything starting off really slow, made it hard to get through. Add on the fact that neither wrestler really pulled out anything beyond their standard repertoire and it made what I felt could've been an excellent match only okay at best. Obviously AJ Styles and Roman Reigns are 2 very different wrestlers with different skills between them, but both are capable of having very good matches; whereas Styles and Cena stole the show twice at Summerslam and Royal Rumble, with Cena doing a far better job of selling Styles' offence in my opinion + breaking out moves he wouldn't normally use, this match is ultimately a forgettable encounter between two of the biggest wrestlers in WWE's modern history."
[8.0] "Considering all the negative things I've heard about this match, I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. Yeah, it's the same ole big match Cena formula, but if I'm being unbiased, I'd have to say this was a good entertaining match. ****"
[8.0] "Wow, I'm surprised this match has such a low rating. This is a great example of a "Big Match John", it was simply great and everything here was awesome, also, the build for this was incredible and it really improved the match. ****1/2"
[7.0] "This was exactly how I thought a match between these two would go, not necessarily bad, but lacking a lot of creativity that is present in their best matches. The first half was pretty much carried by their charisma while the second half went into a decently fun match with big moves galore. (***1/2)"
[4.0] "It was Reigns against Cena, of course it was going to be a spectacle. For better or for worse. We got the latter of the two. I like both these guys and they're very much capable of putting on a good match but this one felt like they were mimicking what they could do if they tried to do something creative or at least had some psychology or a coherent story. The first 10 minutes of the match didn't put me to sleep like it did for other people, because instead it confused me. Cena looked like a goofball overselling every punch by Reigns. There was this one bit where Cena was exiting the ring to leave which made zero sense whatsoever. When they're not taken outside their comfort zone both guys have basic movesets and that's what the first half of the match was. Basic wrestling with some sillyness thrown in. The crowd was weird. They booed both guys but managed to get extremely invested in the second half. The second half is the Cena and Reigns special. Big move trading with shocked facial expressions that pop the crowd. This isn't the worst example of this formula. I did enjoy watching it but it was very simple. Reigns kicked out of an ungodly amount of AA's and Reigns won with only his second spear. This match lacked structure and creativity. The only things that were good was the character work and the crowd. This was supposed to be a passing of the torch epic but instead came off as a very basic match with too many kickouts. **1/2"
[9.0] "Simply put, Reigns OutCena'd Cena. That's a storyline that was satisfying to me, having been turned off from wrestling during the "Cena Wins LOL" era, but I understand why it annoyed others. Anyway, the match itself was outstanding... they beat the hell out of each other, took it all over the ring, and hit some big spots. Not much more I could ask for, tbh, from the two most annoying wrestlers in the WWE."
[7.0] "Absolutes Big Match, welches für einen solchen zweitrangigen PPV m. E. unnötig geopfert worden ist. Zudem war der Aufbau einfach zu wenig. Na ja, wenigstens hat man mit dem Sieg Roman Reigns' alles richtig gemacht. Das klingt jetzt alles negativ, ist aber gar nicht so gemeint. Das Match selbst überzeugt und Reigns ist da immer ein bißchen schneller, kann sich immer ein wenig besser positionieren. Klar war, dass es zum Ende des Matches hin ein wenig Overkill braucht und das war auch ganz schön anzuschauen!"
[8.0] "This might be one of the more underrated matches of the year, when Roman was controlling the match it got boring, but once Cena rallied, it got very entertaining. The spear through the table, the super AA kickout, and then the double AA kickout, which I did not expect Roman to do, made for a pretty great match. ****"
[1.0] "This match was laughable. First 10 minutes was boring, dull. Reigns proved that he was very overrated in the ring. Then they started spamming big moves and finishers. Reigns kicked out 4 AAs and hit the spear from no where to win. LOLREIGNSWINS. Cena was not much better here. He did his usual stuff, which, of course, didn't look good. Just disappointment. Not worth watching or re watching at all. A 1 for their lame insults, shoot promos on RAWS. Nothing less, nothing more. Just waste of time."
[7.0] "Big Money Match das man auch als Main Event geben kann Problem das war es nicht. Etwas höher in der Card so als Co-Main Event hätte man es auch geben können. Zum ersten Mal nach unzähligen Tag Teams Match mit und gegeneinander mehr gegeneinander das große Singles Match der beiden. Den Aufbau habe ich nicht verfolgt nur das Fehden Video das ganz gut war. Das gezeigte war teilweise gut das Roman zu viel aus dem AA rauskam hat mich etwas gestört. Am Schluss dann war es auch zu schnell. Gutes Singles Match und von No Mercy 2017 der empfehlenswerten mein zweitbestes (***1/4)."
[6.0] "Roman Reigns -vs- John Cena [***] At this stage John Cena is almost mocking his own style because everybody knows what he’s going to do. He’s milked this formula for over a decade and the fans love and hate him for it. They hate Reigns more, but they know he’s the one taking over Cena’s spotlight regardless of they want to or not. This was a clash between two mixed-quality styles. An epic layout, sour experience. Cena tried to put Reigns away again and again with the FU. The fans got only more and more frustrated as a result of Reigns kicking-out. Then what had to happen happened. Superman Punch! Spear! Reigns reign supreme! After the match Cena signaled an end of an era letting the moment sink in."
[7.0] "A very peculiar match. The audience took great joy in trying to ruin the flow of the match by booing both of them, but still couldn't help getting hyped for their big moves and the near falls. This led to a very exciting atmosphere where Cena and Roman were both hated yet undeniably attention-grabbing. The work started off interesting as both men managed to counter the signature moves of the other in rather creative ways. Eventually the match 'devolved' into big-move trading, though I don't mean that in a necessarily bad way. Big move trading with stakes can still be exciting, such as the Cena vs AJ matches. This was the case here, as both men delivered their finishing moves over and over and over again, but did have some uniqueness through utilising the top rope and an announce table. It's true that this form of a match is quite low-brow and uninspired, but it was really a spectacle seeing WWE's two most heavily pushed stars unable to take each other down. Throughout the match Roman seemed quite intent on taking Cena down and proving his dominance, which I appreciated because it hyped up many of his spots. Roman surviving Cena's 4 AAs was ridiculous of course, but I thought Cena should have at least survived an equal amount of Roman's offence before being pinned in order to balance the whole match out. Overall, a bad structure but some pretty exciting moments nonetheless. Nothing special, just pure exaggerated action. ***1/2"
[6.0] "Leider hat mich dieses Match dann doch ziemlich enttäuscht. Man konnte zwar erwarten, dass es zu einem typischen Cena Big-Time Match kommt, aber am Ende fehlte dann irgendwie trotzdem ein gutem Matchverlauf und eine gewisse Spannung. Am Ende kam es dann doch zu einem recht heftigen Finisher Spamming und das Reigns aus 4 AAs auskickt halte ich persönlich auch für etwas übertrieben (***1/4)."
[5.0] "This felt like a parody of what a Cena/Reigns match should be. Both guys can go, but when you're both working as a "Top star", there tends to be plenty of attempts at drama, but a lack of creativity. As such, the match felt bland, and failed to be the epic that it wanted to be. Also the finish was a bit laughable. I get that kicking out of multiple finishers is Cena's go-to highspot to get the crowd invested even further, but it has to go both ways. In this case it frustrated the crowd, especially considering Reigns beat him with a single spear."
[7.0] "Reigns und Cena sorgen spielerisch für das Big Match Feeling, da sie auch in LA ordentlich polarisieren, auch wenn Cena wie die Wochen zuvor die Nase doch deutlicher vorne hat in Sachen Zuspruch. Das Match ist seriös aufgebaut und geht halbwegs schnell in ein das Schlussphasen-Spotfest über. Hier wird der AA nahezu beerdigt, aber das ist man in solchen Matches ja schon irgendwie gewohnt. Die Intensität passt, die Körpersprache von Beiden ist durchweg gut. Das Aftermath ist nicht mein Geschmack, aber das Match ist dennoch gut. (***¾)"
[5.0] "So many thing didn't work here. An audience that was only sometimes interested, absent psychology and Reigns kicking out from so many finisher made his character look incoherent, as he was beat by only one F-5 the previous month on Summerslam. Also, Cena was down after only one spear. If this was a passing of the torch, it was a failure."
[6.0] "Der Aufbau zum Match ähnelt ja der damaligen Story zwischen Rock und Cena, und deswegen war es ja auch ganz schick, wie Reigns ihm im Vorfeld den Spiegel vorgehalten hat. Umso ätzender fühlt sich der Kuschelkurs nach Matchende dieser Ansetzung hier und auch beim folgenden RAW an. Aber zur Partie selbst - das ist anfänglich ein vorsichtiges Abtasten, das sich erst langsam in eine gewisse Dramatik hineinarbeitet und abschliessend eine etwas anspruchsvollere Erwartungshaltung bedient. Mich persönlich haut das aber in letzter Konsequenz mitnichten vom Hocker, sondern ich stelle mir mal wieder die Frage, ob die beim Observer mit vier-einviertel Sternen nicht ordentlich Lack gesoffen haben. Cena bemüht, Reigns ist die Zukunft, unterm Strich befriedigendes Big Name Match."
[9.0] "Great brawl with awesome crowd heat. This was a match where both traded big moves until one finally scored the three count. The match seemed to put a final stamp on the feud which is surprising as I expected WWE to get at least a three match series between the two before they won each others respect. ****1/2"
[7.0] "I just expected a lot more from this match. It should've been an iconic match given the fact that the two most polarizing figures in pro wrestling today were facing each other."
[7.0] "This could've gone either way going in, really. I expected either a total trainwreck or a truly awesome old vs new ace battle. I kinda got both here. The opening minutes were really fascinating; super old-school pacing, offense, and crowd work out of these two with punches and simple holds. From there they started to pick up the pace, and from the first AA onwards they just kind of turned it into a Roman-flavored version of Cena/Styles from Summerslam with the Double AA combo Cena used to put away AJ in their third match being kicked out of to boot. The table spear where Roman spiked himself was brutal. Overall, this was a very kickout-heavy match but also mostly one-sided in that regard with Roman kicking out of tons of shit and Cena getting one or two actually big ones; I suppose that went into the story they told but it comes off as somewhat forced. Still, I think the crowd actually got really into this one towards the end, and for that I think they succeeded in some aspects. Post-match was super contrived, but I thought this was a very nice match overall. ***1/2 or so"
[0.0] "This match was beyond disgusting. Everything about this match was terrible, Cena's overselling was terrible, the environment of the match was terrible. WWE made Reigns look insanely strong and that is what made this match worst of all. John Cena the guy who beat so many great wrestlers with one AA or one STFU couldn't beat this guy with like 5 AA's. WWE just put Reigns, a guy who's terrible on the mic, repetitive and bad in the ring, and isn't even that strong on the same level as a guy like Brock Lesnar which is ridiculous so many other superstars deserve it a lot more. This match was a reflection of WWE's recent booking failures."
[9.0] "People who hate on this match don't get the meta story they were trying to tell. The details are great if you understand the history of the hatred fans have for both men and it became an overexaggeration of their own matches in the best way possible."
[0.0] "Sad match because I really thought this was going to be great. Cena oversold every single damn punch by Roman and that really pissed me off. Now what really pissed me off was early in the match Cena acted like he was walking away and then Roman attacked him. Like the hell was that supposed to do for either wrestler or the match? The ending was so, so bad. Cena just hit 4 freaking AA's and Roman pinned him after one spear. WWE get your shit together and fire Roman. He was just starting to get good to buth the screwed his entire career by putting him in this shit show. Overall boring as hell with only 1 good moment."
[6.0] "Wie dieses Match auch nur annähernd in die 4* Region von Meltzer gelangen konnte ist mir ein Rätsel. Dieses Match war die ersten 10 Minuten einfach super super Langweilig. Reigns hat dieses Match, in seiner Dominationsphase, einfach nicht spannend oder Interessant gestalten können was schonmal eine gute häflte des Matches gekillt hat. Dann die andere Hälfte des Matches welche nahezu nur aus AA Kickouts bestand, welche einfach so Overbooked und Unlogisch waren. Es wirkte nicht wie eine "Fackel Übergabe" sondern eher wie ein Mittelfinger von Vince der alle "Reigns Hasser" so richtig auf die Palme bringen wollte indem er Reigns aus gefühlt 35 AA´s von einem weiteren gehassten Coporate Men auskicken lässt und diesen dann nach einem läppischen Spear gewinnen lässt. Dieses Match war nicht kompletter Müll. Es hatte durchaus schöne Spots, aber war im Endeffekt einfach zu lange und zu Overbooked. *** 1/4"
[7.0] "Fine match but incredibly underwhelming. Started slow and honestly felt like a TV match up until the finishers. Both guys felt like they weren't trying hard at all and just coasting by on their basic moves. Then they started the finisher fest which really brought this down. Same thing happens for me with Cena/Styles at SS, too many finishers getting kicked out of deflated the mood. I'm going ***1/2, which is normally an 8 from me, but because I felt so disappointed I'm going 7"
[8.0] "Great match, I'm surprised by the low ratings. It does not have a Wrestlemania crowd, but it's a showcase of two main stars of WWE. It's intense and unpredictable. It tells a story and it does it well, great from the beginning to the end. ****"
[9.0] "Very underrated by fans. The wrestlers did a great job in order to create a match that epitomizes their history. There was not enough wrestling as such, but there was a very strong storytelling that made itself felt. One of the best matches of the year in WWE (****1/4)"
[6.0] "Man was wurde das Match gehypt nach den Promos bei den Weeklys und irgendwie war ich doch gespannt darauf. Doch die Ausführung dann gefiel mir weniger. Das Match ähnelte meiner Meinung nach zu sehr dem Taker/Reigns Match von WM. Zwar gibts es wieder den Avalanche AA zu betrachten oder auch den Spear durchs Pult, doch das reißt die Wertung auch nicht höher. Zudem war die Crowd für ein Big Match doch sehr leise, bis auf den Beginn wo Cena die Halle verlassen wollte. 4 1/4* kann ich absolut nicht nachvollziehen. (3*)"
[5.0] "More of a boring spotfest than a good wrestling match. It looked like neither guy was prepared to look weak at any point so it was basically just a back and forth that didn't tell a story which was a shame because it could've had a great narrative. And Reigns kicking out of 4 AA's? Come on. This is getting out of control with this guy."
[7.0] "A BIG MATCH JOHN epic w/ a bunch of AA kickouts & all. I enjoyed it. Thought it was good & that it worked better vs. Reigns than it has worked vs. many other people. ***"
[5.0] "Cena/Reigns hat ohne Frage Big Time Feeling und an ein Paar Stellen wirklich Spannung, aber die Struktur, der handwerkliche Aufbau und das Match an sich hat man in der Form von Cena einfach zu oft gesehen. Es ist am Ende einfach nur ein No Sell Big Spot Trading und fühlt sich flach an. Die Near Falls sind kaum ernst zu nehmen, aber das waren sie bei Cena's Duellen gegen Owens & AJ auch nicht. Insgesamt okay (**½)."
