John Cena and Roman Reigns had a heated on-screen rivalry back in 2021.
Their feud culminated in a main event match at SummerSlam, in which the dominant ‘Tribal Chief’ successfully defended his WWE Universal Championship.
The pair crossed paths numerous times to set up the title match but one moment, which saw Cena square off on the mic with Paul Heyman instead, is fondly remembered by fans.
With Reigns initially refusing to come out to the ring on the July 23, 2021 episode of SmackDown, he sent out his ‘Wiseman’ to talk up the match instead.
Heyman began by mocking Cena and his taunts, suggesting he wasn’t worthy of Roman’s time.
After drawing boos from the crowd, he then started singing the 16-time world champion’s iconic theme song and walked off.
The moment soon went viral, with fans loving Heyman’s bizarre work on the mic.
Now, more than three years on, he has recalled how Cena reacted backstage to their amusing interaction and revealed that the legend didn’t want to know what was coming.
“The funny thing is, and I love John Cena. I went up to John and I said, ‘I expect you to tear into us,’” Heyman told Logan Paul‘s Impaulsive podcast of their conversation before the segment.
“He goes, ‘That’s a good expectation.’ I said, ‘Would you like to know my retort?’ He goes, ‘No,’ I said, ‘My retort is a little unconventional.’
“He said, ‘Great, I’ll react to it naturally out there.’ I said, ‘Are you sure you don’t want to know this?’ He goes, ‘Nope. You can’t see me and I can’t hear you right now.’
“And he walked away.”
Heyman went on to reveal that his retort left Cena ‘tearing up’ with laughter afterwards.
“He dug into us and dug into us and I’m like (singing his song) and I walked away. We come to the back and he is laughing his a** off, tearing up,” the Hall of Famer explained.
“But reaction-wise, he is so great because he reacted perfectly to it.”
It’s perhaps not surprising to hear that Heyman’s unscripted moment went down well with Cena backstage, given how much it delighted fans.
The SummerSlam match which ended the feud less than a month later is also highly regarded.
Reigns battled through three of Cena’s Attitude Adjustment moves to extend his dominant Universal Championship reign, pinning his opponent after connecting with a Superman Punch and a Spear.
His celebration was short-lived, though, as Brock Lesnar made a shock return to WWE after 17 months away, marching to the ring for an intense stare down.