While who is the WWE's GOAT (Greatest of All Time) is subjective, John Cena thinks it's Roman Reigns.
During an appearance at Bloomberg's Power Players Summit, Reigns was asked about Cena's recent praise for him. Cena pointed at Reigns' box office value and how the WWE's stock rose with his increasing popularity.
“Numbers don't lie,” a smiling Reigns agreed. “I wish I could just say I'm Taylor Swift out there, but we have a big team. I have a Wiseman [Paul Heyman]. But business has been really good. This is normally where I'd be like, ‘Paul, brag about me.'
“At the end of the day, it's subjective. There are some objective metrics that are involved that we can measure — we can be like, ‘There [are] 60 people over here that know Roman Reigns is the GOAT,' and then there [are] two people [who say], ‘No way. The Undertaker is the greatest of all time.' How do you argue with those people who believe in their soul that the Undertaker is [the greatest of all time],” he continued.
Ultimately, Reigns is okay with the subjectiveness of professional wrestling. As long as fans are “connected” to WWE stars, he is happy.
Responding directly to Cena, Reigns revealed he watched him in his formative years in WWE. To maintain his top spot, Reigns has built in “systems,” as he puts it. This helps him turn it on whenever necessary.
“I witnessed and observed his early reign, if you will, as being WWE's top guy, the face of the company,” he reflected. “So nobody knows better than everything that it takes to get to that point and to even be in that conversation. So, I guess I'm just going to agree with him.”
Two of WWE's GOATs, Roman Reigns and John Cena
Regardless of who is the GOAT of WWE, Roman Reigns and John Cena remain two of their most popular stars. Cena carried the company as their top face throughout the 2000s. However, in recent years, he has started prioritizing his acting career.
Since debuting in 2012, Reigns has been a fixture of WWE TV. He initially debuted as a part of the Shield with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose (now known as Jon Moxley in AEW).
He became a singles star in 2014, winning the Royal Rumble and taking on Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31.
When the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, Reigns took a hiatus from WWE. He returned at the 2020 SummerSlam event and won the Universal Championship at Payback the following week.
This started a championship reign that would last over 1,300 days. During that stretch, Reigns successfully defended the championship against Cena at the 2021 SummerSlam event. After just one spear, Reigns emerged victorious.
At WrestleMania XL, several cameos occurred when Reigns defended his championship against Cody Rhodes. Cena made his WWE return, taking out Solo Sikoa before delivering an Attitude Adjustment to Reigns. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, one of Cena's past rivals, came out to take him out of the equation in a fun sequence.