Roman Reigns Beats John Cena at WWE No Mercy

In a dream match that was years in the making, Roman Reigns defeated John Cenaon Sunday night at No Mercy.

Reigns kicked out of not one but two Attitude Adjustments, which left Cena stunned. After getting over his shock, Cena attempted to resume his attack on Reigns, but Reigns delivered a Superman Punch that knocked Cena out on his feet. From there, Reigns hit a massive Spear and earned the pinfall victory.

After the match, Cena appeared to have a ceremonial passing of the torch with Reigns, which WWE shared on Twitter:

Bleacher Report's Kevin Berge and Dave Schilling offered differing viewpoints on the match:

Wrestling Inc also thought it was a missed opportunity:

Cena returned to Raw several weeks ago due to his free-agent status, and he announced he intended to call out a Superstar on the Raw roster.

Before he could do so, however, Reigns made his way to the ring and engaged in a brief war of words with the leader of the Cenation.

The Miz and eventually Samoa Joe interrupted them, which resulted in Cena and Reigns teaming up. Although The Big Dog accidentally hit Cena with a Superman Punch, they prevailed in the bout.

Prior to the following week's Raw, WWE announced Cena and Reigns would make their match for No Mercy official.

They did precisely that, but there was no shortage of fireworks in the process.

Cena and Reigns proceeded to rip each other apart in dueling promos, with both Superstars making some heavy accusations against the other.

After Reigns said Cena buries talent and doesn't care enough to be with WWE on a daily basis, Cena criticized Reigns' promo ability and called him a cheap knockoff version of himself.

While Reigns was initially nonchalant about Cena and the potential match, Cena did enough to rile him up and compel him to sign the contract for one of the year's biggest bouts.

Cena has long been considered the face of WWE, but it is no secret Vince McMahon and Co. have been grooming Reigns to take over that role.

With Cena gradually gaining a bigger presence in Hollywood, his time spent with WWE may continue to decrease moving forward.

As that transformation occurs, Reigns has main-evented three consecutive WrestleManias and was given the ultimate rub by defeating The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33 and seemingly sending him into retirement.

Cena vs. Reigns is a WrestleMania-caliber match in its own right, but with Cena having an uncertain schedule as well as the freedom to float from brand to brand, WWE decided to capitalize on the match as soon as possible.

It undoubtedly made No Mercy a can't-miss event, which is something that hasn't always been the case over the course of the pay-per-view's history.

All eyes were on Cena and Reigns to deliver, and as has often been the case with both Superstars over the years, they put on a memorable performance under the bright lights.

With Reigns coming out on top, it lends further credence to the idea he is now the top guy, and it adds a layer of intrigue regarding what it means for Cena and his role moving forward.