We sit mere hours away from another chaotic TLC pay-per-view and I want to share with the WWE Universe one of my favorite moments from this event. In order to understand the importance of it though we must look back at the year 2015.
“The Big Dog” Roman Reigns had won the Royal Rumble match punching his ticket to the main event of WrestleMania 31. Reigns would be challenging “The Beast Incarnate” Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
There was also a third wild card added into the mix: Seth Rollins. Rollins the one who systematically destroyed The Shield from within and aligned himself with The Authority. The slimy and scathing former Shield-mate would slither his way to the top of WWE from becoming Mr. Money in the Bank all the way to making history on The Grandest Stage of Them All.
Unfortunately for Reigns, it came at his expense, as both Lesnar and Reigns had beaten the holy hell out of each other and “The Architect” sprinted down the long ramp stole his moment and the WWE Title all in one swoop. It was a moment that would haunt Reigns for months as he anxiously waited for his personal revenge.
Throughout the summer of that year, Reigns would find himself tied up with other opponents while his other Shield-mate and still brother Dean Ambrose chased after Rollins exacting his revenge from his former brother. Of course, with a little help of The Authority and Rollins’s personal security, no one could take the title off the cowardly heel. Nobody did but an unfortunate injury ripped it away from Rollins’ cold dead hands.
Without a WWE Champion, the leader of The Authority and COO of WWE Triple H announced a huge Championship Tournament to determine a new champion. All of the best and the brightest superstars of both Raw and SmackDown would battle over the coveted prize. The finals would take place at the 2015 Survivor Series pay-per-view, which would see the two former Shield-mates Reigns and Ambrose go to absolute war for the honor to call themselves the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
After a fantastic hard-hitting match, Reigns would solidify himself as The Big Dog by defeating his brother with a spear and become the new WWE Champion. His celebration would be short-lived as HHH came down to shake his hand and due to Reigns’ pride, he responded with a nasty-looking Spear to his boss.
The wily and crafty leader was prepared and out came Sheamus Mr. Money in the Bank to steal the newly acquired WWE World Heavyweight Championship from Reigns in 5:15 seconds.
Over the new few weeks, Reigns would put himself in a no-win situation not only with The Authority and Sheamus but also a new faction dubbed The League of Nations. Reigns would get his one-on-one rematch with “The Celtic Warrior’ at the 2015 TLC pay-per-view in tables, ladders, and chairs match. The two powerhouses would do everything in their power to climb the ladder and retrieve the prestigious title. Reigns would find himself with multiple opportunities to take back his title only to be knocked down.
His last and final chance would come after he had dropped his foe and ascended the ladder only for Alberto Del Rio and Rusev the members of The League of Nations to interfere. All it took was one Brogue Kick for Sheamus to make it to the top and grab the title to win the match. The Big Dog was furious and was not leaving without making a HUGE statement. With Sheamus hoisted upon his buddies shoulders he speared him. Reigns then proceeded to viciously attack all three members with nasty chair shots.
The COO had seen enough and came down to defuse this hostile situation telling Reigns to stop. An unhinged Big Dog didn’t take kindly to HHH calling him a loser after being screwed over for the second time in a row. So, Reigns delivered a ruthless Superman Punch to the boss and beat the hell out of him with multiple chair shots. He wasn’t finished though, as he delivered a one-man Shield-Bomb to HHH sending him crashing through the announce table.
The Big Dog was fuming and noticed HHH being carried out of the arena and decided one final spear was needed. The WWE Universe was fully behind Reigns and they hadn’t been throughout his whole journey to the top in WWE. The entire crowd was chanting “Thank You Roman” for his relentless attack on HHH. This has been one of my favorite moments for quite some time now. It became another golden opportunity for WWE to finally book Reigns as the silent ass-kicker he portrayed in The Shield.
Unfortunately, if we knew that this was going to be the main event for WrestleMania 32 I bet nobody would have chanted that. All in all, though this was a fun moment that will be remembered for a long time. With TLC happening tonight what are some of your favorite moments from the annual pay-per-view? I’d love to hear from you!
