Welcome to Last Word on Mania month at Last Word on Sports! All month long we will be doing articles to build up for Wrestlemania 31 on March 29, 2015. Be sure to read everything this month by clicking this link. Enjoy!
There’s a common saying in the WWE: The road to WrestleMania starts at the Royal Rumble. For both the WWE World Heavyweight Champion and his challenger, this is true. The man who walks out of the Royal Rumble pay-per-view is favorable to go on to main event WrestleMania, just two months later. In fact, in the last ten years of WrestleMania’s history (not withstanding this year’s edition), the holder of the World Heavyweight Championship and WWE Championship went on to defend their titles in eight of the ten years. In 2009 and 2010, both the main champions of the company lost their gold in the Elimination Chamber.
The more important story is how many times the defending champion walked out of WrestleMania with the title still firmly held in his grasp. With a combined total of 19 defense (9 WWE Championships, 9 World Heavyweight Championships and 1 WWE World Heavyweight Championship), seven of those left the WWE’s grandest stage the way they came in: as champion.
What about the challenger, whom won the rumble match? In the last 10 years, the superstar that was gunning for the title left WrestleMania as the champion just five times.
With both the title holder’s odds and the challenger’s odds being unfavorable, it’s anybody’s guess who walks out of Wrestlemania 31 as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Will it be Brock Lesnar, as he continues his reign of terror and dominance in the company, or will Roman Reigns be the one to defeat the one in 21 and 1? Before we break it down, let’s take a look at the roads these two men took, en route to Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar.
Roman Reigns’ Journey
Member of the Anoa’i family, Roman Reigns made his debut in the WWE on November 18th, 2012, as one of the three members of The Shield, with a bloodline that ran deep in the company’s history. His father, Sika, was a former 3-time WWE World Tag Team Champion (with Afa). His brother, Rosey, also a former Tag Team Champion as the S.H.I.T. (Super Hero In Training) alongside The Hurricane. Reigns’ debut was no doubt impressive, alongside Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, and it wasn’t long before he, along with Rollins, became a Tag Team Champion himself.
As the muscle of the Shield, Reigns’ popularity grew with every spear, apron dropkick, and triple powerbomb he delivered. While his voice was seldom heard, his presence was often felt when he put on a stunning display of size, speed and aggression, and wrapped it into one perfect package.
After a shocking turn by Rollins, Reigns was tested for a single run and at the perfect time. His popularity was on the rise, his stock couldn’t be any higher, and the WWE was on a path to bring Reigns to the absolute top of the mountain. He received two back-to-back shots at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, albeit in multi-competitor matches. However, after a win over Randy Orton at Summerslam, Reigns was sidelined with a incarcerated hernia, which required emergency surgery.
This may have been the biggest factor in Roman’s drop in popularity, as the Samoan superstar was left off the roster for a couple of months. To add fuel to the fire, Reigns was named the 2014 Superstar of the Year, beating out Brock Lesnar, who was the WWE World Heavyweight Champion at the time, and conqueror of the Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak.
In fact, Lesnar wasn’t even the most popular choice among crowd favoritism. Seth Rollins, the Money In The Bank winner, and Dean Ambrose, were both cheered for to win, as was white-hot Daniel Bryan. Taking into consideration that he was missing for several months and had no significant Championship run, Reigns’ Slammy Award win came at a bad time.
At the Royal Rumble, Reigns entered at the 19th position and eliminated six contestants while lasting 27:29 en route to winning the 28th annual Rumble match. Unfortunately for Reigns, it was met with a chorus of boos from the Pittsburgh crowd, a reaction that not even The Rock could sway. It was also a complete 180 from what Reigns experienced at the Royal Rumble PPV from the year prior, where he was heavily cheered to win by the Philadelphia crowd, albeit against Batista, who was in a similar situation as Reigns was this year.
Despite picking up a win over Daniel Bryan to secure his main event spot at WrestleMania 31, and Bryan himself attempting to get the crowd to change their mind by putting Reigns over, as did Paul Heyman and Mark Henry, nothing could make Roman Reigns look like a hero, no matter what city he walked down the aisle of. The new, shiny prize in the WWE, and the expected next big thing that the company has tried several times to put over, well… hasn’t. It has even reached the state where Reigns has fired back at the WWE Universe, for their reaction towards him being in the main event, and all the criticism they have hurled at him.
“Every critic I’ve ever had, they weren’t wrestlers [laughs]. Every wrestler I’ve ever had critique me, they were always into my stuff or what I’m doing out there. For a non-wrestler, someone who doesn’t even know how to lock up, and if we did lock up, they wouldn’t know what to do, for them to critique any of us, it really does pop me.” – Reigns, January 2015
“I don’t think I’m headbutting with [hardcore fans], I feel like they are headbutting me. […] One thing that kind of confuses me is that it is a performance, it is a show, there is a storyline. When people start doing the ‘He deserves this, He deserves that,’ really did Brad Pitt deserve [sic] to be Achilles in Troy?” – Reigns, March 2015
Comparisons between a WWE program and Hollywood film aside, his comments were met with even more backlash, creating an indescribable and irreparable rift between Reigns and the fans.
Brock Lesnar’s Journey
Fans know the story of Brock Lesnar. They know his impressive track record as the youngest Undisputed WWE Champion, defeating The Rock who was, at that time, held that feat. But when Lesnar departed from the company in 2004, it created animosity between he and the WWE, especially when he competed in New Japan Pro Wrestling, which breached the no-compete clause signed in his contract.
After a few years, Lesnar tested a new career with a run in the UFC, spanning from 2008 to 2011. Brock quickly became one of the biggest draws in the company’s history. A record of 5-3 while fighting for UFC, Brock quickly rose to the top of the ladder, becoming the UFC Heavyweight Champion. Unfortunately for Brock, his battle with diverticulitis and the loss of his final two matches, both in the first round, spelled the end of Lesnar inside the octagon.
On April 2nd, 2012, Brock Lesnar returned to the WWE to a large ovation, as he confronted and later F5’ed John Cena, literally out of his shoes, to close that night’s edition of Raw. His stay was short-lived, although this time, through storyline, following a loss to Cena at Extreme Rules. After a feud with Triple H, and the physical dissection of both Mark Henry and Big Show, Lesnar set his sights on the WWE Championship. After demanding a contract signing, his plea was met with the sound of a gong and the return of The Undertaker. The stage was set, Brock Lesnar would take on The Undertaker at WrestleMania, in an attempt to be the one to conquer the streak.
And conquer, Brock Lesnar did.
Lesnar left the crowd in the Silverdome stunned, shocked and devastated. He became the first person in 22 Wrestlemania bouts to beat The Undertaker, and put an end to the streak. With that accomplishment came the burden of being the one that conquered The Undertaker at WrestleMania. Now, the target was set on him, and his way of responding to that? Capturing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, just five months later, squashing Cena in a match that featured 16 German Suplexes.
From that night on, Brock Lesnar has been the beast that Paul Heyman marketed him to be. An unstoppable force that was the company’s champion, the man that not even The Undertaker could top at WrestleMania.
Since his championship victory, Lesnar has defended the title on two occasions, both times against John Cena. At Night of Champions, Cena invoked his rematch clause and won, but via disqualification after Seth Rollins intervened while Lesnar was stuck in the STF. At this year’s Royal Rumble, Lesnar succesfully defended his title after defeating both Cena and Rollins in a triple threat match, securing his role in the main event at WrestleMania 31.
Going Face-To-Face
At WrestleMania 31, it will mark the first time that Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar face each other, at any capacity. Since the Rumble victory, and Reigns’ defeating Bryan at Fastlane to settle his position at the PPV, Reigns and Lesnar have gone face-to-face once backstage, and once in the ring.
On the January 26th edition of Raw, the live televised show was forced into cancellation after a snowstorm hit the United States, sweeping mountains of snow over several cities. Despite the lack of WWE action, the company took the opportunity to sit down with both Reigns and Lesnar, with Heyman, individually before having them in the same room, at the same time, together. It didn’t take long before their heated words became a stand-off and a stare-down. The two men, not backing down from each other, shook hands in fierce fashion, before the intense segment came to an end.
During the following weeks, Reigns was featured in several in-ring promos with Paul Heyman, where Heyman did Lesnar’s bidding, while Reigns continued to try convincing the WWE Universe that he was both worthy of the main event, and capable of winning it all. This came with the introduction of Roman’s new catchphrase of “I can. I will.” followed by his popular “Believe that.” Heyman would have none of it. In his mind, Lesnar is unconquerable and will decimate anybody that is thrown at him, and that includes Roman Reigns.
On the March 23rd edition of Raw, Lesnar and Reigns met face-to-face for the first time inside a WWE ring. After a barrage of words from Paul Heyman, with Lesnar standing by his side, and smiling at the message being sent, Reigns made his way down to the ring to a mixed reaction from the crowd. Once inside the ring, Reigns kept silent, and snatched the championship away from Lesnar. No words, just a direct message of him taking the title away from Brock. As the fans began to boo, Lesnar reached back for his title and grabbed a hold of it, but Reigns refused to let go. With the final Raw before WrestleMania going off the air, the final picture was of Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar, and both their hands firmly placed on the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
The Seth Rollins Wild Card
We mustn’t forget the wild card factor that is Seth Rollins. Having won the Money in the Bank briefcase back on June 29th of last year, Rollins has the opportunity to cash in his contract and challenge the champion at that time, whenever he chooses. What better opportunity than at WrestleMania 31, after the behemoths in Lesnar and Reigns are done destroying each other over the WWE World Heavyweight Championship? The match is guaranteed to be, as Jim Ross so eloquently put it, a slobberknocker, and when all is said and done, both competitors could be completely drained.
For the internet wrestling community, this would be the best outcome to close out the show. Brock Lesnar’s part-time status is something the hardcore fans do not desire, especially with title defences becoming a rarity. Roman Reigns’ position in fan’s respect pool is not nearly positive enough to have him cheered as the winner, with confetti raining down and fireworks exploding all around the arena.
However, there’s Seth Rollins. A 28-year-old whose climb to the top has been remarkable and backed by a large portion of the WWE Universe. To solidify his position as one of the top heels in the company, and bigger names in the WWE, cashing in his briefcase and taking out either one of Lesnar or Reigns to close out WrestleMania would be a picture the company could sell for years to come, much like Daniel Bryan’s victory at WrestleMania 30.
Then again, Rollins has a full calendar year to bank on his chance, and that comes to an end in June of 2015, giving The Architect a couple of months after WrestleMania to pick away at the bones and escape the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. That time may not even include Lesnar or Reigns. The options are endless while time begins to become limited, but as someone who is as calculative and dangerous as Rollins, there’s always a way.
The Showdown Is Set
At one side of the ring stands 6’3, 286 pound beast from Minneapolis, Minnesota. An NCAA Division I Champion, National Champion, and North Dakota State University Heavyweight Champion. A man that tore through the UFC in just three years, winning the top prize in a convincing manner. A 4-time and current WWE World Heavyweight Champion, King of the Ring winner, Royal Rumble winner, and the man that became the one in 21-1.
On the other side, a 6’3, 265 pound Juggernaut that Superman Punched and Speared his way to the top of the mountain in little time. A former Tag Team Champion, Royal Rumble winner, and recipient of five Slammy Awards in just two years, Roman Reigns is primed and ready for the main event of WrestleMania. While his transition from the The Shield’s muscle to a singles run has been somewhat streaky, Reigns is determined to silence his detractors and prove to the world that he isn’t just a big body with little substance to follow.
Lesnar has just one match to account for in 2015, his Royal Rumble victory and title defence against Seth Rollins and John Cena, while Reigns has only suffered defeat twice in all of 2015, once to the Big Show and the other to Rollins, both on episodes of Monday Night Raw. Both Lesnar and Reigns have been on an impressive tear in the company, despite Brock’s lack of competing, and when they meet in the ring this Sunday, sparks are expected to fly.
While the winner is still hard to decide, it will be interesting to watch how the crowd interacts with the match. It could be a matter of the audience cheering on Lesnar while getting nasty when Reigns gains the upper hand. Has Roman fallen out of favor completely with the WWE Universe and this match is no longer salvageable, or can Reigns turn the crowd around in time for the fans to get on board and ride the Roman Reigns train?
