Here’s the thing about change: It doesn’t happen without a fight.
For Roman Reigns to alter the landscape of WWE, he had to stand up to a mad king and his raging queen before the gathered mass of 101,763 screaming faces.
He had to overcome conspiracies and injuries, sledgehammers and subterfuge. He had to face sports-entertainment’s most elite gladiator on its grandest stage and prove that he was meant to be there.
And he did just that.
Roman Reigns defeated Triple H in the main event of WrestleMania 32 in Dallas to become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion, in a match that will long stand as a testament to The Powerhouse’s uncanny athleticism and unbreakable spirit.
In front of a record crowd, Roman Reigns looked to seize the WWE World Heavyweight Championship from Triple H: Courtesy of the award-winning WWE
AT&T Stadium
Dallas, TXThrust in front of a scarily focused Cerebral Assassin who was competing in his 20th WrestleMania match, Reigns entered before a judgmental crowd and showed no indication that the gravity of this predicament had affected him.
Moments earlier, the WWE World Heavyweight Champion had been introduced to the WWE Universe by Stephanie McMahon, who stood on a stone pillar with a skull mask on her face and ordered each person in attendance to get on their knees and grovel at the feet of her chosen king.
Although he was flanked by an army of drones in skeleton hoods with WWE World Heavyweight Titles slung across their shoulders, The Game himself wore no elaborate costume, no facemask — just his trunks and boots. The message that simplicity sent was clear. He was here only to fight.
When Reigns entered, the reaction was undoubtedly mixed. Some cheered, some booed, but it was impossible not to watch with awe as the bombast of fireworks erupted across the entirety of AT&T Stadium. In small towns around Dallas, folks were suddenly aware that something important was happening.
The men met in the center of the ring, ready to fight, but they had to respect the ritual. Ring announcer Lilian Garcia introduced both combatants while the official threw himself between their hulking bodies, giving all he had to stop the fight before the bell rang proper.
Then it did — that simple clang of steel on metal signaling the beginning of war.
Triple H and Roman Reigns collide for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on The Grandest Stage of Them All.
The match did not begin how many expected it to. Instead of getting into a fistfight, Triple H grabbed Reigns in a side headlock and took him down. He followed that up by grabbing an arm, then disrespectfully slapping his challenger in the back of the head. When Reigns went for a hip toss, The Game answered with one of his own and literally threw Roman out of the ring.
Triple H’s point? I can—and will—outwrestle you, kid.
Reigns attempted to turn the tide by overpowering The Game and then mocking him, but Triple H was not about to bite. It takes a lot to shake the confidence of a man known as The Cerebral Assassin.
The Game’s dominance continued. When the two Superstars hit the floor, Triple H attempted to smash Reigns’ face against the announce table, in a scary reminder of the night he destroyed Roman’s nose. When Reigns struggled out of the situation, The Game put him down with a spinning neckbreaker off the table to the floor.
Roman was outmatched. No question. The King of Kings had clearly strategized, studied tape, figured out the best ways to beat a guy who possesses athleticism and strength only seen in comic books.
Of course, as WWE Hall of Famer Mike Tyson once said, everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.
Reigns' knuckles finally met Triple H’s jaw when The Game went for a flying knee from the second rope, and was greeted by a fist in the mouth. Reigns smelled blood, but when he went for his first Superman Punch of the bout, Triple H rolled to the outside. The Powerhouse followed and clobbered the dazed champion with a flying clothesline off the steel ring steps.
The Game found temporary reprieve when he sent Reigns over a ringside announce table, but Roman immediately answered by driving Triple H through a ringside barricade with a full-speed Spear. At that point, everyone in the building could feel the momentum changing.
That show-stopping move may have taken more out of the challenger, however. Reigns dragged Triple H back into the ring, but it was clear that the collision had done serious damage to his arm. From there, The Cerebral Assassin evaded another attempted Superman Punch and locked Reigns in a vicious armbar.
With Stephanie snidely screaming, “Quit, Roman!” mere inches from the contender’s face, Reigns seemed doomed to fail on The Grandest Stage of Them All. The Superstar still had fight in him, though. A lot of it. In an unbelievable show of raw power, Reigns lifted Triple H off the mat with his injured arm and slammed him to the canvas.
Reigns may have emptied his gas tank on that last-ditch effort. Ever the veteran, Triple H went right back to the Reigns’ left arm the second he saw the opportunity. Again The Cerebral Assassin assaulted Reigns, and again Reigns powered out and slammed Triple H to the mat with primal strength.
The Powerhouse went for another Spear, but Triple H countered with a knee to the face. The champion looked for the Pedigree, but Reigns launched The Game out of the ring like an angry bronco tossing a cowboy off his back. When Triple H staggered back in the ring, Reigns cut him down with a Spear that would’ve put down any combat athlete on the planet. Luckily for Triple H, Stephanie dragged the official out of the ring before he could count to three.
Then, in a moment she will think back on and regret for years to come, Stephanie got in the ring.
What happened next was inevitable, but somehow unpredictable. Triple H staggered to his feet, his wife came to his aid, the official tried to separate them and Reigns came hurdling. The Game could sense that 265 pounds of muscle was heading toward him with scary speed and fell back.
Stephanie was not so lucky.
Roman Reigns smashed into her with a Spear, with all the power and intensity of an SUV hitting a mosquito.
Triple H — insanely focused on retaining his title — took advantage of the confusion, kicking Reigns in the gut and nailing him with a Pedigree, but Reigns powered out of the pinfall attempt at two. Reigns got back in the fight when he scored with a Superman Punch. He attempted to finish the match with another Spear attempt, but Triple H was waiting with a flying knee.
Something broke in The Game at that point, though. When a dazed Stephanie handed him his signature sledgehammer, he gladly took it.
Perhaps Triple H was looking for the easy way out. He’d smash Reigns with an illegal object, get disqualified and go home with his title. Unfortunately for him, Reigns wasn’t about to leave a second WrestleMania without the WWE World Heavyweight Title.
Before Triple H could break Reigns’ bones, The Powerhouse blasted the champion with a Superman Punch, then another. The Game wouldn’t have been able to tell you what decade it was at that point, but still he tried to put his opponent down. It was too late.
Reigns hit a Spear, the referee counted to three, and a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion was crowned.
Finally, after a year of struggles and obstacles, Reigns was able to hold the WWE World Heavyweight Title in his hands on The Grandest Stage of Them All. Many doubted him, even more actively campaigned against him, but Reigns is a competitor who doesn’t know the meaning of the word quit.
Through it all, he kept on fighting. And that’s exactly what your new WWE World Heavyweight Champion will continue to do.
