9 – Roman Reigns finally wins title after year of hardship
In what was probably one of the best Monday Night Raw’s of 2015, Roman Reigns captured the WWE World Heavyweight Championship after spending most of 2015 being deprived of his chances over and over again – first Rollins at WrestleMania 31, then Bray Wyatt stopping him from claiming the Money In The Bank briefcase.
After Seth Rollins sadly picked up an injury causing him to vacate the title, a tournament was declared, which went on throughout most of November, and the final four were Roman Reigns, Alberto Del Rio, Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens. After Ambrose and Reigns dispatched of their respective opponents, the two friends faced it off in the final, in a disappointingly short match, with Reigns beating Ambrose in under ten minutes.
However, during the celebrations, Triple H came out while the confetti was raining down, and offered Reigns his hand. Reigns declined, opting instead to spear Triple H, which caused enough of a distraction to allow Sheamus to catch Reigns with a Brogue kick. After cashing in and having a short match with Reigns, Sheamus defeated Roman in just five minutes and fifteen seconds.
After numerous attempts to win back his title, Reigns received his final chance on the RAW after WWE TLC, and pinned Sheamus to have his first proper run as champion. In an allusion to the Attitude Era, WWE has set up Reigns like Stone Cold Steve Austin, even including Vince McMahon in the proceedings to win the title back from the Samoan badass.
Since his victory back at the Royal Rumble, it had been coming for Reigns, but with the fan reaction initially so negative towards the son of Wild Samoan Sika, WWE opted to go in a different direction in order to build his character. It was done in such a way that saw lots of people who were indifferent to the current champion change their tune and join as a member of the Roman Empire.