Our 31 Days of Wrestling continues, going into Day 11 with this January gem. The 2015 Royal Rumble pay-per-view featured a match of epic proportions. And we're not talking about the Royal Rumble match main event here—it's the one that took place before it.
#11: Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Royal Rumble
Facing off in a high-octane Triple Threat match for the WWE World Heavyweight Title: The Beast, the Best, and the Bet.
Typically, you would associate then-champion Brock Lesnar with the "Beast" monicker, then challengers John Cena and Seth Rollins with either of the two remaining words, depending on your bias. But for this match, all three descriptions could be interchangeable among the three men.
Lesnar, as the badass monster heel, was the odds-on favorite to win and therefore retain the title. But Cena, Big Match John that he is, could still quite pull this off. But wait, even the wily Seth Rollins, then the Authority poster boy and holder of the Money in the Bank briefcase, could sneak in a pinfall and get away with it.
Unlike the 30-man Royal Rumble mayhem of at least the past two years, the WWE World Title match offered unpredictability. Those wild, almost-equal chances of each one going home with the belt, plus the contrast in their techniques (brawl vs. hustle vs. athleticism) and an incredible storytelling from build-up to match-up make this the most exciting three-way World Title match in recent memory.
By the end of 2015, all 3 are off WWE TV. Lesnar is once again waiting for his next big PPV paycheck. Meanwhile, Cena takes a much-deserved sabbatical after over a decade of his "Never Give Up" gimmick and being the real Mr. No Days Off. As for Rollins, he would later win the WWE World Championship in a spectacular mark-out moment in another Triple Threat match at WrestleMania 31. (See our #1 entry to this series below.)
Rollins would meet Lesnar again for the title, but this time in a one-on-one match at Battleground. He survived that challenge, then held on to WWE's top prize until an unfortunate knee injury forced him to relinquish the belt to a certain Mr. Vacant.
#11: Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Royal Rumble
Facing off in a high-octane Triple Threat match for the WWE World Heavyweight Title: The Beast, the Best, and the Bet.
Typically, you would associate then-champion Brock Lesnar with the "Beast" monicker, then challengers John Cena and Seth Rollins with either of the two remaining words, depending on your bias. But for this match, all three descriptions could be interchangeable among the three men.
Lesnar, as the badass monster heel, was the odds-on favorite to win and therefore retain the title. But Cena, Big Match John that he is, could still quite pull this off. But wait, even the wily Seth Rollins, then the Authority poster boy and holder of the Money in the Bank briefcase, could sneak in a pinfall and get away with it.
Unlike the 30-man Royal Rumble mayhem of at least the past two years, the WWE World Title match offered unpredictability. Those wild, almost-equal chances of each one going home with the belt, plus the contrast in their techniques (brawl vs. hustle vs. athleticism) and an incredible storytelling from build-up to match-up make this the most exciting three-way World Title match in recent memory.
By the end of 2015, all 3 are off WWE TV. Lesnar is once again waiting for his next big PPV paycheck. Meanwhile, Cena takes a much-deserved sabbatical after over a decade of his "Never Give Up" gimmick and being the real Mr. No Days Off. As for Rollins, he would later win the WWE World Championship in a spectacular mark-out moment in another Triple Threat match at WrestleMania 31. (See our #1 entry to this series below.)
Rollins would meet Lesnar again for the title, but this time in a one-on-one match at Battleground. He survived that challenge, then held on to WWE's top prize until an unfortunate knee injury forced him to relinquish the belt to a certain Mr. Vacant.
*****
31 Days of Wrestling is Smark Henry's way of celebrating the matches that helped define wrestling in 2015.
Read our previous entries:
#1: Seth Rollins cashes in his Money in the Bank briefcase at WrestleMania
#2: Kazuchika Okada faces Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 9
#3: Sasha Banks vs. Bayley at NXT TakeOver: Respect
#4: Fenix vs. Mil Muertes, Grave Consequences
#5: The Rise of Kevin Owens
#6: Johnny Mundo vs. Prince Puma, All Night Long
#7: Jake de Leon vs. Bombay Suarez for the PWR Championship, Wrevolution X
#8: Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Lashley for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship on Impact Wrestling
#9: Jay Briscoe vs. Jay Lethal in the Battle of the Belts, Best in the World
#10: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, Wrestle Kingdom 9
Read our previous entries:
#1: Seth Rollins cashes in his Money in the Bank briefcase at WrestleMania
#2: Kazuchika Okada faces Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 9
#3: Sasha Banks vs. Bayley at NXT TakeOver: Respect
#4: Fenix vs. Mil Muertes, Grave Consequences
#5: The Rise of Kevin Owens
#6: Johnny Mundo vs. Prince Puma, All Night Long
#7: Jake de Leon vs. Bombay Suarez for the PWR Championship, Wrevolution X
#8: Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Lashley for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship on Impact Wrestling
#9: Jay Briscoe vs. Jay Lethal in the Battle of the Belts, Best in the World