SK Throwback: Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns - WrestleMania 31

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Where it all began

We are weeks away from the Universal Championship match between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns and fans have a lot of hostility towards this bout.

Since winning the title at WrestleMania 33, Lesnar has maintained a stranglehold on the Universal Championship by handing out German Suplexes and one F-5 to any challenger he has come across.

Conversely, Reigns has suffered significant losses both in between his victories against John Cena, Braun Strowman, and The Undertaker.

And while many weren’t expecting Reigns to lose as often as he did since WrestleMania 33, wrestling fans have yet to be sold on the idea of Lesnar-Reigns II main eventing WrestleMania 34 since it is so similar to their first match.

A nearly unbeatable opponent with continued displays of dominance being challenged by a man who is hated by the fans due to their preference for someone else is the same scenario that Reigns and Lesnar were in during 2015.

To emphasize this point, this article will look back on the match buildup and the match between Reigns and Lesnar from 2015.

The Setup

While the buildup to Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar’s first WrestleMania match didn’t begin to take shape until 2015, the changes needed to make the match possible occurred in the summer of 2014.

Reigns needed a victory against an accomplished opponent to get his singles career going while Lesnar needed both another big win and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to maintain his momentum from beating The Undertaker at WrestleMania.

The company would resolve this problem by booking Lesnar versus John Cena for the title and having Reigns face Orton in singles competition and the results were everything WWE needed it to be.

Reigns earned his biggest singles victory since besting CM Punk while Lesnar defeated John Cena in a shockingly dominant performance that added validation to his newfound moniker “The Conqueror.”

Unfortunately, Reigns' development was put on hold shortly after SummerSlam when the former Shield member was injured.

He returned to the delight of thousands towards the end of 2014, but his days as a beloved babyface would come to an end after winning the 2015 Royal Rumble.

The Buildup

After winning the Royal Rumble match and getting The Rock booed – something that had not happened since the early 2000s – Reigns’ victory at the Royal Rumble made it clear to WWE that getting him over would now require a gargantuan effort.

The company immediately went into damage control and were blessed by a snowstorm that forced them to change the format for the Raw after the Royal Rumble.

This allowed the company to address the Reigns-Lesnar controversy in a setting they could control and they gave us an admittedly great segment between the champion and the challenger.

This segment seemed like it would be the first step in building to the main event of WrestleMania 31, but WWE made a critical mistake by keeping Reigns and Lesnar separate until the Raw before WrestleMania.

Reigns spent two months confronting everyone except Brock Lesnar and the fans' irritation increased with WWE afraid to have both men in the same place at the same time.

To make matters worse, Heyman used every chance he got to praise Reigns going as far as to say that he would bet on Reigns versus any WWE superstar in history except Lesnar – something the fans didn’t want to hear at all.

But the coup de grace was the final segment before they fought for the world title where Reigns and Lesnar tugged at the belt aggressively as the show faded to black.

A sit-down interview, exposition from Paul Heyman and a goofy tug-of-war segment was the buildup to the main event of a WrestleMania… sounds exciting, doesn’t it?

The Match

The expectations were low for Reigns' first WrestleMania main event and many expected an anti-climatic victory for WWE's new golden boy, but that's not even close to what happened.

Most of the talk following WrestleMania 31 focused on Rollins after his historic Money in the Bank cash-in, but the match that Reigns and Lesnar put on before the cash-in did not go unnoticed.

Lesnar maintained control for most of the match, but Reigns smiled through the pain and managed to land blows that drew blood from 'The Beast' before he resumed control.

Three F-5s marked the end of The Undertaker’s Streak at WrestleMania 30, but Reigns kicked out at every pinfall attempt.

Reigns gained the advantage when he drove Lesnar headfirst into the steel post and hit the world champion with three Superman Punches and two Spears for a near fall.

Lesnar fired back with a fourth F-5 but was too tired to capitalize.

Fans' interest was at an all-time high at this point, but there was never a conclusion given to the match due to the ingenious cash-in by Seth Rollins.

Rollins sent the fans home happy, but Reigns earned some respect for his impressive showing at WrestleMania 31.

The Rematch

Three years have passed since WrestleMania 31 and Reigns has come a long way from his rush to the top of WWE.

His matches have gotten even better and his recent feuds have demonstrated superior mic skills from the man who once quoted a Looney Tunes character.

This year's buildup is also much better with a focused narrative that doesn't deviate from the current storyline. Great wouldn't be the word I would use to describe the buildup to their rematch, but it has done a much better job of grabbing the attention of fans.

Unfortunately for Reigns, the crowd's hatred has only intensified in recent years and he's expected to garner more boos when he enters the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in April.

The match itself will be a mystery since Reigns' last two WrestleMania main events were negatively received. If that wasn't enough, Lesnar's match quality has varied so widely since 2015 that fans have no idea what to expect aside from suplexes and F-5s.

But when all is said and done, Reigns won't have to worry about another man taking his spotlight like Rollins did three years ago.

When their match ends, it will be Reigns taking center stage with the Universal Championship held high and the fans in attendance giving him the reaction he has become accustomed to.

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