The thirty-second anniversary of WrestleMania is right around the corner, folks, and so we at SLTD Wrestling have taken it upon ourselves to tackle the biggest match-ups scheduled for when the WWE hits Texas.
Each week from now until the Showcase of the Immortals, SLTD’s own Ciaran Legend, Kyle Bowman and myself will be bringing you a different look at the contests that will bring the house down on April 3rd.
Ciaran will be taking a look at Shane McMahon’s high-stakes clash against The Undertaker with control over Monday Night Raw hanging in the balance. Kyle will be coming to you to discuss the upcoming No Holds Barred Match between Dean Ambrose and ‘The Beast Incarnate’, Brock Lesnar.
I, on the other hand, will be talking about the main event of the evening; a clash between one of WWE’s biggest stars of the last twenty years, and the man they’ve handpicked to be the face of the company for years to come. After what seems like an incredibly long build-up, Triple H will finally be facing off against Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and they’ll be doing it with the lights on bright at WrestleMania 32.
You may or may not be interested in the match scheduled to close out WrestleMania this year, likely depending on whether or not you’re fond of Triple H and/or Roman Reigns, but personally, I’m heavily invested in the outcome.
The build has been incredibly slow at points, but this rivalry has really been going on for a long time. With all that time spent, the payoff has to be worth it, whether that comes in the form of a new major champion in Roman Reigns, or a shocking retention on behalf of ‘The Game’.
Before we get to all that however, it’s time to take a journey through history to see each man’s path to this match; each ‘Mania, each title reign, anything over the last few years that made this rivalry happen. Let’s get started.
Neither Triple H nor Roman Reigns are a stranger to WrestleMania. Roman himself has competed at the event three times thus far, twice in successful efforts alongside The Shield and another last year when he took on the daunting task of facing Brock Lesnar in the main event. He may not have won the match, but he came damn close, and earned the respect of many when he put up a valiant effort against ‘The Beast Incarnate’.
Triple H, however, has competed in quite a few more matches at the event. He’s headlined WrestleMania six times alone, never mind competing in other spots on the lineup. He’s competed against the likes of John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista, Chris Jericho, The Rock, Mick Foley, Shawn Michaels and Chris Benoit in the final match at WrestleMania, each time with the WWE’s grand prize of the WWE Championship (or whatever it’s been called at the time) on the line. This year he’s set to tie Hulk Hogan’s record for most WrestleMania main events at seven.
That all being said, when I think of ‘Triple H vs. Roman Reigns – The History’, the very first thing that comes to mind is Evolution vs. The Shield from shortly after WrestleMania XXX.
Triple H stood front and centre of Evolution, marching Randy Orton and Batista to teach the new breed just who they were messing with. That new breed came in the form of The Shield, and although the ‘Hounds of Justice’ often received praise for the way nobody was at the forefront of the group, meaning there was no leader, in this instance Roman Reigns definitely seemed to assume that role.
The two factions went to battle on two occasions, once at Extreme Rules and once at Payback, and they managed to put on two classics. The night after their second fight, however, was when The Shield imploded at the hands of Seth Rollins. ‘The Architect’, having joined Triple H and The Authority, brutally beat his friends down with a steel chair to kick-start his own rise to the top, and in a way, the story of Triple H and Roman Reigns.
Over the next half-year, Triple H dominated with Seth Rollins as his handpicked “new face of the WWE”, even winning Money in the Bank. At the same time, Reigns was quickly making his rounds as a singles competitor, getting himself involved in a number of main event title matches, and even an impressive fight against Randy Orton at SummerSlam that year. An injury would take him out shortly a few months thereafter, but he’d return to receive the honour of being named 2014’s Superstar of the Year at the Slammy Awards.
‘The Big Dog’ went on to win the Royal Rumble match with the help of The Rock, and though the vast majority of the WWE Universe was in uproar over the fact that the predictable outcome actually came to fruition, Reigns was primed and ready for the biggest fight of his life in the main event of WrestleMania 31.
As Reigns prepared for that huge match-up, Triple H found himself in a nostalgic battle against Sting in ‘The Vigilante’s” WWE debut, and even shared a handshake with the man post-match, in a nice display of showmanship. Later on, he’d be back to his old ways, taunting the WWE Universe and gloating over The Authority’s successes before The Rock made his triumphant return for a sick WrestleMania moment between he, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and Ronda Rousey.
Once the dust had settled off that encounter, it was time for Reigns to put up or shut up, and he didn’t disappoint. He spent the bulk of the match getting his ass handed to him by Brock Lesnar, but he kept on coming back for more. In the end, he had busted Lesnar open and taken him down with an assortment of spears and superman punches, but as Lesnar struck him with a final F-5, Seth Rollins cashed in his briefcase and walked out with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The Authority had won once again.
The next few months were dominated by Seth Rollins, and though Reigns had the opportunity to win the title yet again at Payback, the only thing he got out of that match was a brief re-enactment of The Shield’s dominance, with a triple powerbomb to Randy Orton through an announce table. Not long after this, Reigns went head-to-head with Bray Wyatt, culminating in a great Hell in a Cell match.
But soon the entire WWE would be thrown into chaos when Seth Rollins injured his knee in my home of Dublin, right before my very eyes. Triple H soon tried to recruit Roman Reigns into The Authority, was turned down, and instead went coast-to-coast in the tournament to crown a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion, winning the title against Dean Ambrose in the finals at Survivor Series.
Unfortunately for Reigns, however, Triple H had a new representative, and once again, Money in the Bank would screw Roman Reigns over as Sheamus cashed-in to steal the title from him. The two would face off yet again at Tables, Ladders & Chairs in December, with Reigns once again getting oh so close to the championship only to be cut short at the last minute. The brawl that followed was incredibly brutal, with Roman finally decimating Triple H after hindering his chances of winning the WWE Title for far too long.
The next night, Reigns won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a do-or-die contest which meant if he didn’t win, he’d leave the WWE. Finally, he was on top of WWE’s mountain, but it didn’t last long, because two weeks later he was told that in order to keep his title, he’d have to defend it in the Royal Rumble match against twenty-nine other Superstars. And well, what happened afterwards will have to wait until next week when we discuss the rivalry between Triple H and Roman Reigns from the Royal Rumble all the way to WrestleMania.
What we can discuss, however, is just how long Reigns has been built up to be the next top star. It’s been brewing ever since the days of The Shield. People saw the talent in Seth and Dean from a mile away, but Vince was always high up on Roman, who fits his typical description of what a WWE Superstar should embody.
It’s been years since Roman debuted at Survivor Series in 2012, and even though he’s held the WWE World Heavyweight Championship twice now, and main-evented the main event of WrestleMania, it still feels like he hasn’t quite reached the top spot. After all, it felt like he only beat Sheamus on Raw after TLC because the ratings were doing very poorly and Sheamus wasn’t really drawing big money as champion. Beating Triple H will surely be what sends him over the edge, though, and there’s a very high chance that that’s what we’ll see come April 3rd.
Hopefully you’ve enjoyed this brief run through the recent history of how Roman Reigns’ and Triple H’s rivalry came to be. Next week we’ll be taking a much closer look at that rivalry itself, talking about everything that’s happened over the last couple of months, what worked and what didn’t work, etc.
Be sure to keep an eye on SLTD Wrestling for the rest of the weekend to see what Kyle and Ciaran have to say. The two chaps are exemplary writers and would most certainly be worth your time. Also don’t hesitate to follow us on social media for all things WrestleMania during the rest of SLTD’s Mania Month.
You can follow me on Twitter @AdamOB_UTS to speak with me about wrestling, my writing or anything at all. You can also see some of my other work at WhatCulture right here.
Thanks for stopping by, folks!
Self-Professed Conversational Wizard.
Admin, Editor and Writer for SLTD Wrestling.
Creator of 'Under the Spotlight'.
Studying Computing in Games Development.
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