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via Getty

via Getty

Roman Reigns is on the rise in the SmackDown roster. He is the Universal Champion in his second reign. Although he is a 5-time champion, his very first reign was controversial; all thanks to Sheamus.

Back in 2015, Seth Rollins had to vacate his WWE World Heavyweight Championship due to an injury. Roman Reigns won the vacated title at Survivor Series when he defeated Dean Ambrose at the tournament finals.

However, Sheamus took advantage of the opportunity and cashed in his Money in The Bank contract to win the title.

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The following night on RAW, it was announced that Sheamus would defend his title against Roman Reigns at TLC. Although he got an early title opportunity, he failed to win it. On the RAW before TLC, Sheamus was out to teach Reigns a lesson.

As Reigns and Sheamus delivered their promos to hype TLC up, the crowd barely responded. Back then, WWE was building Reigns as the ‘next’ John Cena. The crowd wanted to see Reigns as a heel, so obviously, they did not respond.

After a while, the two men started brawling. They fought through the crowd to a meek reaction. Back at ringside, Reigns hit him with a Superman Punch and went for a spear only to crash into the commentary table. Sheamus taunted the fans before Reigns speared him through a table at ringside.

Roman Reigns eventually won the title back

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At TLC, Sheamus and Reigns had a great fight. However, the Irishman’s associates at the League of Nations kept interrupting the match. Eventually, Sheamus retained the title, and an enraged Reigns attacked Triple H.

On the following Raw, Roman Reigns was confronted by Stephanie McMahon and Vince McMahon. As Reigns resisted, Sheamus came in and insisted to have a title match with Reigns.

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Mr. McMahon made the match official under the condition that if Reigns failed to win the title, it will be his final match. At the main event, McMahon and League of Nations kept interfering; but Reigns won the match after a superman punch to the owner of WWE and a spear to Sheamus.

Unlike the last time, the crowd was alive and cheered for Reigns throughout the match. Perhaps that was why he managed to pip Sheamus.