WWE World Heavyweight champion Seth Rollins defeated Randy Orton, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose in a Fatal 4 Way Match;
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins is nothing if not an odds beater. The Authority’s golden boy has repeatedly faced the impossible since snagging the title — be it a showdown with an angry Brock Lesnar, or a Steel Cage Match against Randy Orton — and somehow he has managed to keep sports-entertainment’s most cherished prize around his eight-pack abs.
At WWE Payback, Rollins faced his biggest challenge yet, a Fatal 4-Way Match against Orton, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose — the three co-presidents of the “We Hate Seth Rollins Fan Club” — where Seth could have lost his title without even being involved in the outcome. On top of that, Rollins’ much-loathed Authority cohort, Kane, lurked at ringside, weighing his options on whether he wanted to help Seth win and maintain his role as WWE’s Director of Operations, or crush the kid like a bug and happily accept his pink slip from Triple H.
Rollins had a better shot at winning the Preakness than he did at leaving Baltimore with his WWE World Heavyweight Title. Yet, there he was at the end of the night, stumbling to the locker room with the championship in his gloved hands and a pained look of disbelief on his face. How he got there was just as incredible as it seems.
Twenty minutes earlier, Rollins had been an antelope on the Serengeti, hungrily eyed by the lions that were Ambrose, Orton and Reigns. Before the trio could sink their teeth into him, though, J&J Security swarmed, dragging the challengers out of the ring and starting a skirmish on the arena floor. Bodies collided with mosh pit aggressiveness as each competitor disappeared into a blur of swinging fists and stomping feet. Ambrose took the first risk of the match, launching himself out of the ring and onto Rollins and Orton. Then, it was Reigns, who took a running start and fired all 265 pounds of himself over the top rope like a Samoan scud missile.
The champion became a prized punching bag in these early minutes. Reigns was the first one to get his hands on Rollins, rattling his bones with a beautiful tilt-a-whirl slam. Ambrose was in next with a big elbow for his onetime friend. Next, it was Orton, who broke up Dean’s pin attempt and started a fight with The Lunatic Fringe. The Viper looked for his RKO, but ended up with Ambrose’s arm nearly collapsing his larynx with a stiff clothesline.
The fight in the ring was ugly, but Rollins had no choice but to stay in the mix. If he made himself scarce for too long, he could miss an opportunity to break up a pin or submission attempt and that would be it. Things were not going well for him, though. When Ambrose and Reigns finally got an opportunity to beat up on their former Shield teammate, they savored it. The allies shared a fist bump before bumping their fists against Rollins’ forehead for the next few minutes.
The pummeling may have gone on even longer had Kane not involved himself. As Reigns readied to splatter Rollins across the canvas with a Superman Punch, WWE’s Director of Operations grabbed him by the leg and dragged him out of the ring. As soon as the monster launched Roman into the barricade, his intentions were clear. He was still playing for Team Authority.
The forecast of the match was clearly altered at that very moment. Kane and J&J Security began battering all three challengers, allowing Rollins to get a brief respite, and then take control of the match. As Reigns and Orton got kicked by the suits at ringside, the champion picked apart Ambrose in-between the ropes. As soon as the brawler began to fight back, he was cut off at the knees. Dean may have very well connected with Dirty Deeds had Kane not entered the ring and chokeslammed him into oblivion.
From there, the ringside area became the focal point of the match, with all seven men chopping it up in front of a crowd that was ramping up by the second. Here, the bout’s most dramatic moment played out. First, The Viper dropped Rollins backfirst onto the barricade and then cleared off the announce table with even clearer plans to put the champion through it. Things didn’t work out that way, though. Instead, an impromptu Shield reunion took place as Rollins, Reigns and Ambrose suddenly began to work together with the military precision they displayed in their heyday. The three Superstars tore apart Orton and then — in the moment everyone will still be talking about tomorrow — put The Viper through a table with their signature Triple Powerbomb.
Had the greatest trio in WWE history just reunited? No, although Rollins apparently didn’t realize it. The so-called Architect of The Shield tossed his arms around his former friends and then put his fist out, calling for the group to strike their classic pose. Ambrose and Reigns weren’t interested. Instead, they set about rearranging his face before putting him on the Spanish announce table and powerbombing Kane on top of him. When the table didn’t break, Roman snatched the big man right back up and slammed him right back down onto the champion. This time, the table exploded like a shed in a twister.
With that, Ambrose and Reigns were the last men standing. If there was going to be a winner, it was going to be one of them.
That’s all it took for the two men to put aside their friendship for the moment, hit the ring and break into the kind of fistfight people were hoping to see out of Mayweather and Pacquiao. Quickly, a powerbomb from Reigns nearly netted him the title. When Ambrose kicked out, Reigns smiled. He admired his pal’s tenacity. The big Samoan came close to victory two more times. Ambrose kicked out after getting smashed by a Superman Punch. A follow-up Spear surely would have done him in, but Rollins put a stop to that.
The ensuing action had given all the bodies at ringside an opportunity to find a second wind. Kane made his presence felt once again, decimating Ambrose with the steel stairs and then chokeslamming Reigns on top of them. In the ring, Orton took out both members of J&J Security with RKOs and then crushed Rollins with a draping DDT. He called for another RKO — the crowd going ape at the suggestion — but Rollins avoided it. Kane wasn’t so fortunate.
Rollins is the type of competitor who understands the value of an opportunity, and he saw one here. With Orton momentarily distracted, the champion kicked him in the gut and hit him with Triple H’s signature maneuver, The Pedigree. That was enough to keep Orton down and keep the championship with Rollins, who was joined in celebrating halfway up the ramp by The Game himself.
He didn’t do it alone, but Seth Rollins did it. Sooner or later, though, those odds are going to catch up with him.
Bray Wyatt defeated Ryback
An exposed turnbuckle and battered ribs turned out to be the determining factors in a clash of titans at WWE Payback, as Bray Wyatt’s viciousness and cunning toppled The Big Guy, Ryback.
There was clearly no love lost between these ideological opposites in this contest, as both Ryback and The New Face of Fear charged one another and went blow-for-blow the moment the timekeeper rang the bell. Ryback got the upper hand first, driving Wyatt into a corner and delivering several shoulder thrusts to his opponent’s midsection, including one coming all the way from the opposite corner. Wyatt tried to turn things around with a cheap shot to Ryback’s eye, but The Human Wrecking Ball recovered almost immediately, intercepting The Eater of Worlds with a Lou Thesz Press followed by his patented canvas head slams.
Wyatt tried to escape to the outside, but Ryback pursued, rewarding Wyatt’s attempt with a hard Irish whip into the barricade. Once back in the ring, The Big Guy gave an encore whip into the ropes. This time, though, Wyatt came back with a staple from his own arsenal, his body-flinging back elbow.
Having floored The Human Wrecking Ball, Wyatt took his time with his opponent through rope chokes, punches and a rear choke hold. Ryback tried to muster a counter-offensive with a pair of strong shoves and a body slam, but Wyatt moved away from another corner-to-corner shoulder thrust that sent his adversary right into the post.
As The Big Guy tried to recover on the apron, Wyatt delivered a sickening shot that brought Ryback down to the outside floor. Wyatt feigned laying off his foe by returning to the ring, but quickly came back to the apron and delivered a crushing Senton Bomb from the high ground. It was here that Wyatt’s weight crushed Ryback’s ribs, causing visible pain in the form of The Big Guy’s facial expressions and body language.
While The Eater of Worlds relished his own dominance on the top turnbuckle, Ryback rallied back and capitalized with a thunderous powerbomb into the middle of the ring. Trying to rebound quickly, Wyatt hit the ropes, but ran into a strong slam courtesy of The Big Guy, and rolled to the outside to recover.
Just as Ryback came charging around, Wyatt turned and delivered a quick but ruthless strike to floor his opponent. He tried to follow that up by bringing Ryback back into the ring again and delivering another running splash, but Ryback followed Wyatt into his own corner and give The New Face of Fear a splash of his own. The Big Guy then kicked away the incoming arm of a Wyatt lariat into another big slam for a near fall.
Despite the damage taken, Wyatt sent Ryback into a corner and looked to land a devastating superplex. Ryback countered with a few head butts and then, in an unorthodox move that made the WWE Universe’s collective jaw drop, leapt from the top rope to deliver a huge splash to The Eater of Worlds. The daring decision was a costly one, though, as Ryback’s instant writhing showed that his beaten ribs did not respond well to taking the brunt of the impact. When he finally covered Wyatt, The New Face of Fear somehow mustered the energy to kick out just before the count of three.
The referee began his 10-count, but both fallen competitors made it to their feet before it reached its climax. Wyatt instantly pulled in Ryback for Sister Abigail, but The Big Guy countered and went for Shell Shocked. The attempt was also blocked, as The Eater of Worlds clung to the tope rope, and then a turnbuckle pad. A strong yank saw the pad fly off as Wyatt slid off his enemy and used the now exposed turnbuckle to drive The Big Guy’s ribs directly into them. In immense pain, Ryback could do nothing but walk right into Sister Abigail, cementing a pinfall victory for Wyatt.