WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar def. John Cena and Seth Rollins

PHILADELPHIA — There’s no conquering The Conqueror.

In front of a raucous Philadelphia crowd packed inside the Wells Fargo Center, Brock Lesnar turned back the challenge of both John Cena and Seth Rollins to walk out of the 2015 Royal Rumble event with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Now, The Beast Incarnate looks to WrestleMania 31, where the winner of this year’s Royal Rumble Match will attempt to somehow pry sports-entertainment’s grandest prize from Lesnar’s clutches.

Despite suffering from injuries — including a broken rib at the hands of Rollins — Lesnar picked up a massive victory in one of the most impressive championship bouts in the history of the Royal Rumble event, ensuring that he’ll traverse The Road to WrestleMania as the ruler of the WWE Universe.

With his advocate Paul Heyman watching from ringside, Lesnar started things off by methodically picking Cena apart with his now-infamous German suplexes, then dished out some early punishment on Rollins’ associates, J&J Security, in this no-disqualification encounter. However, The Architect couldn’t avoid Lesnar’s fury for long, and soon found himself on the receiving end of those spine-rending suplexes. The Beast Incarnate then refocused on Cena, trapping the 15-time World Champion in his infamous Kimura Lock submission hold. Somehow, Cena rose to his feet with the move still applied, giving Rollins an opportunity to launch an aerial attack on both preoccupied Superstars and leave Lesnar truly vulnerable for the first time in the match. After Cena hit Lesnar with an Attitude Adjustment, the opportunistic “future” of WWE made the cover. Lesnar kicked out at one. It was going to be a long night.

Like the tense final moments of a monster movie, Rollins and Cena used every tool in their arsenal to end Lesnar’s rampage, all the while battling one another to the point of exhaustion. After preventing Lesnar from sealing a pinfall victory via F-5, Cena boldly attempted three rapid-fire Attitude Adjustments, getting a mere two-count thanks to The Architect. Rollins’ Curb Stomp attempt was then thwarted by Cena, who took the fight to the outside, sending The Beast crashing through the barricade, pummeling the champion with steel stairs and splaying the battered Lesnar atop the Spanish announce table. Then, Rollins made his move. Soaring through the air in one of the night’s most spectacular feats of athleticism, The Architect drove his elbow right into Lesnar, obliterating the announce desk in the process. Lesnar, it seemed, was out of the equation.

Back in the ring and breathing hard, Cena and Rollins — after transforming the match into a one-on-one clash — turned their aggression on one another, with Cena not only finding himself up against Mr. Money in the Bank, but a recovered J&J Security as well. Facing a three-on-one assault, Cena retaliated with a double Attitude Adjustment on Jamie Noble & Joey Mercury before hitting Rollins with the impactful finishing move. Neither Superstar had noticed Lesnar beginning to stir at ringside, though, rising to his feet as medical personnel scattered around him. The Beast was back. 

 

After Rollins hit Cena with a Curb Stomp and yet another huge aerial attack, Lesnar stormed the ring and German suplexed both of his opponents, but The Architect battled back. Evading a second suplex, Rollins clocked Lesnar twice with his Money in the Bank briefcase before attempting to put the titleholder away with a Curb Stomp onto the gold, metal armament. However, Lesnar caught Rollins mid-stomp, hoisted The Architect onto his massive shoulders and hit Rollins with an F-5 to win the match.

Cena speaks on WWE Network after the match

The scene was familiar to anyone who’s been following Lesnar’s jaw-dropping career since WrestleMania 30. After ending The Undertaker’s legendary WrestleMania Streak at last year’s Show of Shows, Lesnar would go on to utterly destroy Cena at SummerSlam in one of the most one-sided World Championship Matches ever witnessed, attaining the WWE World Heavyweight Title with downright terrifying ease. Shaken by that horrific encounter with Lesnar, Cena — despite words of warning from his peers and WWE Legends alike — demanded a chance for redemption in the form of a rematch with The Conqueror at Night of Champions.

See Lesnar defeat The Undertaker at WrestleMania 30 on WWE Network

Propelled by a near-superhuman desire to prove himself against his most dominant opponent, Cena seemed primed to slay The Beast that night, and would have succeeded if not for Rollins. As Cena covered Lesnar for what would have surely been a three-count, The Architect attacked the Cenation leader with his Money in the Bank contract to earn Cena a disqualification victory that effectively robbed the challenger of an imminent title victory. Then, boldly, Rollins laid out Lesnar with a Curb Stomp and attempted to cash in his contract on the reeling behemoth, but was thwarted by Cena. It was during those chaotic moments that the fates of all three of these intensely competitive Superstars became entwined as WrestleMania 31 loomed in the distance. In the end, only one of these three Superstars would survive Royal Rumble and earn their place in the main event on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

As Royal Rumble 2015 drew to a close it was Roman Reigns who would win the Royal Rumble Match and an opportunity to battle The Beast Incarnate for The WWE World Heavyweight Championship at The Show of Shows. Can the powerhouse end Lesnar’s reign of terror March 29, live on WWE Network? As Reigns and Lesnar prepare for this encounter, Rollins will be lying in wait, his Money in the Bank briefcase at the ready.