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ATLANTA– In the first of two WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semifinal Matches at Survivor Series 2015, Roman Reigns triumphed over United States Champion Alberto Del Rio with a thunderous Spear. As a result, The Big Dog moved on to face his brother-in-arms, Dean Ambrose (following Ambrose’s win over Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens) for the WWE World Title.
With so much at stake, both former World Champion Del Rio and Reigns threw everything they had into the WWE Network showdown from the word “go.” With the full weight of MexAmerica behind him, and WWE COO Triple H paying close attention, the vicious Del Rio took charge first, targeting his opponent’s injured shoulder in the process.
The Big Dog roared back, however, taking over both inside and outside the ring. Still, when he attempted the Superman Punch for the first time, he found himself the recipient of Del Rio’s brutal Backstabber.
The battle raged on and eventually moved to the top rope, and when Reigns got locked upside down, Del Rio attempted to exact his signature double stomp. But, the quick-thinking Big Dog avoided the assault and blasted his adversary with his second Superman Punch attempt. When he went for the Spear, though, Del Rio had enough presence of mind to counter with a furious kick to the face — a move that nearly won the heated contest for The Essence of Excellence.
In the height of the action, things seemed extremely bleak for Reigns, when Del Rio finally locked in Cross Armbreaker. However, Reigns would rise above, as he ultimately powered out to hit the Spear moments later of the huge three-count.
Following wins over Big Show and Cesaro on Raw, the win over Del Rio marked Reigns’ third match in the tournament to crown the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion and advanced The Big Dog into the final showdown for the richest prize in sports-entertainment.