Show
Time and location
ST. LOUIS — Everyone knew it was going to take an act of God for Seth Rollins to walk away from his WWE World Heavyweight Championship defense against Brock Lesnar with the title still around his waist. What happened at WWE Battleground was close to it.
In the closing moments of a harrowing, physical contest, just as Lesnar was covering a battered and beaten Rollins following an F5, the lights in the Scottrade Center cut to black, the bell tolled and The Undertaker made his return to WWE.
See photos of The Undertaker's shocking return!
The champion and the official had escaped the ring under cover of darkness, leaving only The Phenom and the man who broke his legendary WrestleMania Streak. The two titans considered one another from opposite sides of the squared circle. Brock’s eyes displayed shock, surprise, perhaps even a bit of fear. The Deadman’s eyes burned with fury. He’d been planning this moment since the night of April 6, 2014. That much was clear.
Watch some of The Deadman's most epic returns to WWE
And then they went at it with the unbridled rage of two lions fighting over a fresh carcass. Undertaker tried for the chokeslam, which Brock avoided and turned into an F5. The Deadman slipped away from Lesnar’s paws, though, and, shockingly, kicked him right between the legs. It was foul play, but it crumbled The Beast and gave The Phenom a chance to hit a massive chokeslam and then a devastating Tombstone to the 1 in 22-1. Yet another spine jarring Tombstone followed moments later.
Watch The Undertaker's most devastating Tombstones
The Undertaker dropped to a knee and struck his signature pose in the center of the ring as lighting crashed and his haunting theme echoed throughout the arena. It was a thrilling moment, but as he made his way out of the ring — and the event went off the air, signaling a No Contest ending to the title match — you couldn’t help but feel a bit disarmed by the frenzied look in The Undertaker’s face. Paul Heyman may have christened his Beast the “God of Violent Retribution,” but on this night that name was more befitting of The Undertaker.
Twenty minutes earlier, Brock had appeared invincible. Of course, if Rollins was intimidated, he didn’t show it. The champion possesses a level of self-confidence that could irritate Kanye West and he displayed it by barking, “I’m the future!” as Lesnar made his way down the aisle. When ring introductions were out of the way, the punishment was immediate. Brock backed the champion into the corner and began slamming his shoulder into Rollins’ ribcage, turning bone to powder with every thrust. The crowd buzzed with anticipation. Lesnar has dismembered people he doesn’t even know just to make a point. What would he do to a guy that literally called him out?
Seth’s survival strategy was simple: stay on the run and attack Brock’s knees when the opportunity presented itself. Lesnar’s strategy was even simpler: destroy. The Beast controlled the pace for the bulk of the contest. His first German suplex connected barely a minute into the match — a throw so powerful that Rollins actually bounced up off the mat and landed face down. A second one immediately followed. And then another and another. By the time Lesnar delivered the fifth straight suplex, you knew it was going to be a long night at the office for Seth Rollins.
Watch videos of Brock destroying sports-entertainment icons
There was no escape for the champion. When a battered Rollins attempted to run out of the arena with his title, Brock bolted out of the ring and hurdled over the barricade in one insane motion. Within seconds, The Architect was in The Beast’s grasp and thrown back into the ring.
See clips of five seriously dangerous suplexes
The suplexing continued. Rollins folded like a bad poker hand on the sixth toss. But when Brock went for a seventh, Rollins used his insane agility to land on his feet. The Architect grabbed his biggest advantage of the bout at this point, throwing kick after kick at his massive challenger. The opportunist went for a Pedigree, only to be snapped up into an F5. Rollins avoided the move, however, and continued his frenzied attack on The Beast. Two straight dives wobbled Brock on the outside, but when he went for a third, Lesnar slid back in the ring and dispatched Seth with a belly to belly suplex. Then it was four more German suplexes that would have made Karl Gotch cringe.
All that talk about Suplex City leading up to WWE Battleground wasn’t just clever marketing. Lesnar gave his opponent a personally guided tour of America’s most dangerous borough, continually using Rollins’ skull to leave gaping potholes up and down Main Street.
Check out photos of Brock taking opponents to Suplex City
The champion was road kill at that point and Lesnar, with perhaps a shred of sympathy, powered him up and took him out with an F5. There was no way Rollins was kicking out, but then he didn’t have to. The Undertaker arrived like some mad avenger, a conflicted hero hell bent on retribution. It had been more than a year since Lesnar beat The Deadman at WrestleMania, snapping The Undertaker’s legendary 21-0 winning Streak in the single most shocking moment in WWE history.
See awesome rare photos of The Undertaker
The Deadman had only appeared once since then, returning to The Grandest Stage of Them All to topple Bray Wyatt. So why now? Why did The Undertaker chose the closing moments of Brock’s WWE World Heavyweight Title Match at Battleground to target The Beast? Had he been preparing to confront Lesnar since April 2014 and only now felt physically and mentally ready? Did all of that biblical speak from Paul Heyman trigger something in The Phenom? Hell, had Chief Operating Officer Triple H convinced him to do it?
Watch WrestleMania 30 on WWE Network
Those questions will hopefully be answered soon, but, for now, one thing is for certain: The dead have risen.