By 2015, WWE was well into the next generation with stars like Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, Sasha Banks and Charlotte Flair now being pushed hard on the main roster.
WWE’s women’s division had started to shift but it wouldn’t be until the following year that true progress would be felt. The rest of the WWE roster was firing on all cylinders when it came to match quality, however.
Led by a stellar WrestleMania, many of WWE’s pay-per-views in 2015 had several fantastic matches. While the week-to-week storytelling continued to trend downward, the pay-per-views delivered some great moments.
Here are the eleven best WWE pay-per-view matches of 2015.
11. Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins – WrestleMania 31
Seth Rollins and Randy Orton’s match at WrestleMania 31 is best remembered for the finish. While that is understandable, the match itself was great too.
Rollins and Orton didn’t do anything particularly memorable before the finish but this was some of the crispest and smoothest wrestling of the year. This was an example of two performers being experts of their craft and having a great match by just being great at what they do.
Oh, and they also had an all-time great finish. As Seth Rollins went for his Curbstomp, Orton tensed up and launched Rollins high in the air only to catch him with one of the best RKOs ever.
10. The Usos vs. Lucha Dragons vs. New Day – TLC
This match should rank high on any list of underrated ladder matches. It sure ranked high on ours. At TLC 2015, the New Day put the WWE Tag Team Championship on the line against the Lucha Dragons and The Usos.
The most memorable moment was definitely Kalisto’s Salida del Sol off the top of the ladder which is pictured above. To this day it might be the craziest thing ever to take place in a WWE ladder match.
The rest of the match is stellar too with Xavier Woods helping his partners retain the titles. If you haven’t watched this in a while it must be watched again.
9. Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker – SummerSlam
When The Undertaker returned to faced Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2015 it had been a while since his last great match.
The two had a pretty bad match at WrestleMania XXX, caused by The Undertaker getting a concussion early in the match. This was an opportunity to rectify that match and rectify it they did.
The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar had a very good match in the main event of SummerSlam with the two trading submission finishers and having the funniest sit-up contest ever, also pictured above.
The finish was a bit wonky with The Undertaker submitting out of the view of the referee only to low blow Lesnar and lock in Hell’s Gate until Lesnar passed out. It was odd but not necessarily bad as both men came out of the match strong.
8. Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Dean Ambrose vs. R-Truth vs. Stardust vs. Bad News Barrett vs. Luke Harper – WrestleMania 31
Since the introduction of the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, WrestleMania had been missing a show-stealing ladder match. At WrestleMania 31, we got one.
The Intercontinental Championship may not have meant much at the time but this match was filled with capable workers.
Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, Bad News Barrett, Dolph Ziggler, R-Truth, Stardust and Luke Harper all opened the show in a bonkers ladder match that could very easily have resulted in injury but thankfully didn’t.
Bryan captured the title for the first and only time at the show and did so in one of the finest ladder matches in WrestleMania history.
7. Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker – Hell in a Cell
After the shmozz of a finish at SummerSlam, The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar needed to settle their score.
The stage was set and they battled inside Hell in a Cell for the second time in their careers. A PG Era match that involved blood and plenty of violence, this was an excellent way to end the rivalry these two men had been engaged in for a year and a half.
They even tore the canvas off the ring with the intention of breaking the ring itself. That did not happen but the visual was unique and added to the match.
With the exception of the Boneyard match, this was the last great one-on-one match The Undertaker ever had. All the more reason to go back and watch it again.
6. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins – SummerSlam
Seth Rollins’ WWE Championship reign in 2015 did not involve many classic pay-per-view matches due to a mix of shoddy booking and injury but this was the best of them.
A double title match also held for John Cena’s United States Championship, this match was the highlight of a pretty solid SummerSlam.
It is difficult to talk about this match with the insane finish as former Daily Show host Jon Stewart helped Rollins beat Cena. A surprise for sure but not one that looks good in hindsight.
If you ignore that and focus on the bulk of the match, Rollins had his working shoes on, pulling out one of the best matches of his WWE career.
5. John Cena vs. Kevin Owens – Money in the Bank
The John Cena vs. Kevin Owens rivalry was the hottest thing going during the Summer of 2015. Owens had been portrayed incredibly well since his NXT debut and had made an immediate impact on the main roster.
After defeating John Cena at Elimination Chamber, the two faced off once again at Money in the Bank. The first match was more unique with this one following the WWE match formula more but thankfully they are two of WWE’s best and made the match work.
They gave Owens a lot here even in defeat, kicking out of finishers before finally succumbing. WWE fans were not happy that Owens had lost but it is WWE and it is John Cena so what can you really expect?
4. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar (vs. Seth Rollins) – WrestleMania 31
The main event match of WrestleMania 31 was exceptional and one of the most memorable matches of WWE’s PG Era.
WWE did the smart thing here with Brock Lesnar announcing that he had re-signed with WWE days before WrestleMania. With fans embracing Lesnar as he had just chosen them over UFC, he was the biggest babyface on the show.
At the same time, Roman Reigns could not have been less popular. With fans delighted to watch Lesnar take Reigns to Suplex City, they were terrified when Reigns started fighting back.
Just as it seemed that anyone could win, Seth Rollins ran to the ring, cashing in Money in the Bank and winning the WWE Championship. This is on the shortlist of the best WrestleMania moments ever and definitely one of the best matches of 2015.
3. Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan – Fastlane
Daniel Bryan was not prepared to give up his main event spot in 2015 and demanded the chance to wrestle for Roman Reigns’ shot at the WrestleMania main event.
At Fastlane, the two battled in a fantastic main event match with WWE still fighting with their fans over the position of both Reigns and Bryan in the company. Fans still desperately wanted to see Daniel Bryan main event WrestleMania but WWE was dead set on having Reigns in the match.
To really nail this point home, WWE had Bryan work the match as the heel. He wasn’t cheating or antagonizes the fans but he played the heel role as Reigns fought valiantly.
Reigns ultimately won in a great match but the WWE fans were not prepared to accept Reigns.
2. John Cena vs. Kevin Owens – Elimination Chamber
We spoke earlier about how John Cena’s match with Kevin Owens at Elimination Chamber was more unique than their subsequent matches. This is true and it is why this match ranks higher on this list.
Owens was on fire after confronting Cena in his Raw debut. He was a new face and WWE fans hadn’t yet been taught to expect NXT call-ups to be ruined on the main roster.
In their match at Elimination Chamber, they wrestled a totally unique match with Owens just being better than Cena on this night. You won’t see an example of WWE putting over a new star stronger than this.
If only they hadn’t beaten him in consecutive pay-per-view matches after this, who knows how fast his ascent could have been.
1. Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins vs. John Cena – Royal Rumble
The 2015 Royal Rumble is one of the worst pay-per-views WWE has ever put on. However, it was also home to one of the best Triple Threat matches in history. All about balance.
Seth Rollins and John Cena both challenged Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at the event in the best WWE match of 2015. A perfectly balanced match, Cena played the role of the hero while Rollins was the villain and Lesnar was a force of nature.
Cena and Rollins were forced to team up to take Lesnar out for a brief while before turning their attention to each other. Rollins’ flying elbow drop on Lesnar is one of the most incredible elbow drops ever and that is only the beginning of the great spots in this match.
This is what all other Triple Threat matches should aspire to be with Lesnar conquering both opponents. I implore you not to watch the 2015 Royal Rumble for any reason other than watching this match, it is just that good.
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