WWE Survivor Series 2015: Reigns almost has his moment but Sheamus leaves as champion

Heading into the WWE Survivor Series on Sunday night, the prevailing thought by most fans was that this was to be a coronation for Roman Reigns as the next WWE World Heavyweight Champion. After all, he's the guy that the WWE seemingly has pegged to be their next top star.

There he was, defeating his brother-in-arms, Dean Ambrose, in the finals of the tournament to crown a new champion after Seth Rollins tore up his knee earlier in the month.

As the confetti fell, Reigns stood in the ring holding the championship with tears in his eyes. The crowd was torn on how to react as some have yet to totally buy into Reigns as "the" guy despite him doing no wrong.

This was supposed to be his moment, but the WWE had a different plan. Authority figure Triple H came to the ring to congratulate the new champ, but rather than shaking his hand, Reigns cut him in half with a spear.

That led to Sheamus coming out of nowhere, drilling the new champ with a Brogue kick and cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase for an immediate title shot. While Reigns withstood the blow, it was just seconds later when the Irishman hit his signature move a second time for the victory and the championship.

And there was Reigns again with tears in his eyes, but for a much different reason.

It's a curious move considering how Sheamus has been used since he won the Case back in June. Rather than putting him in a prime spot on the card, he has been teaming with King Barrett as of late in a tag-team going nowhere.

Even earlier in the night, Sheamus was part of a Survivor Series elimination match where he was the last member of his team after Barrett was pinned and The New Day walked out on him. At that point, it was 1-on-3 and he didn't last long before being Shellshocked and pinned by Ryback.

That's not quite the way you would envision someone being built up as championship material, but WWE wanted the surprise later in the evening. Even though Sheamus is now a four-time world champion, the crowd was been much more interested in chanting "You look stupid" at him with his fiery red Mohawk and bizarre facial hair rather than thinking of him as a major player. So, there's some work to be done in getting the audience to buy Sheamus him as the man.

And how long will that run last? WWE loves the chase and now Reigns will be in hot pursuit of Sheamus, who stole his victory away from him. Maybe it could last until April's WrestleMania 32, but it's hard to believe that this would be the matchup that Vince McMahon would put at the top of his biggest event of the year.

It seems more possible that Reigns will get his hands on that precious gold before then, possibly at the Royal Rumble event in January leaving Reigns to square off against the ultimate goody-two-shoes John Cena at WrestleMania in a "passing of the torch" match with Reigns as his successor atop the WWE.

The only other feasible option would be for Reigns to face the "Beast" Brock Lesnar on the grand stage, but that would be a rematch from last year's show and the WWE probably isn't too keen on revisiting that so quickly.

Either way, Reigns is going to be the world champion before you know it. There's just one problem: you can only have that first just the one time.

WWE has squandered that first WWE Championship victory for Reigns, taking it from him in the blink of an eye in hopes that fans will feel sorry for him and have his back.

That will be tough as fans didn't seem too sympathetic after the show as Reigns slowly trudged his way to the back.  Some cheered, some booed and the rest just stood there with no real reaction to Reigns losing or Sheamus winning.

Instead, it would have been better if Sheamus cashed in during the match between Reigns and Ambrose and leaving that moment when Reigns finally won the championship for another day when he would actually hold it for more than just a few minutes. Or maybe they should have just nixed the Sheamus cash in and let Reigns leave as champ.

Now, WWE has some repair work to do with WrestleMania quickly approaching. And they'll be without some key stars. Rollins is likely out until next summer and Randy Orton is sidelined for around six months with an injured shoulder. Add to that a possible shoulder injury to fan favorite Cesaro, which could keep him out for a while too. It's not ideal but WWE will have to make do with the talent on hand.

Here are some quick results from the rest of the show:

Roman Reigns vs. Alberto Del Rio

This match kicked off the show and was the best one of the night as the two clicked from the start. The crowd didn't seem to buy into Del Rio's chances of winning early on but that changed as he came close on several occasions. A great finishing few minutes that ended with Reigns spearing Del Rio for the win.

Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose

Another good match although it left some disappointed that Owens, the bad guy you love, didn't make it out and advance to the tournament finals. Just as Owens went for his pop-up powerbomb, Ambrose was able to reverse it and connect with his Dirty Deeds finisher and get the victory.

Survivor Series Elimination Match: The New Day, Sheamus and King Barrett vs. The Usos, Lucha Dragons and Ryback

The best part of this match was before it started with The New Day mocking Atlanta sports teams and Xavier Woods rocking his new Little Richard haircut.

It was tough to get into this match, especially since it wasn't advertised ahead of time. A thrown together match that was fine but felt more like filler than anything.

Divas Championship: Charlotte vs. Paige

This was supposed to be a personal feud, especially after "Raw" on Monday where Paige disparaged Charlotte's younger brother Reid, who passed away several years ago from an overdose. It was a sultry angle and it may have affected the crowd who didn't get into the match despite the hard work by the women. It should have felt like a bigger deal when Charlotte made Paige tap out to her Figure Eight submission hold, but instead it just felt like another ho-hum win.

Tyler Breeze vs. Dolph Ziggler

A short match designed to make main roster newcomer Breeze look good, which he did. As for Ziggler, it looks like he's trapped in mid-card purgatory.

The Undertaker and Kane vs. Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper

One of the selling points of the show was celebrating the 25-year anniversary of The Undertaker's debut.  With that, the Dead Man got an elaborate, spine-chilling entrance that the WWE does so brilliantly. The crowd went nuts for him and his brother, especially when they chokeslammed Wyatt Family member Braun Strowman through the Spanish announcers table.

Back in the ring, the Brothers of Destruction slammed each of their opponents and Taker finished off Harper with a Tombstone Piledriver. It was a nice moment for the audience with the broadcast team heavily teasing that this will be the last time these two men will team together.

Brian Fritz can be reached at btrfritz@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianFritz and check out his website www.BetweenTheRopes.com.