Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns: Winner and Reaction from WWE TLC 2015

In his first pay-per-view title defense since winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Survivor Series, Sheamus defeated Roman Reigns in a Tables, Ladders & Chairs match Sunday to retain the gold.

With his League of Nations friends by his side, Sheamus hoisted the championship belt, per WWE Universe:

Both WWE and WWE Universe provided highlights of a match that had plenty of them: 

After the match, Reigns pummeled Sheamus with a chair until Triple H emerged to help calm Reigns down. It didn't work, as WWE shared:

Reigns continued his assault on Triple H and eventually hit him with an elbow through the Spanish announce table, per WWE Universe:

As former star Lance Storm noted, a chant began to break out in favor of Reigns:

Sheamus tweeted out a picture of his battle wounds:

Reigns also sent out a tweet after the chaos of the night came to a close:

WWE legend Mick Foley provided his take on the match: 

Reigns appeared to have accomplished his dream at Survivor Series when he beat Dean Ambrose in the finals of a tournament for the vacant world title. His time with the belt was short-lived, though, as Sheamus successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase while Reigns was preoccupied with Triple H.

The Big Dog was left beaten and disappointed in the middle of the ring at Survivor Series, but he was determined to get back the prize that he held for just five minutes, 15 seconds:

While the notion of being the champ for such a short amount of time was a sore subject for Reigns, Sheamus used it to his advantage by attempting to get in his opponent's head during the buildup toward TLC, according to WWE Universe on Twitter:

In addition, The Celtic Warrior did everything he could to stack the deck in his favor against the former powerhouse of The Shield.

Along with the full support of The Authority, Sheamus built his own stable, consisting of King Barrett, Rusev and Alberto Del Rio—known as The League of Nations.

The League of Nations interfered in a title match between Sheamus and Reigns on Raw, which stipulated Reigns had to prevail in less than 5:15 to win the belt. Just when it seemed as though he was about to do so, Barrett, Rusev and Del Rio pounced.

With the numbers game working to his advantage, Sheamus was understandably confident entering Sunday's TLC event:

The expectation was that Sheamus and Reigns would put on a hard-hitting, entertaining match because of their in-ring styles and the hardcore environment that comes with TLC, and they didn't disappoint in that regard.

Sheamus and Reigns beat each other to a pulp, and while both worked hard enough to come out on top, the Irish champion's devious ways proved to be the difference.

Now that TLC has come and gone, the focus will shift toward Royal Rumble and the road to WrestleMania, as well as what that means for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

Reigns may still figure into the title picture moving forward, while Brock Lesnar could go for the championship since he seems likely to return for the Rumble.

Sheamus may be the champion for now, but his status is far from safe entering WrestleMania season.

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