Personally I am a big Seth Rollins fan, I’ve taken an interest in his career since his days on the independent scene in ROH, FCW, NXT and now WWE. Many have likened him to former WWE star CM Punk with his looks and ring style, however the similarities end there. Seth is the Architect of his own career and within WWE his stock keeps rising………..however with the Authority by his side is his stock falling?
August 29th 2012: Seth Rollins successfully defeated Jinder Mahal to become the inaugural NXT Heavyweight Champion in Triple H’s newly rebooted third brand.
November 18th 2012: Seth Rollins alongside Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns debut at the Survivor Series allowing CM Punk to retain the WWE Championship.
December 16th 2012: Rollins, Reigns, Ambrose now collectively known as The Shield defeat team Hell No and Ryback in a Table, Ladders & Chairs match at the TLC PPV.
Seth had a tremendous start to his WWE career; booked strong and allowed big wins over established main event stars. The future was brighter than ever.
The Shield, in my opinion, are the best faction in wrestling history, a strong statement I know, but no other group has been booked as effectively as they were. Their act was never made to look weak or cowardly, it was never watered down or overpopulated, and WWE got it right with these three young men. Each member brought something different to the stable, a different personality, wrestling style and theatrics. At the time of their inception, there is no argument that Seth was the most accomplished wrestler within their ranks.
Boasting great aerial, brawling and technical skills, he could dance with anyone in the squared circle. During the Shield’s tenure each man looked like the standout of the group, the leader so to speak. First it was Dean Ambrose with his eccentric promo and brawling skills, then Roman with his quietly confident power moves, but all the while Seth stayed consistent, the member you could depend on. In the final few months of the Shields life Seth slowly took centre stage.
On June 2nd 2014, ‘The Architect’ split from the Shield and cut a path for himself right to the top of the industry. Aligning himself with the Authority Seth was taken under the wing of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. He claimed he needed to move on from the Shield, “what he created he destroyed” and he was now buying in to a better future.
On the 29th of June at the Money in the Bank PPV, Seth made good on his promise of forging his own career by capturing the MITB briefcase, enabling a title shot within the next 12 months. WWE had obviously chosen the next breakout star and with Rollins they weren’t holding back, by winning the MITB briefcase they were showing intent that they were serious with his push. Due to his split from the Shield and subsequent win of the briefcase he entered into a feud with Dean Ambrose, his former Shield brother whom also lost out on the briefcase due to the Authority’s dastardly scheming.
The issue between Rollins and Ambrose yielded thrilling moments on Raw and two excellent matches at Summerslam and Hell in a Cell, the latter of which was featured as the main event of the October PPV. Rollins and Ambrose had made such an impression on WWE that to see them in the main event of HIAC was new and exciting.
For the first time, in a very long time, two superstars outside of the main event scene were featured in such a prominent position on a WWE PPV; it seemed Seth Rollins was on the right path. Rollins rounded out the rest of the year defending the Authority at Survivor Series in a traditional elimination match and then went on to face Cena at TLC in December in a losing effort, although Rollins got rave reviews for his performance on that evening.
Seth’s good fortune and push continued into the New Year and he was rewarded by being added to the Royal Rumble WWE title match with John Cena and Brock Lesnar. With the inclusion of Rollins into the match many scenarios were put forward by fans and critics. Could Rollins win? Would he cash in? In fact just having Seth in the match made it seem so much fresher, and allowing him to share the spotlight with WWE’s face John Cena and the ‘Beast’ Brock Lesnar raised his profile in the eyes of the industry and the audience.
WWE was treating ‘Mr. Money in the Bank’ as a threat, therefore so was the audience. His confidence and swagger also seemed to grow and his promos and persona aligned themselves with the fact that he was becoming a main event player.
Of course come PPV time the Rumble match itself was the focal point, however the Triple Threat match stole the show. For just over 22 minutes Rollins, Cena and Lesnar gave us a match of the year contender, full of near falls, wild bumps and thrilling action, the match delivered. While the result of the match was inevitable the aftermath proved that Seth Rollins belonged alongside John Cena and Brock Lesnar, he stood tall and looked every inch the main event player…His time was now.
Rollins came out of the Rumble with his star shining brighter than ever, many people were starting to speculate when he would cash in his briefcase, especially now, since his former Shield brother Roman Reigns had won the Royal Rumble and guaranteed himself a World title match at Wrestlemania 31. As the build-up for the ‘Show of Shows’ began the returning Randy Orton naturally aimed his sights firmly on Seth, as he was the man who side-lined him back in November.
Although the preparation was a little rushed, Seth and Randy put together a decent match at Wrestlemania, where many thought the young upstart would once more come out on top….however much more was going on behind the scenes, therefore Rollins took the loss, as his reward would come later. The defeat didn’t hurt Rollins as come the end of the night all wounds would be healed.
Nearing the final moments of the riveting Brock Lesnar/Roman Reigns World title match, when both men were beaten down and just about hanging on, the self-proclaimed ‘Future of the WWE’ sprinted to the ring with briefcase in hand, motioning to the referee that he wanted to cash in his contract. Rollins prepared himself and two curb stomps later the ‘Architect’ of the Shield was the New WWE World Heavyweight Champion. The crowd erupted with cheers, the fireworks exploded and Seth Rollins had just done the unthinkable at Wrestlemania.
We are now living in the era of Seth Rollins, well not quite, but he is your champion whether you like it or not. As champion he made his first defence at Extreme Rules against Randy Orton, he then went on to Payback and defended the title this time in a Fatal-4-Way against Orton and former Shield members Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose. The latter match garnered favourable reviews as well as his follow on match with Ambrose at Elimination Chamber.
Seth retained in all of these matches but there was a running theme throughout….he never did it alone, flanked by Kane and the always entertaining J&J security, Rollins had backup in every encounter. In my opinion, it’s weakened him since becoming champ. Seth plays the cocky, over confident, smarmy heel but it’s really starting to affect his aura as WWE champion. Throughout history the smarmy, cocky heel has been a staple in every promotion but in the end he has to put up or shut up, and come this Sunday’s Money in The Bank PPV, Seth Rollins faces those questions.
Many heralded Seth’s cashing in and subsequent title win as a breath of fresh air in WWE, no longer was the World title around the waist of John Cena or Randy Orton, the main event scene seemed refreshed. No matter the change of World champion, Seth’s reign is now receiving slight criticism from a certain section of fans who believe he is not being booked in the correct way or being made to look weak against all opponents….even J&J, as of this week’s episode of Raw. I think WWE have realised this in the past few weeks, especially as Seth has made a few remarks about not needing the Authority and striking out on his own, maybe even ignoring the Authority’s plan for him.
There has also been obvious hostility between himself and Triple H about how to deal with the Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose situation. Are the seeds being set for the surely inevitable Rollins/Authority split and feud? Personally the time has come for the Seth Rollins character to stand tall and show the WWE Universe what he can do. I’m sure the man himself, Colby Lopez, wants to be the man at the top, the face of the WWE?
But to achieve he needs to go at it on his own, I’m more than confident that at Money In the Bank, Seth is walking into the Ladder match as Champion and walking out still the WWE Champion, especially as Brock Lesnar is scheduled to return on Monday Night Raw and no doubt plant the seeds for their SummerSlam main event programme.
The former ROH champion has the wrestling world at his feet, the first NXT champion, former Shield member, MITB winner, WWE World Heavyweight Champion…..the list of accomplishments will only grow for Seth Rollins. The Ladder match this Sunday with Dean Ambrose I think matters massively for the future of Rollins.
Every performer has that match or moment that defines or shapes how the rest of their career will span out. Stone Cold, The Rock, Triple H, Shawn Michaels and many more broke out on their own and became ‘THE MAN’, Seth’s time has now come. When he hopefully retains at MITB- Seth truly will be ‘The Architect’ of his own fate.
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