Seth Rollins looks to add his back catalogue of big-time WWE bouts, when he clashes with Cody Rhodes for a third time at next month’s Hell in a Cell show.
After losing twice to the returning Rhodes at both WrestleMania and WrestleMania Backlash, Rollins will step into the Hell in a Cell structure to try and finally get a victory over The American Nightmare.
With the match set to main event June’s Premium Live Show, it could be another candidate to Seth’s all-time greatest hits.
GiveMeSport runs down the ten best matches of Seth Rollins' WWE career so far.
10
The Shield vs Team Hell No and Ryback
TLC Match
TLC 2012
No one really knew what to expect when The Shield made their in-ring debut at TLC, nearly a decade ago. The three upstarts had made their WWE debut in shocking fashion at Survivor Series, costing Ryback the WWE Championship, announcing their arrival in WWE.
It led to this six-man tag team bout a hallmark of what would see from the three newcomers over the next couple of years. Each member was given the chance to shine during the match and we got an early indication of each Superstar’s role within the group. Ambrose was the conniving wildcard, Reigns the big powerhouse and Rollins an all-rounder who could excel in the air – as he proved with a nasty looking bump off a ladder and through a table. It was an impressive introduction for three future world champions.
9
Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre
WWE Championship
Money in the Bank 2020
2020 was a hard watch for even the most ardent WWE fan, as the company faced-up to life without fans because the coronavirus global pandemic. In truth, there were very few highlights and very few matches that we’ll remember from the era, however, this is up there with the very best of them.
Drew McIntyre was riding high as WWE Champion and the beacon of light on a Raw show bereft of the bells and whistles we all wanted. What he needed was some top-level foes and he found that in Rollins, who was coming into his own as The Monday Night Messiah. The pair clashed at that year’s Money In The Bank and managed to tell a story in the empty arena surroundings, a task that many other failed during that year. It was the ideal situation for Drew, who in defeating such a credible challenger in a very impressive outing solidified his status as the new champ. While Rollins proved, what he has constantly proved over the years, that he is almost the perfect credible foil to help propel talents. The pair even shared a handshake at the end of the bout to signal it’s significance.
8
Seth Rollins vs. Dominic Mysterio
Street Fight
SummerSlam 2020
Competing against a the 23-year-old son of a WWE legend in his very first match is something that would only be trusted to one the most reliable and smoothest workers, and Rollins is exactly that. The Mysterio/Rollins feud that took over the summer of 2020 had many peaks and troughs, but this was a delightful highlight.
Rollins played the mind games from the off by donning ring attire inspired by Rey’s famous match with Eddie Guerrero at Halloween Havoc in 1997, and it set the tone for an entertaining street fight.
Seth was happy to play the dastardly heel to the fresh-faced Dominik, who thanks in part to Rollins, never looked out of place on his maiden WWE outing. As with any hardcore stipulation there was more emphasis on the spots rather than the wrestling, but the match gave fans exactly what it needed to be and exceeded most expectations.
7
Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns
Universal Championship
Royal Rumble 2022
Rollins and Reigns have shared a ring on multiple occasions – although fewer matches against each other than you’d think – and they used that history masterfully at this year’s Royal Rumble. So much so, that there was genuine belief that The Visionary could be the one to down Roman as part of Reigns’ ongoing WrestleMania programme with Brock Lesnar.
Rollins double-downed on his previous history with Roman both in the build and as part of his entrance, as he came out to the ring decked in the pair’s old Shield attire and to the tune of the famous faction. Once the bell rung too, it was the first time we’d seen the Tribal Chief rattled any in any real danger during his all-conquering run – especially when Seth drove is former partner through the announce table. Ultimately, it was still Reigns’ story and although the finish didn’t live up to the rest of the bout, it left fans wanting more from the pair in the future.
6
The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family
Elimination Chamber 2014
You can rarely go wrong with gang warfare, and this was warfare between two of the hottest trios WWE has ever put together, at the height of their popularity. By now The Shield had made the art of six-man tags their calling card and although tension had started to mount in the group, they all had their sights firmly set on the Wyatts.
Fans were at fever pitch for the clash, and they were ‘This is Awesome’ chants ringing around the arena just for the stare down between the six competitors. As for the match, it was chaotic from the start and continued throughout, solidifying the excitement around the match. In the end Rollins may not have been on the winning side, but he’d proved once again with his role in the bout that bigger things were on the horizon if and when the three of them went their separate ways.
5
Seth Rollins vs. The Miz vs. Finn Balor
Intercontinental Championship
WrestleMania 34
There’s an old adage that if you aren’t main eventing WrestleMania, then the next best spot is the opener, and this was one hot opener from 2018’s showpiece event. Rollins had moved into the Intercontinental Title picture in the build to Mania and it resulted in this all-action affair featuring top-level WWE talent.
The IC strap has some serious history on the grandest stage of them all and this is up there with the best of them. Miz was the defending champ and the perfect heat magnet for the popular bucks of Balor and Rollins. Sometimes Superstars just find chemistry in the ring and that’s exactly what happened here as Seth hit Stomps to both his opponents to win the belt and complete his WWE grand slam of championships.
4
Seth Rollins vs. John Cena
WWE Championship and United States Championship
SummerSlam 2015
SummerSlam has become a bit of a showcase for Rollins over the years and the man himself once admitted he ‘laces those boots a little tighter when it comes to SummerSlam’. None more so than this big-time meeting with WWE poster boy John Cena, at the height of his smarmiest best as part of The Authority.
In the build to the match, Rollins had legitimately broken Cena’s nose during a meeting on Raw, adding even more spice to a clash where both Seth’s WWE Championship and Cena’s US title were on the line. It was a bout of near falls and Rollins showing both his in-ring prowess and his ability to embrace the pesky heel he’d become at the top of the WWE card. That persona played perfectly into the finish of the match, as guest host Jon Stewart took out Cena to allow Rollins to get the pin and win both belts. His famous all-white attire glistening almost as much as his two title belts as he held them aloft for all of the Barclays Center to see.
3
Seth Rollins vs. Cody Rhodes
WrestleMania 38
The laugh, the drip, the deluded self-belief, Seth Rollins had his Visionary person perfected in 2022, but what one of WWE’s biggest names didn’t have was an opponent for WrestleMania. Enter Cody Rhodes.
It was wrestling’s worst kept secret that a returning Cody Rhodes was set to be Rollin’s mystery opponent in Dallas this year, and while the emotion upon his comeback was expected, what wasn’t was just how good the match was between the two.
Using the extreme high the crowd inside the AT&T Stadium were on, Rollins and The American Nightmare played on that vibe and never let the momentum dip inside the ropes. Rhodes may have got the win, and rightly so for the returning hero, but once again it was in part to Seth selling and telling the story of how to get them both there. They repeated the feat at WrestleMania Backlash too, where only the occasion saw this get the nod over another impressive outing from the pair.
2
Seth Rollins vs. Edge
Hell in a Cell match
Crown Jewel 2021
Not only WWE’s match of the year for 2021, but quite possibly the best WWE match that has taken place in Saudi Arabia, aided by two of the very best and an engaging story between the pair. Following on from two previous stellar outings against each other, they upped the ante for Crown Jewel and fought inside the confines of a Hell in a Cell.
Rollins at this point was leaning more heavily on the creepy side of his current character, rather than the egomaniac we see more of now, and it worked perfectly against strait-laced babyface Edge. However, there was nothing strait-laced about what happened inside the steel. The Superstars put on an innovative Hell in a Cell match that gave us spots and weaponry not used before and kept the story arch that had seen their programme escalate to the point it needed to be settled this way. Edge may have been the victor, but as pair and as a rivalry, that was the real winners from this epic outing.
1
Seth Rollins vs. John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar
WWE Championship
Royal Rumble 2015
You could almost call this Seth Rollins coming out party as true main eventer in WWE, as he competed in his first WWE title match against the heavyweight names of John Cena and Brock Lesnar in what is one of WWE’s best-ever triple threat bouts.
A storyline of on-going layers between Cena, Lesnar, Rollins, The Authority and even Sting, saw this triple-threat come to pass and it’s unique mix of styles blended so perfectly it upstaged the disappointing Rumble match itself. Cena was playing the wronged babyface looking to get back the WWE Title, Lesnar was the dominating champion who cared little about any of the hoo-hah around the match and then there was Rollins. Triple H’s hand-picked Money in the Bank holder ready to make the leap into the main event picture. And leap he did – quite literally at one point onto Brock on an announce table on the outside – as Seth showed he could hang with WWE’s very best and deliver a five-star main event.