Reviewing Seth Rollins WWE Title Reign

With the news breaking today that WWE Champion Seth Rollins is set to be out for between 6 and 9 months, we look back at his first reign as WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

Seth Rollins looks set to miss most of the next year with a torn right ACL, MCL and medial meniscus, the result of an awkward looking landing whilst trying to hit Kane with a power bomb through a table during a house show in Dublin, Ireland. Rollins has been WWE Champion since WrestleMania but will now be stripped of the belt and a new Champion will be crowned following a tournament set to be held at WWE Survivor Series in a couple of weeks.

Lets roll back the clock to the night he won the belt.

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After losing a match earlier in the night to Randy Orton, courtesy of a stunning RKO, it looked like WrestleMania would end in defeat for Seth Rollins. Holding the Money in the Bank briefcase though there was always the chance he would cash in, nobody expected it to at the biggest show of the year though. During the main event pitting Champion Brock Lesnar against Royal Rumble winner Roman Reigns both men had done their best to destroy the other. Lesnar was bloody, Reigns was beaten down by so many suplexes, it was a match of epic proportions. As both men lay in the ring Rollins sprinted to the ring to cash in and make it a triple threat match. Just over a minute later, via a couple of Curb Stomps and a brutal spear, we had a new champion. Seth Rollins was now the man at the top of WWE!

We had waited what seemed like forever for Seth to cash-in and when he did it was one of the biggest pops you’re ever likely to hear. Nobody had ever cashed in at Mania, yet Rollins proved how clever he was to take advantage at the most opportune of times. The Authorities chosen one was now the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, he’d got the belt but not pinned the champion and he was ready to prove how much he deserved that title.

Rollins’ first big title defence came inside a steel cage at Extreme Rules against Randy Orton, with the RKO banned and supposed Rollins ally Kane as the gatekeeper. A messy match which saw Kane get involved, stopping Orton escaping the cage. Rollins inadvertently kicked Kane which saw him get in the ring, choke slam J and J Security as well as both Orton and Rollins. Orton would retaliate with an RKO to Kane, then Rollins would hit his own RKO on Orton before escaping the cage to retain his title. A solid, if unspectacular, match to see Rollins gain some momentum as champion.

More tension would rise between Rollins and Kane during the month of May that would see the champ defend his title against Kane, Orton and Dean Ambrose in a fatal 4-way match. Kane would ultimately side with Rollins in the match and watch him get the win after a pedigree on Orton to take the three count.

The following two months would see Rollins defend his title against former Shield team-mate Dean Ambrose. At WWE Elimination Chamber, Seth would lose via disqualification after shoving the referee but would still hold on to his title. Following the match Ambrose would steal the title belt. The following month at Money in the Bank a ladder match would take place between the pair. In a match that saw the belt suspended above the ring both men came close to taking the belt. At the climax both men would be on top of the ladder, the belt would become unhooked as they both fell to the floor but Rollins would keep hold of it to retain his belt once again. Another good match between tow of the best in the company would show us how much Rollins was growing into the role of champion, he proved here he could win without the help of the Authority.

The following night on Raw saw the return of the man who previously held the belt, but hadn’t actually been pinned, Brock Lesnar. The Authority announced that Seth would have to defend the belt against the Beast Incarnate at Battleground. A match that saw Brock throw Seth round at will, much like he does with everyone, ended with another DQ finish as The Undertaker would make a surprise return and attack Lesnar. Seth would hold on to his belt again without actually beating Lesnar.

After Lesnar moved on to his match with Undertaker, Seth was pushed into a feud with John Cena, the man who held the United States title. Cena wanted matches for Rollins’ belt but was forced to defend his title as well. A winner take all match was set up for SummerSlam, another match with a far from clean finish. It would end after TV host Jon Stewart would attack Cena with a chair, Rollins would hit the pedigree again for the three count to take his U.S title and become the first man to hold both belts at the same time since Triple H had held two belts in the early 2000’s.

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From a man who will become a future Hall of Famer to a man who is a bona-fide legend of the ring, Sting. He would re-appear during a celebration held for Rollins and destroy the statue that the Authority had made for him. A title match was set for Night of Champions, a night on which he would also defend the U.S. title in a rematch with Cena. He’d go on to lose to Cena but beat Sting after the former WCW man apparently sustained an injury during a turnbuckle power bomb spot, Seth had retained yet again. After the match Sheamus attempted to cash in his Money in the Bank case but was run off by Kane, who had now returned to his Demon persona.

The following month would see Kane appear as the Demon in the ring, attacking Rollins on various occasions, while Corporate Kane would hold down his Director of Operations role whilst denying all knowledge of the Demon. A championship match would be held at Hell in a Cell which Kane would go on to lose after a back and forth match. Rollins would reverse a choke slam attempt to hit the Pedigree for the win.

Following that final successful defense Roman Reigns was set to face Rollins at Survivor Series. Reigns was the winner of a fatal 4-way match on Raw to gain the title shot, but now following this serious injury ,a title tournament has been announced for the same show. Reigns must be the favorite to win that and become the next WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

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Rollins has had a good debut reign as Champion. He faced a great selection of men for the belt and almost always produced fantastic matches. The only black mark on his stint with the top title was the regularity of which he was beaten on TV, when fans start to realize you can’t buy a win then you’re not being pushed as strongly as you could, or should be. In all he showed that he can be the standard bearer in WWE and he will be back to hold that belt, it may be this time next year that we see him but when he does return it’ll be a return straight to the top!