Welcome to a new series on the website, called Rating The Champ. This will follow my prior World Title Series, where I reviewed each and every WWE Heavyweight Champion in history from Hulk Hogan’s first title win in 1984 all the way to the current days. Money in the Bank cash-ins will not be included for obvious reasons, unless it was a proper match (ie: Rob Van Dam at One Night Stand 2006). Royal Rumble and battle royales won’t be included as well.
In this new series, I will rate all the PPV matches from each and every WWF/E Heavyweight Champion in history. To be fair, since this is the WWF/E title, I’ll only rate their PPV matches in the WWF/E. In this edition, we’ll be looking back at the PPV career of the one and only, former WWE & Universal Champion, Seth Rollins.
2012
- TLC: W/ The Shield vs. Ryback & Team Hell No (TLC) ****1/2
2013
- W/ The Shield vs. John Cena, Ryback & Sheamus (Elimination Chamber) ***3/4
- W/ The Shield vs. Randy Orton, Sheamus & Big Show (WrestleMania 29) ***
- Tornado: W/ Roman Reigns vs. Team Hell No – WWE Tag Team Champonship (Extreme Rules) **3/4
- W/ Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan & Randy Orton – WWE Tag Team Championship (Payback) ***1/4
- W/ Roman Reigns vs. The Usos – WWE Tag Team Championship (Money in the Bank) ****
- W/ Roman Reigns vs. The Prime Time Players – WWE Tag Team Championship (Night of Champions) **1/2
- W/ Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes & Goldust (Battleground) ****1/2
- W/ Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes & Goldust vs. The Usos – WWE Tag Team Championship (Hell in a Cell) ****
- W/ The Shield & Real Americans vs. Cody Rhodes, Goldust, Rey Mysterio & The Usos (Survivor Series) ***1/2
- Handicap: W/ The Shield vs. CM Punk (TLC) ***
2014
- W/ The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family (Elimination Chamber) ****1/2
- W/ The Shield vs. Kane & The New Age Outlaws (WrestleMania XXX) **
- W/ The Shield vs. Evolution (Extreme Rules) ****1/2
- No Holds Barred Elimination: W/ The Shield vs. Evolution (Payback) ****
- Money in the Bank Ladder Match (Money in the Bank) ****
- Vs. Dean Ambrose (Battleground) N/R (not rated)
- Lumberjack: Vs. Dean Ambrose (SummerSlam) ***1/2
- Vs. Roman Reigns (Night of Champions) N/R (not rated)
- HIAC: Vs. Dean Ambrose (Hell in a Cell) ****
- W/ Team Authority vs. Team Cena (Survivor Series) ****1/2
- Tables: Vs. John Cena (TLC) ***1/4
2015
- Vs. Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena – WWE World Heavyweight Championship (Royal Rumble) ****3/4
- W/ The Authority vs. Ziggler, Ryback & Rowan (Fastlane) *1/2
- Vs. Randy Orton (WrestleMania 31) ***1/2
- Steel Cage: Vs. Randy Orton – WWE World Heavyweight Championship (Extreme Rules) ***
- Vs. Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Randy Orton – WWE World Heavyweight Championship (Payback) ***3/4
- Vs. Dean Ambrose – WWE World Heavyweight Championship (Elimination Chamber) ***3/4
- Ladder: Vs. Dean Ambrose – WWE World Heavyweight Championship (Money in the Bank) ****1/4
- Vs. Brock Lesnar – WWE World Heavyweight Championship (Battleground) **
- Vs. John Cena – WWE US & World Championships (SummerSlam) ****1/4
- Vs. John Cena – WWE United States Championship (Night of Champions) ****
- Vs. Sting – WWE World Heavyweight Championship (Night of Champions) ***1/2
- Vs. Kane – WWE World Heavyweight Championship (Hell in a Cell) ***
2016
- Vs. Roman Reigns – WWE World Heavyweight Championship (Money in the Bank) ***3/4
- Vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns – WWE Championship (Battleground) ***3/4
- Vs. Finn Bálor – WWE Universal Championship (SummerSlam) ****
- Vs. Kevin Owens – WWE Universal Championship (Clash of Champions) ***
- HIAC: Vs. Kevin Owens – WWE Universal Championship (Hell in a Cell) ***1/4
- W/ Team RAW vs. Team SmackDown (Survivor Series) ****1/2
- Vs. Chris Jericho (Roadblock: End of the Line) ***
2017
- Unsactioned: Vs. Triple H (WrestleMania 33) ***1/4
- Vs. Samoa Joe (Payback) ***
- Five Pack Challenge (Extreme Rules) ****
- Vs. Bray Wyatt (Great Balls of Fire) **1/2
- W/ Dean Ambrose vs. The Bar – WWE RAW Tag Team Championship (SummerSlam) ****
- W/ Dean Ambrose vs. The Bar – WWE RAW Tag Team Championship (No Mercy) ****1/4
- TLC: W/ Angle & Ambrose vs. Miz, Braun, Kane & The Bar (TLC) ****1/4
- W/ The Shield vs. The New Day (Survivor Series) ***3/4
2018
- W/ Jason Jordan vs. The Bar – WWE RAW Tag Team Championship (Royal Rumble) *
- Elimination Chamber Match (Elimination Chamber) ***1/2
- Vs. The Miz vs. Finn Bálor – WWE Intercontnental Championship (WrestleMania 34) ****
- Ladder: Vs. Finn Bálor vs. Samoa Joe vs. The Miz – WWE Intercontinental Championship (Greatest Royal Rumble) ***1/2
- Vs. The Miz – WWE Intercontinental Championship (Backlash) ****1/4
- Vs. Elias – WWE Intercontinental Championship (Money in the Bank) ***
- Iron Man: Vs. Dolph Ziggler – WWE Intercontinental Championship (Extreme Rules) ***1/4
- Vs. Dolph Ziggler – WWE Intercontinental Championship (SummerSlam) ***1/2
- W/ Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre – WWE RAW Tag Team Championship (Hell in a Cell) ****1/2
- W/ The Shield vs. The Dogs of War (Super ShowDown) ***3/4
- Vs. Bobby Lashley (Crown Jewel) **
- Vs. Dolph Ziggler (Crown Jewel) ***1/4
- Vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Survivor Series) ***3/4
- Vs. Dean Ambrose – WWE Intercontinental Championship (TLC) **1/2
2019
- W/ The Shield vs. Corbin, McIntyre & Lashley (Fastlane) ****1/4
- Vs. Brock Lesnar – WWE Universal Championship (WrestleMania 35) **
- Vs. AJ Styles – WWE Universal Championship (Money in the Bank) ****1/4
- Vs. Baron Corbin – WWE Universal Championship (Super ShowDown) **1/2
- Vs. Baron Corbin – WWE Universal Championship (Stomping Grounds) **3/4
- W/ Becky Lynch vs. Baron Corbin & Lacey Evans – WWE RAW Women’s & WWE Universal Championship (Extreme Rules) *
- Vs. Brock Lesnar – WWE Universal Championship (SummerSlam) ****1/4
- W/ Braun Strowman vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode – WWE RAW Tag Team Championship (Clash of Champions) **1/2
- Vs. Braun Strowman – WWE Universal Championship (Clash of Champions) ***1/2
- HIAC: Vs. The Fiend – WWE Universal Championship (Hell in a Cell) 1/2*
- Falls Count Anywhere: Vs. The Fiend – WWE Universal Championship (Crown Jewel) **3/4
- W/ Team RAW vs. Team SmackDown vs. Team NXT (Survivor Series) ****1/4
2020
- W/ Murphy vs. The Street Profits – WWE RAW Tag Team Championship (Super ShowDown) **3/4
- W/ Murphy vs. The Street Profits – WWE RAW Tag Team Championship (Elimination Chamber) ***
- No DQ: Vs. Kevin Owens (WrestleMania 36) ***1/2
TOP FIVE
5. Ryback & Team Hell No (TLC 2012)
While still reigning as NXT Champion, Seth Rollins and The Shield made their debut at Survivor Series the prior month, costing Ryback the WWE Title. During the next number of weeks on TV, they went after numerous wrestlers – notably the then-tag champs Team Hell No, setting the stage for (a violent) debut match in a TLC bout at the eponymous PPV.
The Shield managed to use their numbers advantage to stay on top, constantly being able to avoid the big men’s strength and Bryan’s quickness by just working as a unit. The end saw The Shield win, despite Rollins dying a couple of minutes earlier after Ryback threw him off a giant ladder through a number of tables on the stage.
This has to be the most important match in the careers of all Shield members, individually and as a stable too.
4. The Wyatt Family (Elimination Chamber 2014)
Fast forward fourteen months, to a point where The Shield – particularly Reigns and Dean – were starting to fall apart, while Seth was trying to keep them together. To say this wasn’t the best time to face the dangerous Wyatt Family would be a huge understatement.
Seth was the ultimate babyface-in-peril in this bout, bumping all over the place and building up hot tags while using his speed to avoid the monsters. Ultimately, Reigns and Ambrose couldn’t work together, and that is what allowed the smart Bray Wyatt to hit the Sister Abigail on Reigns for the win.
3. Cody Rhodes & Goldust (Battleground 2013)
As good as athletics and technique are in wrestling, there’s nothing better than good storytelling with engaging characters. When you put them all together, magic happens and it reminds us why we keep watching the sport. That was this match.
With Cody Rhodes and Goldust fighting for their family against The Authority, the six amazing workers involved (including Dean and ‘The Dream’) created a moment fans will never forget – a simple old-school tag match full of emotion, and Dusty’s last great moment in the business. Simply spectacular.
2. Evolution (Extreme Rules 2014)
Now as babyfaces, the stable started a program with Evolution immediately after WrestleMania XXX. Triple H, Randy Orton and Batista had last worked together as a team on the May 3rd edition of RAW in the year 2004. Ten years and one day later, at Extreme Rules on May 4th in the year 2014, they were back to wrestle The Shield.
Rollins, as usual, played the babyface-in-peril role throughout most of the bout. The Shield beat the legendary faction after Rollins launched himself off the concourse onto Triple H and Orton while Reigns finished Batista inside the ring. The following month would see them beat Evolution again, before disbanding the following night on RAW.
1. Brock Lesnar, John Cena (Royal Rumble 2015)
Now no longer a member of The Shield, Rollins needed *that* first match on his own. He needed a match that would do to him what TLC 2012 did for The Shield. At Night of Champions in September 2014 he got involved in the Brock Lesnar/John Cena rivalry, setting the stage for a match at Royal Rumble 2015. One that would turn out to be *that* match.
Rollins and Cena smartly tried to avoid Lesnar as much as possible, constantly tossing him to the outside and trying to keep it one-on-one, only for the machine Lesnar to keep getting back in and take control. It looked like Brock’s broken ribs would take the belt off of him, as Rollins even pulled the Phoenix Splash, but ‘The Beast’ pinned Seth after the F5 to retain.
The real winner, however, was without any question Seth Rollins, who proved in his first big main-event title match that he belongs there.
Overall average rating
3.31/5
Don’t miss the next piece here on Rating The Champ, where we’ll be looking back at former WWE Champion, Kofi Kingston.