History Awesome / SethRollins

** After how his two previous matches against Samoa Joe and Wrestling/TripleH slowed down to a halt to play up his knee problems, he finally found his groove on this match and led an exciting [[Main/{{Face}} babyface]] [[WrestlingPsychology comeback]] fans were clamoring for all this time that showcased his full offensive arsenal against an athletic equal and one of the few remaining pure [[Main/{{Heel}} heels]] on Raw while still [[WrestlingPsychology selling]] his [[Main/AchillesHeel knee vulnerabilities]].

** After how his two previous matches against Samoa Joe and Wrestling/TripleH slowed down to a halt to play up his knee problems, he finally found his groove on this match and led an exciting [[Main/{{Face}} babyface]] [[WrestlingPsychology comeback]] fans were clamoring for all this time that finally showcased his offensive arsenal against an athletic equal and one of the few remaining pure [[Main/{{Heel}} heels]] on Raw [[Main/AchillesHeel while still selling his knee vulnerabilities]].
** Even though he lost the match due to interference from Samoa Joe, it still raised Seth's stock and helped out his previously bland HeelFaceTurn, especially after Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin made comments about him not being "all the way over" on his podcast.

** After how his two previous matches against Samoa Joe and Wrestling/TripleH slowed down to a halt to play up his knee problems, he finally found his groove on this match and led an exciting [[Main/{{Face}} babyface]] [[WrestlingPsychology offensive comeback]] fans were clamoring for all this time that finally showcased his offensive arsenal against an athletic equal and one of the few remaining pure [[Main/{{Heel}} heels]] on Raw [[Main/AchillesHeel while still selling his knee vulnerabilities]].

* On the 5/1/17 edition of Monday Night Raw, after a lackluster outing against Wrestling/SamoaJoe on the Payback PPV (with the entire audience deflating around the time that match happened in reaction to the aptly named pre-taped "House of Horrors" gimmick "match" between Wrestling/RandyOrton and Wrestling/BrayWyatt), Seth showcased how much of a main event player he truly was with his triple threat match against Wrestling/TheMiz and his Universal Title rival Wrestling/FinnBalor for a shot at the Intercontinental Title of Wrestling/DeanAmbrose.

** After how his two previous matches against Samoa Joe and Wrestling/TripleH slowed down to a halt to play up his knee problems, he finally found his groove on this match and led an exciting [[WrestlingPsychology babyface offensive comeback]] fans were clamoring for all this time that finally showcased his offensive arsenal against an athletic equal and one of the few remaining pure [[Main/{{Heel}} heels]] on Raw [[Main/AchillesHeel while still selling his knee vulnerabilities]].
** Even though he lost the match due to interference from Samoa Joe, it still raised Seth's stock and helped out his previously bland [[Main/{{Face}} face turn]], especially after Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin made comments about him not being "all the way over" on his podcast.

* April 2, 2017, Wrestlemania 33: Rollins finally gets his hands on Triple H and gives the Cerebral Assassin everything he has, bum knee and all. After managing to kick out of Triple H's Pedigree, Hunter tries to perform the same move again but is countered by Rollins and accidentally bumps Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon, who had been running interference for her husband throughout the match, off the apron and onto a nearby table. This shocks and then angers Hunter into temporarily lowering his guard, allowing Rollins to execute his own Pedigree for the victory, finally bringing his story with Triple H full circle and achieving his redemption.

-->"That is the same line of bullcrap that I brought into three years ago. Well, this is not three years ago. And you say you don't understand me, so let me explain something to you. When you're out rehabbing — [[CallBack and you should know this better than anybody]] — when you're out rehabbing, you have a lot of time to think, to gain perspective. [[WhatHaveIBecome And you know what I learned about me? …I liked myself before I met you.]] I was proud of myself before Imet you. And you know what? I-I didn't really mind wrestling for a hot dog and a handshake in the Philadelphia National Guard Armory. Didn't bother me. [[DoingItForTheArt Because I love this business!]] And that made me happy! And sure, when you and I got together, side by side, man, we accomplished a lot. But at what cost? What did I give up for that? This isn't about fame, or fortune, or money, or power, and hell, dude, it's…it's not even about one match at ''[=WrestleMania=]''. [[RedemptionQuest This is about redemption!]] You understand that? Not revenge; redemption! Because I gave up ''everything'' to stand next to you. Every friendship I ever had, everything that made me who I was — I gave that up to stand next to you, and for what? [[AndThenWhat For what!?]] At ''[=WrestleMania=], [[{{Determinator}} you'd better be prepared to tear my leg off my body and beat me with it! You'd better have a stretcher standing by to guide me out of there! Because there will be NOTHING stopping me from tearing you apart and getting back what matters most to me in my life,]] and that's who I was before I met you! That's getting back [[PunctuatedForEmphasis SETH. FREAKIN'. ROLLINS!]]"

-->"That is the same line of bullcrap that I brought into three years ago. Well, this is not three years ago. And you say you don't understand me, so let me explain something to you. When you're out rehabbing — [[CallBack and you should know this better than anybody]] — when you're out rehabbing, you have a lot of time to think, to gain perspective. [[WhatHaveIBecome And you know what I learned about me? …I liked myself before I met you.]] I was proud of myself before Imet you. And you know what? I-I didn't really mind wrestling for a hot dog and a handshake in the Philadelphia National Guard Armory. Didn't bother me. [[DoingItForTheArt Because I love this business!]] And that made me happy! And sure, when you and I got together, side by side, man, we accomplished a lot. But at what cost? What did I give up for that? This isn't about fame, or fortune, or money, or power, and hell, dude, it's…it's not even about one match at ''[=WrestleMania=]''. [[RedemptionQuest This is about redemption!]] You understand that? Not revenge; redemption! Because I gave up ''everything'' to stand next to you. Every friendship I ever had, everything that made me who I was — I gave that up to stand next to you, and for what? [[AndThenWhat For what!?]] At ''[=WrestleMania=], [[{{Determinator}} you'd better be prepared to tear my leg off my body and beat me with it! You'd better have a stretcher standing by to guide me out of there! Because there will be NOTHING stopping me from tearing you apart and getting back what matters most to me in my life,]] and that's who I was before I met you! That's getting back [[PuncutatedForEmphasis SETH. FREAKIN'. ROLLINS!]]"

-->"When you're out rehabbing -- [[CallBack and you should know this better than anybody]] -- when you're out rehabbing, you have a lot of time to think, to gain perspective. [[WhatHaveIBecome And you know what I learned about me? ...I liked myself before I met you.]] And you know what? I didn't really mind wrestling for a hot dog and a handshake in the Philadelphia National Guard Armory. Didn't bother me. [[DoingItForTheArt Because I love this business!]] And that made me happy! And sure, when you and I got together, side by side, man, we accomplished a lot. But at what cost? What did I give up for that? This isn't about fame, or fortune, or money, or power; hell, dude, it's not even about one match at ''[=WrestleMania=]''. [[RedemptionQuest This is about redemption!]] At ''[=WrestleMania=], [[{{Determinator}} you'd better be prepared to tear my leg off my body and beat me with it! You'd better have a stretcher standing by to guide me out of there! Because there will be NOTHING stopping me from tearing you apart and getting back what matters most to me in my life,]] and that's who I was before I met you! That's getting back SETH. FREAKING. ROLLINS!"

-->"When you're out rehabbing -- [[CallBack and you should know this better than anybody]] -- when you're out rehabbing, you have a lot of time to think, to gain perspective. [[WhatHaveIBecome And you know what I learned about me? ...I liked myself before I met you.]] And you know what? I didn't really mind wrestling for a hot dog and a handshake in the Philadelphia National Guard Armory. Didn't bother me. [[DoingItForTheArt Because I love this business!]] And that made me happy! And sure, when you and I got together, side by side, man, we accomplished a lot. But at what cost? What did I give up for that? This isn't about fame, or fortune, or money, or power; hell, dude, it's not even about one match at ''[=WrestleMania=]''. [[RedemptionQuest This is about redemption!]] At ''[=WrestleMania=], [[{{Determinator}} you'd better be prepared to tear my leg off my body and beat me with it! You'd better have a stretcher standing by to guide me out of there! Because there will be NOTHING stopping me from tearing you apart and getting back what matters most to me in my life,]] and that's who I was before I met you! That's getting back SETH. FREAKING. ROLLINS!"

-->"When you're out rehabbing -- [[CallBack and you should know this better than anybody]] -- when you're out rehabbing to think, to gain perspective. [[WhatHaveIBecome And you know what I learned about me? ...I liked myself before I met you.]] And you know what? I didn't really mind wrestling for a hot dog and a handshake in the Philadelphia National Guard Armory. Didn't bother me. [[DoingItForTheArt Because I love this business!]] And that made me happy! And sure, when you and I got together, side by side, man, we accomplished a lot. But at what cost? What did I give up for that? This isn't about fame, or fortune, or money, or power; hell, dude, it's not even about one match at ''[=WrestleMania=]''. [[RedemptionQuest This is about redemption!]] At ''[=WrestleMania=], [[{{Determinator}} you'd better be prepared to tear my leg off my body and beat me with it! You'd better have a stretcher standing by to guide me out of there! Because there will be NOTHING stopping me from tearing you apart and getting back what matters most to me in my life,]] and that's who I was before I met you! That's getting back SETH. FREAKING. ROLLINS!"

* March 13, 2017. Five weeks after Rollins went down with a torn MCL suffered in a Coquina Clutch courtesy of Wrestling/SamoaJoe. During the final segment, Wrestling/MickFoley was confronting both Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon and Wrestling/TripleH in the ring, and it was going badly for him. Triple H had threatened Foley with [[KickTheDog his children's jobs]], and he'd suffered a [[GroinAttack low blow]] from Stephanie after he lost it and put Hunter in the [[FinishingMove Mandible Claw]]. Then, to the shock of everyone, Rollins's music hits, and he hobbles out on his crutch. He makes his way down to ringside, then lifts the crutch at arm's length...''and lets it drop to the floor''. Then he unzips his jacket, [[ProductPlacement revealing a brand new, awesome-looking "Kingslayer" T-shirt]], then slides into the ring and ''brawls with Triple H.'' He even gets the better of him at first, after a side kick (kicking with the injured leg) followed by a dropkick that sent Triple H flying out of the ring! Like Foley's moment, he ultimately didn't come out on top, but he showed everyone that he was able to go after just five weeks of recovery and rehab. Wrestling/JohnCena has a rival when it comes to healing quickly, it would seem.

* After ''months'' of being unable to find Wrestling/TripleH, Seth takes matters further into his own hands and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeRmPgkm6Gk hijacks NXT Takeover: San Antonio]]'', calling The Game out from the middle of the ring of his own brand. Even better yet, ''he gets Triple H to appear''! Though nothing would come further from it, Seth ''did'' get to make a good showing by knocking away some security personnel before eventually getting swamped by too many to keep going, and the crowd was red hot for the whole segment.

* January 9, 2017. Rollins entered Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon's office while she was talking to Wrestling/MickFoley to declare, to her face, that he was going to enter the ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble'' main event -- but before he could finish talking, [[WrestlingMonster Braun Strowman]] barged into the office to demand that Foley give him a match against either Wrestling/RomanReigns or {{Wrestling/Goldberg}} (as last week's episode of Raw had ended with the two men spearing him simultaneously). However, Rollins went up to Strowman, demanded that he never interrupt him, and when Strowman blew him off, [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu he reacted by PUNCHING HIM IN THE FACE.]] This led into the two men having a match against each other, and though the match officially ended in a double count-out, it ended with Rollins ''successfully driving off'' the Monster Among Men.

** For added context, the two men were beating a third man up at the time inside the cage. Who? ''Wrestling/RomanReigns'', [[ArchEnemy of all people]].

** For added context, the two men were beating a third man up at the time inside the cage. Who? ''Wrestling/Roman Reigns'', [[ArchEnemy of all people]].

* Rollins has undergone a [[HeelFaceTurn face turn]], but the way he cements it? ''Jumping off the top of a steel cage onto [[Wrestling/KevinSteen Kevin Owens]] and [[Wrestling/RusevAndLana Rusev]]!''

* How about him being the first overall pick in the WWE Draft? While the first picks haven't always been good, there's no denying how big of a deal it is for Seth to be the first guy.

* How about him [[spoiler: being the first overall pick in the WWE Draft? While the first picks haven't always been good, there's no denying how big of a deal it is for Seth to be the first guy.]]

* Seth Rollins finally cashes in his Money in the Bank [[spoiler:at the main event of Wrestlemania 31 to turn the championship match into a Triple Threat, then proceeds to Curbstomp Brock Lesnar, then do another stomp to Roman Reigns as he attempts to spear Brock out of the ring, then pins Reigns to become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.]]
** Twofold awesomeness: He becomes the first MITB winner to cash in [[spoiler: at ''Wrestlemania'']] ''AND'' the first to cash in [[spoiler: ''during'' a championship match.]]
*** Call it threefold, cause he [[spoiler:stole an honor from Roman Reigns that Roman actually talked about wanting to achieve: becoming the first graduate of [[Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} NXT]][[note]]and the first person younger than Wresting/WrestleMania itself, but that wasn't mentioned[[/note]] to become WWE World Heavyweight Champion!]]

* At Wrestling/MoneyInTheBank 2015, Seth Rollins and Wrestling/DeanAmbrose waged war in a brutal 35 minute ladder match for the title. [[spoiler:Rollins managed to grab the belt as both men fell down, holding the title. After weeks of being derided for being dependent on outside help, Rollins won without any interference whatsoever.]]

* Money in the Bank 2016. After toiling for months to '''redesign''' and '''rebuild''' himself, Seth Rollins walked in the challenger to Roman Reigns, matched the Samoan juggernaut blow for blow, [[spoiler:and beat him in an exactly 26-minute main event bout after countering a Spear into a second Pedigree to '''reclaim''' the WWE World Heavyweight Championship title which he never lost. And he did it all BY HIMSELF, without relying on the Authority's help or any other cheap tactics beyond getting more time to kick out at one point because of a ref bump. Granted, he wound up losing it two minutes later, but that's for [[Wrestling/DeanAmbrose somebody else's]] page.]]

* Money in the Bank 2016. After toiling for months to '''redesign''' and '''rebuild''' himself, Seth Rollins walked in the challenger to Roman Reigns, matched the Samoan juggernaut blow for blow, [[spoiler:and beat him in an exactly 26-minute main event bout after countering a Spear into a second Pedigree to '''reclaim''' the WWE World Heavyweight Championship title which he never lost. And he did it all BY HIMSELF, without relying on the Authority's help or any other cheap tactics beyond getting more time to kick out at one point because of a ref bump. Granted, he wound up losing it two minutes later, but that's for [[Wrestling/DeanAmbrose somebody else's]] page.]]

* Money in the Bank 2016. After toiling for months to '''redesign''' and '''rebuild''' himself, Seth Rollins walked in the challenger to Roman Reigns, matched the Samoan juggernaut blow for blow, [[spoiler:and beat him in an exactly 26-minute main event bout after countering a Spear into a second Pedigree to '''reclaim''' the WWE World Heavyweight Championship title which he never lost. And he did it all BY HIMSELF, without relying on the Authority's help or any other cheap tactics beyond getting more time to kick out at one point because of a ref bump. Granted, he wound up losing it two minutes later, but that's for somebody else's page.]]

** And he kept that promise. At the very end of Extreme Rules 2016, he made a surprise appearance to attack Roman Reigns after the champion retained his title. The following day on RAW, he was granted his title shot on the next PPV by ShaneMcMahon.

** And he kept that promise. At the very end of Extreme Rules 2016, he made a surprise appearance to attack Roman Reigns after the champion retained his title. The following day on RAW, he was granted his title shot on the next PPV by Shane McMahon.

--> "I want everybody to listen to me. In 2016 I will redesign Seth Rollins, I will rebuild myself, and I will come back and reclaim the title I never lost. So if it's Roman Reigns or anybody else, you keep that title warm, because I will return and reclaim what's mine!"

*** Call it threefold, cause he [[spoiler:stole an honor from Roman Reigns that Roman actually talked about wanting to achieve: becoming the first graduate of [[Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} NXT]] to become WWE World Heavyweight Champion!]]

* At SummerSlam 2015, Rollins once again had a star-making night in his winner-take-all match against John Cena. Clad in a white version of his standard attire as the self-styled "cure" to the Cena "disease", Seth pulled out all the stops for this one and utterly stole the show. And by "all the stops", we don't mean the constant mounds of interference typical of the {{Flanderiz|ation}}ed, {{Badass Decay}}ed Seth Rollins we'd seen since he left the Shield for the Authority and especially since his feud with Cena at the tail end of 2014. We mean he continued the recent tradition of Cena's opponents tapping into reserves of their in-ring repertoire previously unseen to the WWE Universe and physically argued the case that even with that decayed booking, and even in the midst of the rise of the NXT Takeover generation[[note]]he was one of the first NXT alumni, but most of his developmental stint had been in the prior FCW and he got called up before the advent of the Takeover specials[[/note]], he is still the most talented wrestler in all of WWE. The only interference Rollins would make use of in this match was a ShockingSwerve assist from Creator/JonStewart which was neither part of his plan [[labelnote: nor entirely necessary]]as after the ref bump and the knee to the nose, Stewart's chair shot to Cena's sternum could've easily been replaced by Seth kicking Cena low himself and it would've had much the same result[[/labelnote]], but which he still took advantage of by hitting a Pedigree on Cena and pinning him to become the first ever dual WWE United States and World Heavyweight Champion. And he did it all to a standing ovation.

* After forcing Wrestling/JohnCena to do what he swore he never would and bring back Wrestling/TheAuthority, Seth's WhamLine right before his attempted Curb Stomping of Wrestling/{{Edge}} on the last episode of RAW for 2014 was chilling... but also awesome in that WWE let him go so far and be so evil, especially since his character had been deteriorating into impotency.

* He took out both Cena and Lesnar via Curb Stomp at the end of the 1/12/2015 edition of ''Raw''
* Even though he lost, he still managed to pull off a spectacular match against Lesnar and Cena at the 2015 ''Royal Rumble''. The fact that he can put on a good match against both of those men shows that he deserves to be on the same level as them. Special mention goes to when he busted out a ''sick'' Phoenix splash, shortly after breaking one of Lesnar's ribs with a flying elbow from the turnbuckle to the Spanish announce table.

** Twofold awesomeness: He becomes the first MITB winner to cash in [[spoiler: at ''WrestleMania'']] ''AND'' the first to cash in [[spoiler: ''during'' a championship match.]]
*** Call it threefold, cause he [[spoiler:stole an honor from Roman Reigns that Roman actually talked about wanting to achieve: becoming the first graduate of [[Wrestling/{{WWE NXT}} NXT]] to become WWE World Heavyweight Champion!]]

* At SummerSlam 2015, Rollins once again had a star-making night in his winner-take-all match against John Cena. Clad in a white version of his standard attire as the self-styled "cure" to the Cena "disease", Seth pulled out all the stops for this one and utterly stole the show. And by "all the stops", we don't mean the constant mounds of interference typical of the {{Flanderiz|ation}}ed, {{Badass Decay}}ed Seth Rollins we'd seen since he left the Shield for the Authority and especially since his feud with Cena at the tail end of 2014. We mean he continued the recent tradition of Cena's opponents tapping into reserves of their in-ring repertoire previously unseen to the WWE Universe and physically argued the case that even with that decayed booking, and even in the midst of the rise of the NXT Takeover generation[[note]]he was one of the first NXT alumni, but most of his developmental stint had been in the prior FCW and he got called up before the advent of the Takeover specials[[/note]], he is still the most talented wrestler in all of WWE. The only interference Rollins would make use of in this match was a ShockingSwerve assist from [[Series/TheDailyShow Jon Stewart]] which was neither part of his plan [[labelnote: nor entirely necessary]]as after the ref bump and the knee to the nose, Stewart's chair shot to Cena's sternum could've easily been replaced by Seth kicking Cena low himself and it would've had much the same result[[/labelnote]], but which he still took advantage of by hitting a Pedigree on Cena and pinning him''' to become the first ever dual WWE United States and World Heavyweight Champion.''' And he did it all to a standing ovation.

* At SummerSlam 2015, Rollins once again had a star-making night in his winner-take-all match against John Cena. Clad in a white version of his standard attire as the self-styled "cure" to the Cena "disease", Seth pulled out all the stops for this one and utterly stole the show. And by "all the stops", we don't mean the constant mounds of interference typical of the {{Flanderiz|ation}}ed, {{Badass Decay}}ed Seth Rollins we'd seen since he left the Shield for the Authority and especially since his feud with Cena at the tail end of 2014. We mean he continued the recent tradition of Cena's opponents tapping into reserves of their in-ring repertoire previously unseen to the WWE Universe and physically argued the case that even with that decayed booking, and even in the midst of the rise of the NXT Takeover generation[[note]]he was one of the first NXT alumni, but most of his developmental stint had been in the prior FCW and he got called up before the advent of the Takeover specials[[/note]], he is still the most talented wrestler in all of WWE. The only interference Rollins would make use of in this match was a ShockingSwerve assist from [[Series/TheDailyShow Jon Stewart]] which was neither part of his plan [[labelnote: nor entirely necessary]]as after the ref bump and the knee to the nose, Stewart's chair shot to Cena's sternum could've easily been replaced by Seth kicking Cena low himself and it would've had much the same result[[/labelnote]], but which he still took advantage of by hitting a Pedigree on Cena and pinning him to become the first ever dual WWE United States and World Heavyweight Champion to a standing ovation.

* At SummerSlam 2015, Rollins once again had a star-making night in his winner-take-all match against John Cena. Clad in a white version of his standard attire as the self-styled "cure" to the Cena "disease", Seth pulled out all the stops for this one and utterly stole the show. And by "all the stops", we don't mean the constant mounds of interference typical of the {{Flanderiz|ation}}ed, {{Badass Decay}}ed Seth Rollins we'd seen since he left the Shield for the Authority and especially since his feud with Cena at the tail end of 2014. We mean he continued the recent tradition of Cena's opponents tapping into reserves of their in-ring repertoire previously unseen to the WWE Universe and physically argued the case that even with that decayed booking, and even in the midst of the rise of the NXT Takeover generation[[note]]he was one of the first NXT alumni, but most of his developmental stint had been in the prior FCW and he got called up before the advent of the Takeover specials[[/note]], he is still the most talented wrestler in all of WWE. The only interference Rollins would make use of in this match was a ShockingSwerve assist from [[Series/TheDailyShow Jon Stewart]] which was neither part of his plan [[labelnote: nor entirely necessary]]as after the ref bump and the knee to the nose, Stewart's chair shot to Cena's sternum could've easily been replaced by Seth kicking Cena low himself and it would've had much the same result[[/note]], but which he still took advantage of by hitting a Pedigree on Cena and pinning him to become the first ever dual WWE United States and World Heavyweight Champion to a standing ovation.