WWE Superstar Seth Rollins recently explained how a moment from his career shaped and changed modern wrestling forever. Rollins is without a doubt “The Architect” and has built a fantastic position within WWE for himself and set some excellent foundations for future wrestlers. Seth Rollins is the first-ever and longest-reigning World Heavyweight champion. He held the championship for 316 days, which is more than two and a half times longer than the second-longest reigning champion.
Even though Seth Rollins is no longer the champion, he still finds himself at the top of the card. He recently returned from an injury which required surgery. However, he is still pretty sure of himself and his ability in the ring.
Seth Rollins has been on the top of the card for years and it doesn’t seem like that is changing anytime soon. A pivotal moment in Rollins’ career was when he turned on The Shield and attacked Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns with a steel chair in 2014. Rollins recently told ESPNhe thinks that moment changed his entire career and explains how he thinks that moment changed modern wrestling. Rollins stated the following:
“I think that’s like the one thing that if you are a fan of Seth Rollins or The Shield or Jon Moxley [Dean Ambrose in WWE], Roman Reigns, I think that’s the one thing that kind of sits with you over the course of the last 10 years, essentially. And I get asked about it all the time and I’ve thought about it. ‘Would you go back? Would you change it? Would you do something different?’ And my answer is unequivocally, no.
“I wouldn’t, because where we’re at now, the business as a whole is healthier than it’s ever been, and that moment in time is what shifted everything. That’s what put us all on our separate paths and our goal in the beginning was to run the show. Run the business, to change it, to make it better. Here we are a decade later and I dare say it was accomplished with a swing of that steel chair.”
The Shield is one of the most popular groups of the past 15 years. It was successful because all three members could stand on their own and have great singles runs. However, they stayed together and worked together and it reminds me of DX, Evolution, or early on with the nWo. All groups eventually fall apart and Rollins was the one to turn on his brothers to join Triple H and The Authority.
Dean Ambrose went on to win the WWE Championship. However, once he left WWE his career took off as Jon Moxley. He won championships in NJPW and carried AEW through some tough times with CM Punk getting injured and fired. It can be argued that AEW wouldn’t be what it is today without Moxley.
Roman Reigns, who was already WWE’s golden child, became the Tribal Chief. He fulfilled his potential and became the longest-reigning champion of the modern era. WWE would not be where it is today without Reigns getting that spotlight. Rollins of course became the workhorse of RAW. Both as a champion and not. What Reigns was over on SmackDown, Rollins was for RAW. Having stellar match after stellar match and amazing feuds along the way.
Courtesy Of WWE
Rollins may not be the World Heavyweight champion anymore, but he is still very involved in main-event matches. He finds himself in a match involving two people he hates at SummerSlam. The controversial CM Punk and the man who took the World Heavyweight Championship from him, Drew McIntyre. However, he will not be wrestling the two rivals. He will be the special guest referee for the match.
Rollins having to be in a match with two men he hates as the referee it would be easy to ask how he can be fair and objective. He says that won’t be a problem because he hates them equally. Seth Rollins continued:
“I hate them both equally, I want them both to suffer the exact same amount so I’m gonna do my best to work that out. It’s going to be up to them, who’s going to pin who, who’s going to make who tap out. We’ll get to all that, but I’m going to be there to make sure they beat the crap out of each other …”
“There was too much going on, no referee wanted to be part of it, the match wasn’t going to get sanctioned until I stepped in and said ‘hey I can throw on the ref shirt, I’ll give it a shot.’ I’ve never done it, first time in my career I’ve never at any level been a special guest referee so I’m very excited to see what it is going to be like out there.”
It is easy for Rollins to say he won’t get involved, but once the time comes it may be a different story. Someone may just be getting a Stomp before the night is through. SummerSlam, featuring CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre with Seth Rollins as the guest referee, is this Saturday, August 3.
The event features an amazing card with every championship being defended except the tag team championships. It is such a stacked card that it is hard to pick my most anticipated match. It will be broadcast live on Peacock.
Do you agree that Seth Rollins turning on The Shield is one of modern wrestling’s defining moments? Do you think we would be where we are currently in wrestling without Rollins turning at that moment? Is Jon Moxley the most important wrestler in AEW’s history? Do you think Rollins can be objective? Will he get involved in the match? Let us know on social media what SummerSlam matchyou are most looking forward to.
