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On 18 November 2012, CM Punk successfully defended his WWE Championship in the main event of Survivor Series against John Cena and Ryback.
However, the pay-per-view is best remembered for the debut of three up-and-comers from NXT who rushed through the crowd, dragged Ryback out of the ring and sent him crashing through an announce table with a thunderous Triple Powerbomb.
The three men were revealed to be Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, later known as The Shield, and they would go on to become one of the most dominant and popular factions in WWE history.
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Also read: 5 years of The Shield: Roman Reigns' best and worst moments in WWE
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To mark their five-year anniversary on the main roster, we decided to look back at the five best and five worst moments that each Superstar has had during their time in WWE.
In this article, we focus on Rollins – a man first known to us as “The Architect of The Shield” who is now a two-time WWE champion and one of the best in-ring performers in modern-day WWE.
Also read: 5 years of The Shield: Dean Ambrose's best and worst moments in WWE
#1 Best: 2014 heel turn
“In case you haven’t figured it out yet, what I do better than anybody is adapt. Last night was Plan A. Tonight: Plan B. There’s always a Plan B…”
Those immortal words from Triple H preceded one of the most shocking heel turns in WWE history when, one night after defeating Evolution at Payback 2014, Seth Rollins turned his back on his Shield brothers to join The Authority.
Rollins was dubbed “The Undisputed Future of WWE” and would go on to play his heel persona to absolute perfection.
#2 Best: Money In The Bank victory
Looking back over the last few years of WWE, not many people have made the Money In The Bank contract seem as important as Seth Rollins did during his nine-month run with the briefcase, and it all began with an epic encounter at the Money In The Bank PPV in 2014.
“The Architect” defeated Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston and Rob Van Dam to claim the prize, with Kane interfering to take out Ambrose and help Rollins win one of the best Money In The Bank matches there has ever been.
#3 Best: WrestleMania 31 main event
Many of Seth Rollins’ greatest moments came in the year that followed his heel turn, and none were greater than when he cashed in his Money In The Bank contract in the main event of WrestleMania 31 to become WWE World Heavyweight champion.
The majority of fans expected Roman Reigns to defeat Brock Lesnar, but then came Rollins, briefcase in hand and sprinting down the giant ramp like a man possessed, to cash in his contract. The match restarted as a Triple Threat and Seth got the win after hitting Reigns with his former finisher, the Curb Stomp, as WrestleMania closed with one of its most spectacular finales ever.
#4 Worst: Breaking John Cena’s nose
When someone breaks another performer’s nose, it’s never a good thing. And when that other performer is John Cena, the undisputed face of the company, it’s definitely never a good thing.
On a July 2015 episode of Raw, Seth Rollins grabbed the back of Cena’s head and recklessly launched his right knee into the face of his opponent. It was an unfortunate incident but, luckily for their upcoming storyline together, Cena was able to finish the match and return in time for SummerSlam.
#5 Best: Double Champion
Do you know how many people have held the WWE Championship and United States Championship simultaneously in the history of WWE? One – and that one person is none other than Seth Rollins.
In August 2015, at a time when he was at his arrogant best as WWE champion, Rollins defeated John Cena at SummerSlam, with help from an unlikely ally in TV personality Jon Stewart, to win the US title. His reign with both championships would only last one month – Cena regained the US title in September – but it was fun while it lasted.
#6 Worst: 2015 knee injury
Five months into his reign as WWE champion, Seth Rollins was forced to vacate the title in November 2015 after tearing his ACL, MCL and medial meniscus during a match with Kane at a live event in Dublin.
In a WWE 24 documentary which followed his recovery and return from injury, Rollins appeared visibly upset at missing WrestleMania 32, saying: “I hated not being there, not being able to be a part, it was very frustrating.”
He returned to action in June 2016, two months after WrestleMania, and defeated Roman Reigns in his first televised match back at Money In The Bank to regain the title, which he lost minutes later to MITB winner Dean Ambrose.
#7 Worst: Criticism from Bret Hart
WWE legend Bret Hart criticised Seth Rollins on numerous occasions in 2016. He claimed the Shield member was lucky that he didn’t “kill” John Cena when he broke the 16-time champion’s nose and added that Rollins cannot afford to inflict injuries on others or suffer serious injuries himself when he’s put in such as responsible position as WWE champion.
Hart also called him “unsafe” and a “lousy wrestler” for injuring Cena and Sting – something Rollins admitted hurt his feelings having grown up idolising the former WWE and WCW champion.
#8 Worst: 2016 Face turn
There was a general feeling of “Oh, are we supposed to cheer this guy now?” when Seth Rollins turned face in 2016. He was a heel challenging for the Universal Championship in August but, all of a sudden, fans were expected to cheer for him when he challenged for the title as a face a month later.
Had he returned from his injury in June as a good guy, the WWE Universe might have gotten behind him a little more. Instead, he received one Pedigree from Triple H in September, which seemingly confirmed him as a face, but it took a lot longer for fans to fully support him again.
#9 Worst: 2017 injury
Seth Rollins was one of many injured stars who missed WrestleMania 32 and, for a few uncertain weeks, it looked like he’d miss WrestleMania 33.
Seven months on from his return, Rollins re-injured his knee during a surprise attack from the debuting Samoa Joe on Raw in January. WWE then revealed in February that his status for WrestleMania was ‘doubtful’ and we were all left to wonder who Triple H would face at “The Show of Shows” instead.
Fortunately, after two months of rehab, Seth made it back just in time to face HHH and, as far as we know, he hasn’t had any troubles with his knee since.
#10 Best: Defeating Triple H
As the dastardly heel who always found a way to win, Seth Rollins was a brilliant character. However, with the exception of his Hell In A Cell 2015 title defence against Kane, he very rarely won high-profile singles matches fair and square.
In defeating Triple H clean at WrestleMania 33, “The Kingslayer” finally showed, even with a dodgy knee, that he could defeat the best of the best without needing anybody else’s help.
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