Height:
6'1"
Weight:
217 lbs.
From: Davenport,
Iowa
Signature
Move: Curb Stomp
Career Highlights: WWE Tag Team Champion, NXT Champion, 2014 Money in
the Bank Ladder Match winner
Seth Rollins began his career as an independent wrestler
who wasted no time making an impact in the world of sports-entertainment. After
becoming the first NXT Champion in August 2012, Rollins quickly moved on to
join forces with fellow NXT standouts Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns to wreak
havoc on WWE.
The trio debuted in WWE at Survivor Series 2012, smashing
Ryback through the announce table and costing him a title match against WWE
Champion CM Punk. The group returned the following night on Raw during Punk’s
365-day championship celebration, sending Ryback through the announce table
once more.
When Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns finally spoke a week
later for the first time in WWE, the trio denied any involvement with Punk.
Rollins said they “saw things heading in the wrong direction,” so the group
“stepped in and righted those wrongs.” Rollins referred to himself and his
cohorts as “a shield from injustice in WWE,” and Ambrose aptly named the group
“The Shield.”
Although they occasionally stumbled in singles action,
The Shield was unstoppable as a collective unit, besting any and all Superstars
who dared to cross their path. At Extreme Rules, The Shield established
themselves as WWE's most dominant trio with Ambrose capturing the United States
Title, Rollins & Reigns defeating Team Hell No in a Tornado Tag Team Match
to capture the WWE Tag Team Titles. Following SummerSlam, The Shield allied
themselves with WWE COO Triple H to become the muscle of the corporate
Authority; despite losing the WWE Tag Team Titles to Cody Rhodes & Goldust,
they remained a force to be reckoned with for The King of Kings’ most
persistent enemies, particularly Daniel Bryan.
The Shield’s first true test came in the form of CM Punk,
who used mind games to drive a wedge between the three of them. The group’s
frustrations continued to mount all the way into 2014, when Rollins entered the
2014 Royal Rumble Match at No. 2 and lasted deep into the contest. However, he
and Ambrose were eliminated by Reigns, who came in second to Batista. The next
night, The Shield were prevented from earning their way into the Elimination
Chamber Match and challenging for the WWE World Heavyweight Title when The
Wyatt Family interfered in their qualifying bout, handing the DQ victory to
Daniel Bryan, John Cena & Sheamus. As a result, The Shield demanded, and were
granted, a showdown with The Wyatts at Elimination Chamber. After a couple
weeks of circling each other, the two factions finally came to blows at the end
of the Feb. 17 Raw.
But at Elimination Chamber, The Hounds of Justice fell in
a hard-fought battle to The Wyatt Family, and fell again in a rematch eight
days later when Rollins – fed up with his teammates’ infighting – abandoned
them to make a statement. His point taken, The Shield rallied and eventually
turned on The Authority altogether, decimating WWE Director of Operations Kane
and The New Age Outlaws in one of the most dominant WrestleMania showings ever.
So persistent was The Shield’s resistance that The Game
re-formed Evolution with Randy Orton & Batista to combat them, but at
Extreme Rules, The Shield emerged victorious, thanks in no small part to a
gravity-defying effort by Rollins. But The Hounds weren't done with Evoluton,
as Rollins, Ambrose & Reigns shut out all three members of legendary
faction in a brutal No Holds Barred Elimination Match at WWE Payback. Even
though Batista quit WWE the next night, the evening still threw the future of
The Shield into question, however, when Rollins attacked Reigns and Ambrose
with a steel chair and seemingly allied himself with Evolution.
The next week, Rollins explained his actions as a
business decision and dared his former allies to attack him; despite a timely
escape by The Aerialist, Ambrose & Reigns allied with John Cena to defeat
The Wyatt Family later in the evening. Rollins not only continued to antagonize
Ambrose, but Triple H entered him into a traditional Money in the Bank Ladder
Match for a WWE World Heavyweight Championship contract ... without having to
qualify first. The next week, he successfully convinced Triple H to allow
Ambrose into the match along with The Game's other handpicked competitors so
Rollins could better thwart his former teammate's plans against The Authority.
Seth Rollins’ plan came to fruition at WWE Money in the
Bank 2014 when, with the aid of the Demon Kane, took out his fellow Shield
cohort and earned the right to be called “Mr. Money in the Bank.” Ambrose vowed
to keep Rollins from cashing in at every turn and has kept his promise thus
far. The two former teammates were scheduled to go head-to-head at WWE
Battleground, but never had an actual match as Ambrose attacked Rollins
backstage, again in the ring after being ejected from the building, and once
more in the arena's parking lot by hiding in the trunk of Rollins' car.
In the midst of all-out bedlam in a Lumberjack Match at
SummerSlam, Seth Rollins hit his former "business associate" Dean
Ambrose with the Money in the Bank briefcase to overcome his unstable opponent.
During their rematch the next night, Kane helped Rollins Curb Stomp Ambrose
through a pile of cinder blocks in an attack that would have sent Ambrose to a
local medical center, had he not thrown off his restraints, refused treatment
and escaped from WWE officials altogether.
In the aftermath, it quickly became apparent that Roman
Reigns would take up Ambrose's crusade on Rollins in his place, but Reigns
suffered a severe hernia one day prior to his match with The Architect. Rollins
arrived at Night of Champions 2014 smug as ever, claiming victory over Reigns
and calling surgery "no excuse" to miss their contest. Continuing his
arrogance that night, Rollins issued an open challenge, which was answered to
his shock by a returning Dean Ambrose. The unstable Ambrose assaulted Rollins
until Triple H had WWE Security restrain and eject Ambrose.
With both Ambrose and Reigns out of the picture, Rollins attempted to finally cash in his Money in the Bank contract by getting a seemingly beaten Brock Lesnar disqualified and trying to pick the bones of The Beast. Before the bell could ring, however, Cena got back to his feet and beat Rollins into a retreat. Mr. Money in the Bank will have to wait another day to get his title match.
