8 years of Seth Rollins in WWE: 1 backstage story from every year
Very few Superstars have achieved as much as Seth Rollins in a WWE ring over the last eight years.
The former Shield member made his main roster debut on November 18, 2012 at Survivor Series alongside Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns. The trio went on to work with almost every top Superstar in WWE before they broke up on the June 2, 2014 episode of RAW.
The man who ultimately destroyed The Shield, Seth Rollins, achieved instant success by winning the Money in the Bank briefcase later that month. He went on to cash in the contract in the main event of WrestleMania 31, where he became WWE Champion for the first time.
Seth Rollins has now won almost every major honor in WWE, including the WWE Championship (x2) and Universal Championship (x2). He also won the 2019 Royal Rumble, Intercontinental Championship, United States Championship, NXT Championship, and Tag Team Championship.
In this article, let’s reflect on Seth Rollins’ career by counting down one backstage story from each of his main-roster years.
#9 Seth Rollins almost debuted at Hell in a Cell (2012)
Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins were originally supposed to debut one month before Survivor Series 2012 at Hell in a Cell. That pay-per-view ended with CM Punk defeating Ryback following a heel move from referee Brad Maddox.
Seth Rollins recalled on E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness in 2019 that all three Shield members waited around backstage at Hell in a Cell. However, WWE’s decision-makers opted to use Maddox on TV that night instead.
“We were supposed to debut at the Hell in a Cell, like a month before Survivor Series. We were all at the PPV excited, didn't really know what was going on, nobody was really talking to us and we were there, and we were ready to do something but we didn't know what was gonna happen or anything like that.” [H/T eWrestling]
One month later, Seth Rollins finally received his main-roster call-up alongside Ambrose and Reigns at Survivor Series.
#8 Seth Rollins’ rumored heat with The Big Show (2013)
Seth Rollins reportedly landed himself in some trouble backstage in July 2013. Bryan Alvarez wrote in the F4W Newsletter [H/T Rajah] that The Architect was accused of not knowing how to shake hands properly with other WWE Superstars.
According to one source, the issue was specifically between Rollins and The Big Show.