On Monday Night Raw, the wrestling world witnessed a massive announcement. Roman Reigns was in the midst of another promo when former Shield running mate Seth Rollins decided to crash the party. The Visionary sauntered his way to the ring and proceeded to demand a shot at Reigns’ World Heavyweight Championship.
Rollins used their shared history and Reigns’ failure to defeat him as fuel to fire up the Tribal Chief into accepting his challenge. Thus, SummerSlam is set up with a massive World Championship match between two of the greatest to ever step into the ring.
SummerSlam will be the finish point to what has been an incredible run of high-profile matches between Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. Since the Shield’s implosion, these two men have engaged in memorable battles all over the world. They have main evented the biggest shows of the year, and now that their final battle is upon us, it seems fitting to look back at Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns’ history.
Roman Reigns v Brock Lesnar v Seth Rollins (WrestleMania 31)
Seth Rollins’ betrayal of his Shield brothers led him into the arms of the Authority and down a path that culminated in the World Heavyweight Championship. He and Roman Reigns were at odds ever since the chair shot heard round the world, and that would lead to their first showdown on the Grandest Stage of Them All.
It was initially a one-on-one battle between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. The Big Dawg was looking to cement his legacy and wrestle the title away from the Beast, and looked to be well primed to do so, until the heist of the century occurred.
Seth Rollins rushed to the ring, with Money in the Bank in tow, interjecting himself into WrestleMania’s main event. Rollins cherry-picked his moment, pinning Roman Reigns to steal the World Championship. It was the first of many times Rollins got one over on The Tribal Chief.
Seth Rollins v Dean Ambrose v Randy Orton v Roman Reigns (Payback 2015)
Only a few months passed before Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns were once again in the ring. This time, Roman Reigns joined Randy Orton and Dean Ambrose as the three men vied to capture the WWE Championship that Rollins had so underhandedly attained. The odds were stacked against Rollins, but he had the backing of the Authority.
This fatal four-way match had some great moments, such as a teased Shield reunion, and it looked like Seth Rollins might lose the championship before his run got up and going. Roman Reigns has Rollins in his sights, so the intervention of Corporate Kane was needed to tip the scales back in the champion’s favor. Once again, Seth Rollins walked out of the arena as champion, nearly escaping the clutches of Roman Reigns.
Roman Reigns v Seth Rollins (Money in the Bank 2016)
Roman Reigns was celebrating a huge victory over A.J. Styles at Extreme Rules when Seth Rollins once again shocked the wrestling world. Rollins had been out of action for months with an injury and chose this moment to ruin the celebration and attack Roman Reigns, setting up a one-on-one showdown at Money in the Bank.
It was the first singles match between the two since Seth Rollins betrayed the Shield, and it was as fantastic as everyone expected. It was a wonderful back-and-forth romp that saw Rollins and Reigns kick out of each other’s best shots. It didn’t seem like there would be a satisfying ending when yet another surprise hit the audience.
Seth Rollins hit two Pedigrees, putting the champion down and stealing the WWE Championship from Roman Reigns. The clean victory was surprising, making Roman Reigns wonder if he could ever beat Seth Rollins.
