Over the last decade, Seth Rollins has climbed the ranks in WWE, cementing himself as one of the top names in the company. Whether it be as a cackling heel or defiant babyface, Rollins has found lots of success, winning multiple world titles, midcard belts, and tag team gold, in addition to a Money in the Bank and Royal Rumble too.
Not only is he one of the most accomplished men on the roster, but he is also one of the best and smoothest in-ring talents, almost guaranteed to have a good match at worst any time he steps into the ring. Every year, it can be hard to choose his best match simply because he has so many. He is very likely to have several great matches in 2022, but the year hasn’t been long enough to pick a best just yet.
10 2012: The Shield Vs Team Hell No & Ryback
The Shield’s debut match at TLC 2012 is still one of the greatest matches the faction ever had. It was the perfect showcase of the mixture of talents possessed by Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Dean Ambrose, with the match producing all sorts of carnage.
Daniel Bryan, Kane, and Ryback all played their roles perfectly, putting over The Shield in an absolute war, full of unique and hard-hitting spots, which got the group’s run off to one hell of a beginning, as they took all the headlines from that night.
9 2013: The Shield Vs Cody Rhodes & Goldust
From purely an in-ring perspective, there were probably better matches than this, but from a storyline standpoint, this was jam-packed with emotion, coupled with an electric crowd who were hugely invested in the story of the Rhodes family earning back their jobs, and the Tag Team Championships in the process, at the Battleground event.
This was the perfect place for Rollins & Reigns to drop their Tag Titles, as the story leading up to the match was one of the standout angles throughout the entire year, with Rhodes & Goldust becoming hugely over in their anti-authority role as babyfaces.
8 2014: The Shield Vs The Wyatt Family
WWE’s two biggest factions at the time, The Shield and Wyatt Family, came to blows at the start of 2014, with their initial face-off garnering a deafening roar from the crowd, showcasing just how well the trios had been built up to that point.
At the Elimination Chamber PPV, the two teams battled in a hugely entertaining match, which gave everyone a chance to shine, and featured the brutality of the huge Wyatts and the haphazard and chaotic nature of The Shield. The Wyatts picked up the victory, with The Shield headed for a fully-fledged face turn.
7 2015: Brock Lesnar Vs Seth Rollins Vs John Cena
Rollins’ first PPV match of the year saw him wrestle one of the better triple threat matches of the last decade, and perhaps of all time. The dominant WWE Champion, Brock Lesnar, was portrayed as an absolute monster in this match, overcoming obscene amounts of punishment, in one his best runs since his 2012 return.
Cena and Rollins did just as well in making this match a highlight, with the biggest spot being Rollins’ huge leap from the ring to the announce table, crashing down on Lesnar. For Rollins’ first PPV title match, this signalled huge things to come for him, even in defeat.
6 2016: Roman Reigns Vs Seth Rollins
After reigning for several months as WWE Champion in 2015, Rollins was sidelined with an ill-timed injury, ruling him out of the latter half of 2015 and the start of 2016. Upon his return, he targeted the new champion, Roman Reigns, setting up a title match for Money in the Bank.
This was a classic main event match between the biggest heel and face on the show at the time, and it felt like a throwback in terms of pacing, waiting to hit big moves, and a huge, clean finish, which saw Rollins shockingly win back the WWE Title. It wouldn’t be for long though, as their former Shield partner, Dean Ambrose, would cash in his Money in the Bank contract to win the title.
5 2017: Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose Vs The Bar
After the reunited duo of Rollins & Ambrose won the Raw Tag Team Titles from The Bar at Summerslam, they would defend the titles in a rematch at the No Mercy PPV. Their initial match was a blast, but this one managed to top it.
The action was fast paced with something always going on, with the four men being some of the most well-rounded talents in professional wrestling. This match featured the scary spot of Cesaro losing his tooth and fighting through that injury allowed him and Sheamus to look strong even in defeat.
4 2018: The Miz Vs Seth Rollins Vs Finn Balor
Opening a WrestleMania event is always a tough task, but also a huge honor, and that was given to the Intercontinental Title triple threat at Mania 34. All three men put in a terrific showing, with the action never letting up, and it kicked the show off with a bang.
Rollins would pick up the victory, setting up a year of fantastic Intercontinental Title matches on Raw whilst the champion, Brock Lesnar, would mostly be absent. Rollins, like The Miz before him, helped the title feel hugely significant.
3 2019: Seth Rollins Vs AJ Styles
When Styles stepped into WWE back in 2016, a match with Seth Rollins was one the fans desperately wanted to see. They would have to wait three years to see it, but it finally took place at Money in the Bank 2019 in a truly thrilling contest between two of the best in the world.
This match gets lost in the shuffle, but it was a great title match, featuring on the most underrated counters of all time, when Styles reversed a Curb Stomp into the Styles Clash. The pair haven’t wrestled too much since, which is certainly a shame, but it is a fresh match WWE can pull out when they need to.
2 2020: Drew McIntyre Vs Seth Rollins
2020 offered some of the more unique matches in WWE history, with most of the year spent without a live crowd in attendance. Rollins managed to have quite a few standout matches over the year, against the likes of Kevin Owens and Dominik Mysterio for example, but his best came against Drew McIntyre.
At Money in the Bank, McIntyre defended his WWE Title in the eerily quiet Performance Centre, with he and Rollins putting on a great match which was full of intensity, physicality, and everything else that makes for a strong title match.
1 2021: Seth Rollins Vs Edge
Over the course of the summer, Edge and Seth Rollins wrestled a trilogy of top-quality matches, playing off a story which started all the way back in 2014, and it was fantastic.
The best of the three matches was the finale, which took place inside Hell in a Cell at the Crown Jewel show, and it certainly lived up to the stipulation as one of the better Cell matches for quite some time. The brutality and emotion were high, and it stole the show on the night.