NXT has provided the main WWE roster with more than a few big stars. However, few have risen to the heights in their respective WWE careers the way Seth Rollins has, though. After becoming the first NXT Champion, Rollins would go on to win various singles titles, tag team titles, the Royal Rumble, and the Money in the Bank Ladder Match.
Despite an auspicious career filled with championship gold, WWE has mishandled Seth Rollins on a number of occasions. Even a Hall of Fame-worthy career could still be improved, and WWE's brightest stars are certainly not immune to bad booking decisions.
10 Too Many Face/Heel Turns
The quickest way to jumpstart a lagging career is by swapping between face and heel. If anyone knows that, it's The Big Show. He turned heel so many times that he's reputedly lost track of all the wrestlers he turned heel on. But Seth Rollins has also had his fair share of both heel and face turns over the years.
Early in his main roster run, Seth debuted with The Shield as a heel. Then The Shield turned face. And after that Seth turned heel on The Shield. There were a lot of quick changes after that made it hard for fans to get behind him.
9 Too Long Of A Heel Run
After Rollins betrayed The Shield and turned heel, he joined the Triple H and Stephanie McMahon faction called The Authority. That actually worked quite well. His heel run between 2014 and 2017 saw him become a champion, as well as a mainstay of the main event scene.
While his time as a major heel came to an end when Triple H betrayed him, the angle ran a little long. The face turn should have happened sooner, though injuries did play a factor in extending his heel run.
8 CM Punk And The Shield
When debuting on the main roster, being associated with a prominent wrestler certainly doesn't hurt. It can help establish new talent quickly and bring them into storylines faster. But it can also be a bit of a distraction.
Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns took the big leap together as The Shield. They were brought in as associates of CM Punk. The storyline kind of worked but they never quite seemed to connect. Plus, the angle ended before it got rolling for reasons beyond The Shield's control.
7 Double Duty Between NXT And The Main Roster
Seth Rollins made history as the inaugural NXT Champion. As a talented wrestler who was over with the fans, he was the perfect choice for this big moment. It established NXT as its own brand and Seth Rollins as a star.
But it wasn't that long after this moment that Seth and the rest of The Shield made their main roster debut. This left Seth Rollins performing on both shows, which came dangerously close to overexposing him. Dropping the title to Big E was the best thing that could have happened to him at that point.
6 Hell In A Cell Versus Bray Wyatt
"The Fiend" Bray Wyatt has proven to be one of the hottest acts in WWE. That said, a disastrous Hell in a Cell match almost upended everything and definitely damaged Rollins in the process.
At first, everything seemed like a normal Hell in a Cell match. Except for the red light, of course. The finish of the match was horrible, causing fans to chant for their money back. It was a low point for Rollins that was certainly not his fault and forced him to turn heel since fans turned their backs on him.
5 Splitting From Dean Ambrose
One of the most emotional wrestling moments in the last decade saw Roman Reigns surrender his title due to leukemia. The announcement caught fans completely off guard. It led Seth, Dean, and Roman embracing each other on the ramp, then Dean and Seth going on to become Tag Team Champions.
Then, WWE had Dean turn on Seth which kicked off a terrible heel turn for Ambrose. It was a rotten decision that played off a very real moment in the most cynical way possible. Everything about the angle fell flat, hurting the careers of both Rollins and Ambrose.
4 His Run As The Messiah
After losing his title to "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt, Seth began a heel turn that took his character in a very different direction. For the first time in a long time, Rollins had a new look, a new attitude and an entirely new entrance package. While becoming The Messiah started off interesting, the whole angle quickly fizzled.
Having a group of acolytes around The Messiah made sense but poorly timed injuries and other issues caused the faction to constantly switch members. The concept had potential but it just couldn't find any traction.
3 No Singles Titles As The Messiah
A big reason the Messiah didn't quite get the inertia it needed was the singles championship dry spell Seth Rollins went through during that time. Part of being a credible heel is carrying some gold around, and that was missing.
That being said, Rollins and his disciple Buddy Murphy did spend some time as the Tag Team Champions. But that just isn't the same as carrying a major title. He did face Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship but came up short.
2 Brock Lesnar's MITB Cash In
After defeating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania and becoming the new champion, Seth Rollins would go on to have a solid run as the top dog. Then, Lesnar jumped the queue and captured himself the MITB briefcase. He successfully cashed it in, regaining his lost title.
Following that up, Seth Rollins beat Lesnar again, this time at SummerSlam, and was the champ one more time. The whole episode was an exercise in futility. It was repetitive and started the fans turning against Rollins long before the bad Hell in a Cell match with Bray Wyatt.
1 His Feud With Rey Mysterio
A significant percentage of Seth's time as The Messiah involved an extended feud with the legendary Rey Mysterio. They actually had some great matches and Dominik Mysterio got involved, as well, wrestling quite admirably.
But the feud dragged on way too long and had some unnecessarily gross moments. The public flogging of Dominik was a huge one. Even worse, Mysterio "lost" two eyes during the ongoing confrontation. That included a gruesome "eye for an eye" match that was completely unnecessary.