Today I look at the match that saw the then WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins wear an all-white attire that I absolutely loved the look of. SummerSlam 2015 he took on then US Champion John Cena in a winner takes all double title match. And this is how it went down!!!
SummerSlam 2015: WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins vs United States Champion John Cena in a title vs title match
Heel WWE Champion Seth Rollins was fucking AWESOME, and don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise! Barclays Centre loved him, and they did not like John Cena as much… They tied up early, as the ‘lets go Cena, Cena sucks’ chants echoed around the arena. Rollins got a hip toss and drop kick after a cool exchange of moves, then mocked Cena by waving his hand infront of his face ala Cena himself (crowd loudly cheered and chanted Lets go for Rollins). Cena though came right back with a big punch that took Rollins down, then took over again and had him in a neck hold. Cena took Rollins down again with a belly to belly and got a nearfall, and kept control with another neck hold… Rollins got to his feet eventually and hit strikes to Cena, but Cena then tossed Rollins into the corner and took a second to take in the ‘CE-NA SUCKS’ chants from the crowd… he then took too long and collided with the turnbuckle after Rollins sidestepped, with Seth then hitting a reverse neckbreaker to Cena with him jumping off the middle rope. Rollins then came off the ropes and hit a knee to Cena’s back that sent the US Champion out of the ring, and then he followed up by taking Cena down again with a dive through the ropes. He then went back in the ring and did it again, and tried a third and went over the ropes this time… remind me who is the heel in this match??? Back in the ring after Cena hit his signature running shoulder blocks, but was then hit with a slingblade by Rollins and the WWE Champion then went for a cover and got a nearfall. Cena tossed Rollins over the ropes after he ran at him in the corner, but Rollins then tried a springboard move to Cena but John Cena caught him by the foot and tried to drag him down but Rollins desperately tried to get to the ropes, only for Cena to then hit a big slam to the floor and look for a 5 knuckle shuffle after… but Rollins kicked Cena in the head and then tried a Pedigree but Cena tossed Seth over him but Rollins landed on his feet, Cena then hit a springboard stunner which he only just got, even commentary said he didn’t get all of it (this crowd really doesn’t like Cena, and they LOVE Seth Rollins). Cena then hit the 5 knuckle shuffle. He tried the AA after but Rollins elbowed his way out of it, then found himself on the corner ropes again and took Cena down with double knees, then hitting a running moonsault to Cena that the crowd gasped at, and this got a nearfall. Rollins then ran at Cena in the corner then put him on the top turnbuckle bit, and got up as well but Cena elbowed Seth back down, but Rollins tried again and struck away at Cena… the end result was Rollins had Cena hung by his legs in the corner ropes, and then flew off the top with a double foot stomp to Cena’s chest. This again got a nearfall. Rollins trashed talked Cena, but Cena popped right up and hit Rollins with the AA! But Seth kicked out!!! They exchanged punches and kicks, Seth tried for the pedigree, but Cena slingshotted Rollins into the corner, then went behind him to get him on his shoulders and Cena slammed Rollins face first to the floor, for another nearfall. Cena then went to the top turnbuckle, and hit the leg drop to the back of Rollins neck but only again got a nearfall. Cena picked him up again for the AA, but then made his way to the second rope and tried one from there… but Rollins tried to roll down and eventually got in a position to hit Cena with the buckle bomb to the opposing corner (a move I wont miss seeing anytime soon). Rollins went up top after and hit a big frog splash that was perfectly executed, and he got to a two count but Cena then just got up and picked Rollins up with him, into an AA position but Rollins landed on his feet, then kicked Cena in the head, Cena came off the ropes to his a crossbody but they rolled through and Rollins picked Cena up this time, HE HIT THE AA TO JOHN CENA (CROWD LOSING IT RN) and he got a nearfall! A quite amazing sequence right there. Rollins then went up high again and went for the spinning moonsault he does, but landed on his feet and rolled through as Cena had moved… then Cena got the drop toe hold and locked in his STF submission… but Rollins crawled to the ropes, Cena pulled him back, but Rollins then kicked Cena away, Cena picked him up again for an AA, Rollins got down and went for the Pedigree, but Cena then transitioned into a figure 4 leg lock (just unbelievable the variety of moves both guys have put together in this match is amazing)… The irony here was Cena tried to use Ric Flair’s move to tie his world title record (which commentary pointed out here really well)… but Rollins turned over to reverse the pressure to the delight of the crowd… but Cena got to the bottom rope… Cena then hit Rollins from the apron, then went up top again, but Rollins jumped up and hit a big superplex but rolled through and hit the falcon arrow (ala Sami Zayn) right after, for a nearfall… Rollins went up top and missed the spinning-moonsault and Cena took advantage picking him up for an AA, but Rollins feet collided with the ref and it knocked him down… Cena hit the AA and got the visual pin, but of course the ref was down and out!!! Cena wanted another ref, and then went to Rollins who kneed Cena again in his nose (the same nose Rollins had legit broken a few weeks prior with a knee strike)… so with both men down… JON STEWART who was celebrity guest host of SummerSlam (and had a public ‘beef’ with Rollins… and had been shown during the pre show talking to Cena and saying if he needed any help he was there) came out with a steel chair… he teased for ages hitting Rollins but instead hit CENA, then put the chair down and ran off again… a shocked Rollins wasted no time and hit Cena with the Pedigree onto the chair. He then got rid of the evidence and by that time the ref came back to life and counted the three. The crowd was delighted. Seth Rollins is now both the WWE World Heavyweight and United States Champion!!!
As individual performances go, you’ll struggle to see many better than Seth Rollins in this match here. Against the top name for the world title, he absolutely hit this one out the park. A F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C match! It just got better and better and I had 4&3/4 written down for a while, but it just kept going and going and got better and better, the finish was a little lame but for me it didn’t take away from the outstanding 20 minutes or so I had watched before that.
*****
Josh.