Mid 20th Century
159-697: Colby Daniel Lopez (born May 28, 1986) is an American professional wrestler . He is signed to WWE , where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Seth "Freakin" Rollins . Prior to signing with WWE, he wrestled under the ring name Tyler Black for Ring of Honor (ROH) and was part of the Age of the Fall stable with Jimmy Jacobs . During his time in ROH, he held the ROH World Championship once and
318-609: A Curb Stomp on Ambrose through cinder blocks , giving him a kayfabe injury. On September 21, at Night of Champions , a scheduled match between Rollins and Reigns ended in Rollins being declared the winner via forfeit since Reigns developed a legitimate incarcerated hernia which required surgery prior to the event. He was then attacked by a returning Ambrose. Shortly after, Rollins adopted Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury as bodyguards, being named "J&J Security". The feud between Rollins and Ambrose culminated on October 26 at Hell in
477-465: A Winner Takes All Extreme Rules match mixed tag team match . Afterwards, Rollins lost the title to Lesnar, who cashed in his Money in the Bank contract, ending his reign at 98 days. The following night on Raw , Rollins won a ten-man battle royal for the right to face Lesnar for the championship at SummerSlam by last eliminating Randy Orton. At the event on August 11, Rollins defeated Lesnar to regain
636-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
795-874: A heel alongside Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns , attacking Ryback during the triple threat main event for the WWE Championship , allowing CM Punk to pin John Cena and retain the title. The trio declared themselves The Shield , vowed to rally against "injustice" and denied working for Punk, but routinely emerged from the crowd to attack Punk's adversaries. This led to a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 16, where The Shield defeated Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane ) and Ryback in their WWE debut match. The Shield continued to aid Punk after TLC, attacking both Ryback and The Rock (at Royal Rumble ) in January 2013. It
954-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
1113-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
1272-584: A sunset flip powerbomb . The injury required surgery and it was estimated it would take Rollins out of action for approximately six to nine months, therefore he was forced to vacate the WWE World Heavyweight Championship the next day, ending his reign at 220 days. WWE recognizes his reign as lasting 219 days. On the December 21 episode of Raw , Rollins made a special appearance to accept his Slammy Award for 2015 Superstar of
1431-451: A tables match . On the January 5, 2015 episode of Raw , The Authority regained control over WWE. At Royal Rumble on January 25, Rollins failed to win a triple threat match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Cena and champion Brock Lesnar . At Fastlane on February 22, Rollins, Big Show and Kane defeated Ziggler, Erick Rowan and Ryback. After the match, Orton returned and attacked Noble, Mercury and Kane, while Rollins fled
1590-530: A 5-on-3 handicap Tables, Ladders and Chairs match, but Reigns was replaced over an illness concern by Kurt Angle and they won the match. Ambrose and Rollins lost the titles back to Cesaro and Sheamus on the November 6 episode of Raw due to SmackDown's The New Day distracting the champions, ending their reign at 78 days (WWE recognizes their reign as lasting 79 days). At Survivor Series on November 19, The Shield defeated The New Day. In December, Ambrose suffered
1749-424: A Cell , where Rollins defeated Ambrose in a Hell in a Cell match after Bray Wyatt interfered and attacked Ambrose. Following Hell in a Cell, tension began growing between Rollins and Randy Orton due to The Authority's preferential treatment of Rollins. After defeating Orton on the November 3 episode of Raw , Orton attacked The Authority but was overpowered, resulting in Rollins performing a Curb Stomp on Orton onto
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#17327944603091908-410: A No Disqualification match following interference from Big Show. At Hell in a Cell on October 27, Rollins and Reigns failed to regain the titles in a triple threat match also involving The Usos. At Survivor Series on November 24, The Shield teamed with Antonio Cesaro and Jack Swagger , facing Rey Mysterio , The Usos, Cody Rhodes and Goldust in a traditional Survivor Series match . Although Rollins
2067-571: A No Holds Barred elimination match, in which no members of The Shield were eliminated. On the June 2 episode of Raw , Rollins turned on Ambrose and Reigns to rejoin The Authority, turning heel once again. On June 29, Rollins won the Money in the Bank ladder match at the titular event after interference from Kane. Rollins defeated Ambrose at Battleground on July 20 via forfeit after their match
2226-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
2385-602: A brawl which saw Rollins come out on top. At Clash at the Castle on September 3, Rollins defeated Riddle. On the September 19 episode of Raw , it was announced that they would have a rematch in a Fight Pit match at Extreme Rules on October 8, where Rollins lost to Riddle by submission. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
2544-532: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
2703-519: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
2862-585: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
3021-504: A decision which was negatively received by critics and fans. On October 31, at Crown Jewel , Rollins lost the Universal Championship to The Fiend in a falls count anywhere match , ending his second reign at 80 days. Rollins was selected as the captain for Team Raw against Team SmackDown and Team NXT on November 24 at Survivor Series , where Team SmackDown emerged victorious. The following night on Raw , Rollins berated
3180-646: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . List of Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards This is a list of both active and inactive Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards which are voted on by Pro Wrestling Illustrated ( PWI ) readers every year from 1972 onwards, expanding to more categories in later years. Unlike other wrestling magazines and websites, PWI
3339-468: A developmental contract with WWE and was assigned to their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) in September. On September 14, Black made his WWE debut in a dark match prior to the SmackDown taping by defeating Trent Barreta . Lopez debuted for FCW on September 30 under the name Seth Rollins , in a loss to Michael McGillicutty . Rollins then faced Hunico on November 4 in
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#17327944603093498-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
3657-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
3816-411: A feud between the two and disbanding The Shield once again. Rollins and Ambrose lost the titles on the November 5 episode of Raw , when Rollins lost a handicap match to AOP ( Akam and Rezar ). On November 18, at Survivor Series , Rollins defeated United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura in an interbrand champion vs. champion match. On December 16, at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs , Rollins lost
3975-470: A feud with Kane, turning face in the process. At WrestleMania XXX on April 6, The Shield defeated Kane and The New Age Outlaws ( Billy Gunn and Road Dogg ). The Shield then feuded with Triple H, the COO of WWE and leader of The Authority, who reformed Evolution with Batista and Randy Orton to take on The Shield. The Shield defeated Evolution at Extreme Rules on May 4, and again on June 1 at Payback in
4134-409: A feud with Triple H leading into WrestleMania. On January 28, Rollins appeared at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio , interrupting the show and demanding to confront Triple H, who came out only to order security to remove Rollins from the ring. On the January 30 episode of Raw , Rollins confronted Stephanie McMahon and once again called out Triple H, demanding answers for his betrayal. Later that night, Rollins
4293-546: A first-round match and then Claudio Castagnoli, Colt Cabana , Delirious , Chris Hero and Roderick Strong in the finals to win the 2009 Survival of the Fittest tournament , earning him a ROH World Championship match. On December 19, at ROH's first live pay-per-view, Final Battle , Black wrestled then ROH World Champion Austin Aries to a 60-minute time limit draw. Because of this draw, then ROH commissioner Jim Cornette booked
4452-558: A four-year win streak from 1993 to 1996 and then a seven-year win streak from 2004 to 2010. The PWI Feud of the Year award recognizes the best rivalry of the year, normally between two wrestlers but also between groups as well. Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger is tied with Vince McMahon vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin , each winning twice. Ric Flair, Vince McMahon, and Triple H have won this award four times individually. The Four Horsemen , The Authority , The Nexus , and Aces & Eights are
4611-451: A legit shoulder injury sustained at SummerSlam, Rollins faced Big Cass , Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns in a four-way elimination match for the title, but Triple H interfered and attacked Rollins, allowing Owens to win the championship. On the September 5 episode of Raw , Rollins attacked Owens during his celebration ceremony, turning face for the first time since 2014. Rollins failed to win
4770-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
4929-816: A loss to The Latin American Xchange ( Homicide and Hernandez ) on Impact! in October 2006. On May 25, 2007, while in a match with then Full Impact Pro (FIP) Tag Team Champions The Briscoe Brothers ( Jay and Mark Briscoe ) in Melbourne, Florida , Black's tag team partner Marek Brave suffered a legitimate back injury, leading Black to pursue a singles career by competing in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), where he defeated Joey Ryan in his debut on June 10. At PWG's Life During Wartime on July 6, 2008, Black and Jimmy Jacobs won
Seth Rollins - Misplaced Pages Continue
5088-687: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
5247-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
5406-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
5565-536: A professional wrestling personality. It has been given yearly since 1981, originally known as the PWI Editor's Award , and it's considered the magazine highest honor. Beginning with the March 2003 year-end edition, the award was renamed in memory of PWI founder and longtime publisher Stanley Weston , who died in 2002. In 2020, PWI announced it would begin naming two winners per year. The PWI Midget Wrestler of
5724-401: A record four times. The New Day is the only trio to win the award. The Golden Role Models are the only women’s tag team to win this award. The PWI Faction of the Year award recognized the best faction of the year. This award made its debut in 2021. The PWI Match of the Year award recognizes the best match of the year. Shawn Michaels has won the award a record eleven times; he had
5883-523: A rematch. On the following episode of Raw , Rollins attacked and laid out Rhodes during his match for the United States Championship against Theory . The following week, Rhodes challenged Rollins to a match at Hell in a Cell , inside the namesake structure, which Rollins accepted. At the event on June 5, Rollins lost to Rhodes, ending their feud. The match received a five-star rating by esteemed wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer of
6042-539: A second chance at the ROH World Championship at Death Before Dishonor VI in New York City , when he faced McGuinness, Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli in a four-way elimination match , but McGuinness retained the title. At Final Battle in December, after Black lost a number one contender match to Austin Aries, Jacobs turned on him, and Black was then attacked by Aries. At Full Circle, Black
6201-510: A six-man tag team match on the April 22 episode of Raw , which The Shield won. On the May 13 episode of Raw , The Shield's undefeated streak in televised six-man tag team matches ended in a disqualification loss in a six-man elimination tag team match against John Cena, Kane and Daniel Bryan. On May 19, at Extreme Rules , Rollins and Reigns defeated Team Hell No in a tornado tag team match to win
6360-557: A six-man tag team match. Two nights later on Raw , The Shield was defeated by the trio in a rematch, with Ambrose walking away from his teammates after their defeat. On the October 22 episode of Raw , Reigns took a hiatus due to his legitimate returning leukemia . Later that night, Rollins and Ambrose defeated Ziggler and McIntyre to win the Raw Tag Team Championship (making Rollins a double champion), only for Ambrose to turn on Rollins as he attacked him, igniting
6519-549: A six-man tag team qualifying match to enter the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but lost the match via disqualification after The Wyatt Family ( Bray Wyatt , Erick Rowan and Luke Harper ) interfered and attacked Cena, Bryan, and Sheamus. At Elimination Chamber on February 23, The Shield were defeated by the Wyatt Family in a rematch. Later in March, The Shield began
Seth Rollins - Misplaced Pages Continue
6678-487: A teenager, he was an introvert who lived a straight edge lifestyle and was a big fan of rock and heavy metal music. He trained at a wrestling school owned by Danny Daniels on the borders of Chicago and Oak Park . Lopez made his debut at the age of 19 on August 21, 2004, wrestling in the Iowa independent scene under the ring name Gixx. He then joined Ian Rotten 's Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South (IWA) under
6837-430: A title match. Rollins continued his feud with Orton after WrestleMania, which led to a steel cage match for the championship with Kane residing as special guest "gatekeeper" at Extreme Rules on April 26, where Rollins retained after interference from the latter. At Payback on May 17, Rollins successfully defended the title against Orton, Reigns, and Ambrose in a fatal-four-way match after pinning Orton. Rollins retained
6996-651: A torn biceps , sidelining him for approximately nine months, putting The Shield on hiatus. On the December 25 episode of Raw , Rollins and Jason Jordan won the Raw Tag Team Championship from Cesaro and Sheamus. At the Royal Rumble on January 28, 2018, Rollins entered at #18 in the Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated by Reigns. Right after the Royal Rumble match, they lost the titles back to Cesaro and Sheamus, ending their reign at 34 days. After their tag team dissolved due to Jordan having neck surgery, Rollins
7155-537: A triple threat match against Ambrose and Reigns for the newly renamed WWE World Championship, which became exclusive to the SmackDown brand . Because of this, the WWE Universal Championship was introduced the following night on Raw . Rollins lost the inaugural title match against Finn Bálor on August 21 at SummerSlam . After Bálor relinquished the title the following night on Raw due to
7314-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
7473-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
7632-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
7791-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
7950-468: Is also the only wrestler to have won the WWE Championship, Universal Championship, World Heavyweight Championship, and NXT Championship, in addition to being the only wrestler to compete in the match to decide the inaugural champion of three WWE championships (NXT, Universal, and World Heavyweight). Rollins also won the 2014 Money in the Bank ladder match , the 2015 Slammy Award for Superstar of
8109-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
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#17327944603098268-513: Is largely a magazine written within the fictional realm of professional wrestling and the awards recognize this. The PWI Wrestler of the Year award recognizes the best professional wrestler of the year. Ric Flair has won the award a record six times, and remains the only wrestler with more than three wins; he also established the record for most consecutive wins with three from 1984 to 1986, with AJ Styles later tying that record in 2016-2018. Since 2020, female wrestlers have been included in
8427-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
8586-636: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter , making it the first WWE main roster match to receive a five-star rating since 2011, and the first match of Rollins's career to receive such a rating. Rollins then began a feud with Matt Riddle , setting up a match between the two at SummerSlam . However, the match was postponed after Riddle suffered an injury following an attack by Rollins on the July 25 episode of Raw . Despite this, both Rollins and Riddle appeared at SummerSlam on July 30, engaging in
8745-681: The FCW Florida Tag Team Championship , which they later dropped to Big E Langston and Calvin Raines. In July 2011, Rollins began a feud with Dean Ambrose . Ambrose and Rollins had their first match for the FCW 15 Championship in a 15-minute Iron Man match on the August 14 episode of FCW , which ended in a draw with neither men scoring a fall and, as a result, Rollins retained his title. A subsequent 20-minute rematch for
8904-548: The Gold Rush Tournament to crown the inaugural NXT Champion where he defeated Jinder Mahal in the tournament finals on the August 29 episode of NXT . On the October 10 episode of NXT , Rollins had his first successful defense of his title against Michael McGillicutty. On the January 2, 2013 episode of NXT , Rollins successfully defended the NXT Championship against Corey Graves , before losing it
9063-421: The Money in the Bank pre-show on July 14, and against The Prime Time Players ( Darren Young and Titus O'Neil) at Night of Champions on September 15. At Battleground on October 6, the recently ( kayfabe ) fired Cody Rhodes and Goldust reclaimed their jobs by defeating Rollins and Reigns in a non-title match. On the October 14 episode of Raw , Rollins and Reigns lost the titles to Rhodes and Goldust in
9222-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
9381-847: The PWG World Tag Team Championship by defeating Roderick Strong and El Generico , a replacement for Jack Evans . At FIP's event on December 20, Black defeated Go Shiozaki to win the FIP World Heavyweight Championship . At FIP's event on May 2, 2009, Davey Richards was awarded the FIP World Heavyweight Championship by forfeit when Black was unable to compete. At the Ring of Honor (ROH) pay-per-view taping of Man Up on September 15, 2007, Black made his debut alongside Jimmy Jacobs and Necro Butcher , with
9540-488: The ROH World Tag Team Championship twice (with Jacobs) and won the 2009 Survival of the Fittest tournament. He also wrestled for various independent promotions including Full Impact Pro , where he was a one-time FIP World Heavyweight Champion , as well as Pro Wrestling Guerrilla , where he was a one-time PWG World Tag Team Champion (also with Jacobs). Lopez signed with WWE in 2010 and
9699-620: The Royal Rumble on January 26, as the final entrant, but was eliminated by eventual winner Drew McIntyre. Rollins and Murphy retained the titles against The Street Profits at Super ShowDown on February 27, but lost the titles to them on the March 2 episode of Raw . Rollins and Murphy failed to reclaim the championship from the Street Profits at Elimination Chamber six days later. At WrestleMania 36 on April 4, Rollins lost to Owens in No Disqualification match , ending
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#17327944603099858-574: The WWE Championship twice, Universal Championship twice, and World Heavyweight Championship once, being the inaugural champion. He has also held the Intercontinental Championship and the United States Championship twice each, making him WWE's 29th Triple Crown Champion and 19th Grand Slam Champion , as well as the second wrestler to accomplish the latter twice under the revised 2015 format . He
10017-568: The WWE Raw Tag Team Championship , with Reigns in May 2013; he went on to hold the title a record six times with Ambrose and various partners. After leaving The Shield in 2014, he joined The Authority , establishing his on-screen character as a leading villain. Since then, he has headlined numerous major PPV and livestreaming events for WWE, including WrestleMania XL . Rollins is a five-time world champion in WWE, having won
10176-648: The WWE Tag Team Championship . On the June 14 episode of SmackDown , The Shield suffered their first decisive loss in televised six-man tag team matches against Team Hell No and Randy Orton when Bryan made Rollins submit. Rollins and Reigns successfully retained the WWE Tag Team Championship against Bryan and Orton at Payback on June 13. In August, The Shield began working for Chief operating officer Triple H and The Authority . They retained their titles against The Usos at
10335-557: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
10494-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
10653-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
10812-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
10971-509: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
11130-409: The 5-on-5 elimination match on Team Raw and won the match as the sole survivor after eliminating Jeff Hardy . On the October 25 episode of Raw , Rollins defeated Finn Bálor, Kevin Owens, and Rey Mysterio in a fatal four-way ladder match to become the #1 contender for the WWE Championship against Big E at Day 1 on January 1, 2022. Over the following weeks, Owens and Bobby Lashley were also added to
11289-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
11448-580: The Intercontinental Championship to Ambrose, ending his reign at 119 days. Rollins failed to regain the championship from Ambrose on several occasions, including in a Falls Count Anywhere match when Lashley interfered, and in a triple threat match where Lashley won the championship after pinning Ambrose. At the Royal Rumble on January 27, 2019, Rollins won his first Royal Rumble match by lastly eliminating Braun Strowman. The following night on Raw , Rollins challenged Brock Lesnar for
11607-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
11766-488: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
11925-519: The October 5 episode of Raw , Murphy attacked Rollins after he refused to apologize to him, thus ending their alliance. As part of the 2020 WWE draft in October, Rollins was drafted to the SmackDown brand . On the November 20 episode of SmackDown , Rollins lost to Murphy to end the feud. At Survivor Series two days later, Rollins was a part of Team SmackDown, but was the first person eliminated by Sheamus after "sacrificing" himself and his team lost
12084-471: The ROH World Championship with him to WWE and refused to put the championship at stake in a match with Davey Richards on August 28, which he then lost by submission . On September 11, at Glory By Honor IX , in his final ROH appearance, Black lost the ROH World Championship to Roderick Strong in a no disqualification match with Terry Funk as a guest enforcer , ending his reign at 210 days after seven successful title defenses. On August 8, 2010, Lopez signed
12243-480: The ROH World Championship. On April 3, Black retained the title in a three-way elimination match against Austin Aries and Roderick Strong at The Big Bang! pay-per-view. He also retained the title against Davey Richards on June 19 at Death Before Dishonor VIII . Black turned into a villain at the August 20 tapings of Ring of Honor Wrestling after news broke that he had signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He threatened to take
12402-519: The United States Championship from Cena in a steel cage match. At Hell in a Cell on October 25, Rollins retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Kane and per the match stipulation, Kane was fired as Director of Operations. On November 4, during a match against Kane at a WWE live event in Dublin, Ireland , Rollins tore the ACL , MCL and medial meniscus in his knee while attempting to execute
12561-481: The Universal Championship against him on May 19 at Money in the Bank . Rollins successfully defended the title against Corbin at Super ShowDown on June 7, and at Stomping Grounds on June 23; the latter title defense featured Lacey Evans as special guest referee . He won with assistance of his real-life wife and Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch to overcome the biased refereeing from Evans. Rollins and Lynch defeated Corbin and Evans at Extreme Rules on July 14 in
12720-405: The Universal Championship at WrestleMania 35 . Soon after, Rollins reconciled with Ambrose and the recently returned Reigns to reform The Shield for the third time, defeating McIntyre, Lashley and Baron Corbin on March 10 at Fastlane . At WrestleMania 35 on April 7, Rollins defeated Lesnar to win the Universal Championship for the first time. Rollins then entered a feud with AJ Styles, retaining
12879-477: The WWE Championship inside the namesake structure after being eliminated by Lesnar. Rollins then unsuccessfully attempted to find a spot on the card at WrestleMania 38 , until Mr. McMahon announced that Rollins would face an opponent of his choosing on the March 28 episode of Raw . At Night 1 of WrestleMania on April 2, Rollins' opponent was unveiled as the returning Cody Rhodes , who defeated Rollins. At WrestleMania Backlash on May 8, Rollins lost to Rhodes in
13038-430: The WWE Championship match at Day 1, making it a fatal four-way match, which Rollins lost after Brock Lesnar was added to the match and won the title. That month, he began to work as Seth "Freakin" Rollins. At the Royal Rumble on January 29, Rollins faced SmackDown's Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship, winning the match by disqualification but not the title. On February 18, at Elimination Chamber , he failed to win
13197-606: The WWE World Heavyweight and the United States Championships after interference from Jon Stewart , making him the first and only wrestler to hold both championships simultaneously. At Night of Champions on September 20, Rollins lost the United States Championship back to Cena but was able to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Sting later that night. At Live from Madison Square Garden on October 3, Rollins failed to regain
13356-463: The Year award recognizes the best wrestler who competes on the independent circuit . The PWI Inspirational Wrestler of the Year award recognizes the most inspirational professional wrestler of the year. The award has been given yearly since 1972, and in this time, Bob Backlund , Hulk Hogan , Eddie Guerrero , Jerry Lawler , Bayley , and Roman Reigns are the only people to have won the award more than once, with all six winning twice. Generally,
13515-413: The Year award typically recognizes the most effective heel (villainous) professional wrestler of the year. Triple H has won this award a record five times, with his fourth win as part of The Authority . In 2010, the award was given to a stable , The Nexus for the first time. Roman Reigns is the only wrestler to win this award while presented as a face (heroic character). The PWI Comeback of
13674-487: The Year award, given yearly since 1992, recognizes the most impressive comeback by a professional wrestler during the year. Sting and Jeff Hardy have won this award a record three times each (Hardy's third win is shared with his brother Matt as part of the Hardy Boyz ). The PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year award recognizes the most improved professional wrestler of the year. The PWI Indie Wrestler of
13833-428: The Year , and the 2019 Royal Rumble match . He is an overall nine-time Slammy Award winner. All totaled, he has won 16 championships in WWE (with all but one on the main roster). Praised for his in-ring skills and ability to reinvent his on-screen character, Rollins is regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers active today and of his generation. Rollins topped Pro Wrestling Illustrated ' s PWI 500 list of
13992-434: The Year . At Extreme Rules on May 22, 2016, Rollins returned from injury, attacking Roman Reigns with a Pedigree after his WWE World Heavyweight Championship defense against AJ Styles . The following night on Raw , Shane McMahon scheduled a match between Reigns and Rollins for the title at Money in the Bank . At the event on June 19, Rollins defeated Reigns to win his second WWE World Heavyweight Championship, becoming
14151-421: The Year but the award was again reinstated in 2021. Trish Stratus has won this award a record four times. AJ Lee is the only wrestler to win the award three times consecutively. Mickie James is the only wrestler to have won the award competing for two different organizations. The PWI Tag Team of the Year award recognizes the best tag team of the year. The Road Warriors ( Animal & Hawk ) have won
14310-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
14469-404: The arena. On March 29, at WrestleMania 31 , Rollins lost to Orton. Later that night, Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract during Lesnar and Reigns' WWE World Heavyweight Championship match, turning it into a triple threat match and pinned Reigns to win the title for the first time in his career, making him the first man to cash in his Money in the Bank contract at WrestleMania and during
14628-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
14787-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
14946-482: The award is originally meant to go to a wrestler who overcomes great odds to achieve success in the ring, however, it has also been awarded to wrestlers who overcome real-life hardships and struggles. The PWI Rookie of the Year award recognizes the best professional wrestler of the year who, in that year, had their first year in the business. Since it is a rookie award, wrestlers can qualify only once. The PWI Stanley Weston Award recognizes lifetime achievement by
15105-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
15264-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
15423-485: The championship after enlisting the help of a returning Dean Ambrose. The next night on Raw , Rollins reformed The Shield with Ambrose and Roman Reigns, preventing Strowman from cashing in his Money in the Bank contract for the Universal Championship against Reigns. At Hell in a Cell on September 16, Rollins and Ambrose failed to win the Raw Tag Team Championship from McIntyre and Ziggler. At Super Show-Down on October 6, The Shield defeated McIntyre, Ziggler and Strowman in
15582-419: The championship against Ambrose on May 31 at Elimination Chamber after getting himself disqualified, and in a ladder match at Money in the Bank on June 14. At Battleground on July 19, Rollins retained the title by disqualification against Brock Lesnar after The Undertaker attacked Lesnar. On August 23, Rollins defeated United States Champion John Cena in a Winner Takes All match at SummerSlam for both
15741-461: The championship against The Miz at Backlash on May 6 and Elias on June 17 at Money in the Bank , before losing it to Dolph Ziggler the following night on Raw after a distraction by Ziggler's ally, Drew McIntyre , ending his reign at 71 days. Rollins failed to regain the title from Ziggler in a 30-minute Iron Man match at Extreme Rules on July 15 after interference from McIntyre. On August 19, at SummerSlam , Rollins defeated Ziggler to regain
15900-434: The championship, making him the second wrestler to hold the Universal Championship more than once. He also became the first superstar to defeat Lesnar at both WrestleMania and SummerSlam. On the August 19 episode of Raw , Rollins won his record-tying fifth Raw Tag Team Championship along with Braun Strowman when they defeated Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows . At Clash of Champions on September 15, Rollins and Strowman lost
16059-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
16218-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
16377-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
16536-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
16695-409: The entire Raw roster for "dropping the ball" and failing to win at the pay-per-view. These comments later drew the attention of Kevin Owens, who attacked Rollins and challenged him to a match, which ended in a disqualification after AOP (Akam and Rezar) attacked Owens. On the December 9 episode of Raw , despite earlier denying an alliance with AOP, Rollins joined them by attacking Owens, turning heel for
16854-511: The event on August 21, Rollins lost to Edge by submission, but won their rematch on the September 10 episode of SmackDown . As part of the 2021 Draft , Rollins was drafted to the Raw brand. On the October 8 episode of SmackDown , Edge demanded a Hell in a Cell match between them, which was made official for Crown Jewel . At the event on October 21, Rollins was defeated by Edge, ending their feud. At Survivor Series on November 21, Rollins took part in
17013-603: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
17172-454: The feud. At Money in the Bank on May 10, Rollins unsuccessfully challenged McIntyre for the WWE Championship. The next night on Raw , Rollins attacked Rey Mysterio and injured his eye with the steel ring steps. On the May 18 episode of Raw , Rollins recruited Austin Theory as a member of his faction. Mysterio eventually returned and challenged Rollins to an Eye for an Eye match , where
17331-474: The first ever FCW 15 match under 15-minute Iron Man rules where they fought to a 1–1 draw. Following this, Rollins, along with Hunico, Richie Steamboat and Jinder Mahal , participated in the FCW 15 Jack Brisco Classic tournament. On January 13, 2011, Rollins defeated Hunico in the finals to win the tournament and became the inaugural FCW Jack Brisco 15 Champion . At a house show on March 25, Rollins and Steamboat defeated Damien Sandow and Titus O'Neil to win
17490-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
17649-410: The first time since 2016. After this, Rollins began calling himself the "Monday Night Messiah" while stating that he was "sacrificing" his opponents for "the greater good" and created a faction with AOP and Buddy Murphy . Rollins and Murphy defeated The Viking Raiders to win the Raw Tag Team Championship on the January 20, 2020 episode of Raw , becoming a record six-time champion. Rollins competed in
17808-545: The first wrestler to legitimately defeat Reigns in singles competition on the main roster, only to lose the title minutes later to Dean Ambrose, who cashed in the Money in the Bank contract he won earlier that night. In July, Rollins failed to regain the renamed WWE Championship from Ambrose on both Raw and SmackDown . During the 2016 WWE draft on July 19, Rollins was drafted to Raw as the brand's first draft pick. At Battleground on July 24, Rollins unsuccessfully competed in
17967-422: The following category. The PWI Woman of the Year award recognized the best female professional wrestling personality of the year. Originally known as Girl Wrestler of the Year , it was rendered defunct in 1976 and its history would be subsumed into the current award when women have again bestowed their category in 2000. It was again abandoned in 2020, and several female wrestlers were nominated for Wrestler of
18126-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
18285-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
18444-526: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
18603-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
18762-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
18921-403: The match. At the Royal Rumble on January 31, 2021, Rollins entered at #29, but was eliminated by eventual winner Edge . On Night 1 of WrestleMania 37 on April 10, Rollins lost to Cesaro, but won a rematch at Hell in a Cell on June 20. On the July 9 episode of SmackDown , Rollins defeated Cesaro again to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at the titular event on July 18, which
19080-403: The match. On February 23, 2012, Rollins defeated Leo Kruger to become the new FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion . Rollins lost the championship to Rick Victor at a house show on May 31. When WWE rebranded FCW into NXT in August 2012, Rollins' NXT TV debut took place on the second episode of the rebooted NXT at Full Sail University on June 27, when he defeated Jiro . Rollins entered
19239-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
19398-896: The name Tyler Black, and entered the Ted Petty Invitational Tournament , defeating Sal Thomaselli before being eliminated by Matt Sydal in the quarterfinals in Hammond, Indiana on September 23, 2005. He soon joined NWA Midwest and won the promotion 's tag team championship with Marek Brave. The two retained the NWA Midwest Tag Team Championship against Ryan Boz and Danny Daniels, Brett Wayne and Hype Gotti and Jayson Reign and Marco Cordova several times in early 2006. He briefly appeared in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and teamed with Jeff Luxon in
19557-506: The next week on NXT to Big E Langston in a No Disqualification match. After losing the title, Rollins continued to feud with Graves and attacked him during his number one contender's match for the NXT Championship with Conor O'Brian. Rollins then accepted Graves' challenge and defeated him in a lumberjack match to end the feud. On November 18, 2012, at the Survivor Series pay-per-view , Seth Rollins made his main roster debut as
19716-650: The number one contender to the WWE Universal Championship also involving Bálor, Joe, Reigns and Wyatt, which Joe won. On the July 10 episode of Raw , Rollins saved Dean Ambrose from an attack by The Miz and the Miztourage (Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas ). After failing to gain Ambrose's trust for several weeks, the two argued in the ring on the August 14 episode of Raw and brawled with each other before fighting off Cesaro and Sheamus , reuniting
19875-402: The only stables to win the award. The PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year award recognizes the best face or heroic professional wrestler of the year. Sting and John Cena have won this award a record four times. Rob Van Dam is the only wrestler to win the award as a heel (villain). In 2019, Becky Lynch became the first woman to win the award. The PWI Most Hated Wrestler of
20034-464: The only way to win was to extract the opponent's eyeball. At The Horror Show at Extreme Rules on July 19, Rollins won the match after using the ring steps to remove Mysterio's eye. Over the following weeks, Rey's son Dominik Mysterio confronted Rollins about the attacks on both him and his father. At SummerSlam on August 23, Rollins defeated Dominik in a Street Fight . On August 30, Rollins and Murphy lost to Rey and Dominik Mysterio at Payback . On
20193-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
20352-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
20511-509: The same night. Colby Daniel Lopez was born in Davenport, Iowa , on May 28, 1986. He is of Armenian, German, and Irish descent. He gained the Lopez surname from his Mexican-American stepfather, whom he considers his true father. He has a brother and a sister, but did not know this until their existence was revealed by a DNA test in 2019. He graduated from Davenport West High School in 2004. As
20670-473: The show's history. Six days later, at Elimination Chamber , Rollins was the fifth man eliminated by Braun Strowman in the match. At WrestleMania 34 on April 8, Rollins defeated Finn Bálor and The Miz in a triple threat match to win the Intercontinental Championship for the first time in his career. With his win, Rollins became the twenty-ninth Triple Crown Champion and the eighteenth Grand Slam Champion in WWE history, respectively. He successfully defended
20829-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
20988-407: The steel ring steps, kayfabe injuring him. At Survivor Series on November 23, Rollins captained Team Authority in a five-on-five elimination tag team match against Team Cena, in which he was the sole survivor for his team and the last man eliminated by Dolph Ziggler , resulting in The Authority being ousted from control of WWE. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 14, he lost to Cena in
21147-449: The team in the process. At SummerSlam on August 20, Ambrose and Rollins defeated Cesaro and Sheamus to win the Raw Tag Team Championship, successfully defending the titles in a rematch at No Mercy on September 24. On the October 9 episode of Raw , Rollins and Ambrose reunited with Roman Reigns. The newly reformed Shield was due to face Braun Strowman, Cesaro, Kane, The Miz and Sheamus at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on October 22 in
21306-451: The team of Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson . At Take No Prisoners on May 30, Black unsuccessfully challenged Nigel McGuinness for the ROH World Championship . At Up For Grabs, Black and Jacobs won an eight-team tournament to win their second ROH World Tag Team Championship. The two lost the championship at Driven on November 14 to the team of Kevin Steen and El Generico . Black had
21465-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
21624-487: The three attacking The Briscoe Brothers, and hanging Jay Briscoe from light rigging fashioned as a noose. The three formed a stable called The Age of the Fall . The angle was so controversial that ROH decided to remove the footage from the pay-per-view that was being taped at the event. Black later made his ROH in-ring debut later that night in a dark match , wrestling Jack Evans to a no contest . At Glory by Honor VI in November, Black defeated Alex "Sugarfoot" Payne, but
21783-461: The title from Owens at Clash of Champions on September 25 and Hell in a Cell on October 30 due to several interferences from Chris Jericho . At Survivor Series on November 20, Rollins formed part of Team Raw with Owens, Jericho, Braun Strowman and Reigns in a losing effort to Team SmackDown. At Roadblock: End of the Line on December 18, Rollins defeated Jericho. In January 2017, Rollins started
21942-404: The title two weeks later resulted in a similar 0–0 draw. A second 30-minute rematch for the title on the September 18 episode of FCW went to a time limit 2–2 draw and the match was sent into sudden death overtime , where Rollins scored a pinfall to win the match 3–2. On September 22, Rollins lost the FCW 15 Championship to Damien Sandow by disqualification after Ambrose attacked Sandow late in
22101-413: The titles to Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode . Later that night, Rollins retained the Universal Championship against Strowman but was attacked by "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt after the match. At Hell in a Cell on October 6, Rollins defended his title against The Fiend in a Hell in a Cell match that ended in referee stoppage after The Fiend was buried under several weapons and hit with a sledgehammer by Rollins,
22260-483: The top 500 wrestlers in the world in 2015, 2019, and 2023, was voted as the PWI Wrestler of the Year in 2015 and 2023 and was named Wrestler of the Year by Sports Illustrated in 2022. He was the first wrestler to cash in a Money in the Bank contract at a WrestleMania event and holds the record for the longest televised match in WWE history, performing for 65 minutes whilst defeating Reigns and John Cena in
22419-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
22578-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
22737-421: The two in a rematch between February 13, 2010 for the company's Eighth Anniversary Show. The booking saw Cornette set up a judging panel with himself on and one person picked by each competitor, in order for there to be a decisive winner in case of another draw. Aries picked King while Black picked Strong, whom he guaranteed an ROH World Championship title shot should he win. At the event, Black pinned Aries to win
22896-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
23055-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
23214-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
23373-489: Was ambushed from behind by the debuting Samoa Joe , who choked him out in the Coquina Clutch . Rollins signed a contract to compete against Triple H in a non-sanctioned match on April 2 at WrestleMania 33 , which he won. Rollins defeated Joe at Payback on April 30 to give Joe his first singles loss on the main roster. At Extreme Rules on June 4, Rollins competed in a fatal five-way Extreme Rules match to determine
23532-601: Was attacked by The Briscoe Brothers following the match. He appeared with The Age of the Fall in their match against The Briscoe Brothers during the main event. At Final Battle on December 30, Black and Jacobs defeated The Briscoe Brothers to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship . They lost the championship one month later on January 26, 2008, to the No Remorse Corps (Davey Richards and Rocky Romero ) when competing in an Ultimate Endurance match also involving The Hangmen 3 ( Brent Albright and B. J. Whitmer ), and
23691-412: Was called off by Triple H after a pre-match attack by Ambrose on Rollins backstage, as well as at SummerSlam on August 17 in a lumberjack match after hitting him with his Money in the Bank briefcase following interference from Kane. The following night on Raw , Rollins defeated Ambrose once again in a Falls Count Anywhere match by referee stoppage after Kane interfered again and helped Rollins execute
23850-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
24009-478: Was eliminated by Mysterio, Reigns won the match for the team. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 15, The Shield lost to CM Punk in 3-on-1 handicap match after Reigns accidentally speared Ambrose. On January 26, 2014, at the Royal Rumble , Rollins entered his first Royal Rumble match at #2, gaining three eliminations before he was eliminated by teammate Reigns. The next night on Raw , The Shield competed against Daniel Bryan, Sheamus and John Cena in
24168-455: Was given a non-title match against then-ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness on January 16, 2009, where Black was victorious. The following night, Black faced McGuinness in a title match, which ended in a time limit draw . On June 26, at Violent Tendencies, Black defeated Jimmy Jacobs in a steel cage match to end their feud . In September 2009, Black took a hiatus after receiving surgery on his neck. On October 10, Black defeated Kenny King in
24327-549: Was named as a competitor in the Elimination Chamber match to determine the #1 contender for the Universal Championship. On the February 19 episode of Raw , Rollins competed in a seven-men gauntlet match to decide who would enter the Elimination Chamber match last, but was ultimately eliminated by Elias . Rollins wrestled for one hour and five minutes, marking the longest performance in a match by any wrestler in
24486-650: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
24645-580: Was revealed on the January 28 episode of Raw that Punk and his manager Paul Heyman had been paying The Shield and Brad Maddox to work for them. The Shield then quietly ended their association with Punk while beginning a feud with John Cena, Ryback and Sheamus that led to a six-man tag match on February 17 at Elimination Chamber , which The Shield won. On April 7, they defeated Sheamus, Big Show and Randy Orton at WrestleMania 29 . The following night on Raw , The Shield attempted to attack The Undertaker , but were stopped by Team Hell No. This set up
24804-439: Was sent to its then-developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), where he was renamed Seth Rollins and became the inaugural FCW Grand Slam Champion . After WWE rebranded its developmental brand from FCW to NXT , he became the inaugural NXT Champion . In November 2012, he debuted on the main roster as a member of The Shield alongside Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns . He won his first main roster championship,
24963-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
25122-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
25281-402: Was won by Big E . Later that night, Rollins interfered in the main event where Roman Reigns was defending the Universal Championship against Edge, distracting the referee to cost Edge the match. Over the following weeks, Rollins and Edge confronted and attacked each other until the August 6 episode of SmackDown , where Edge challenged Rollins to a match at SummerSlam , which Rollins accepted. At
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