The Rich Eisen Show Top 5: Seth Rollins’ Favorite WWE SummerSlam Matches

Seth Rollins does not do false modesty about SummerSlam. "I have had a pretty good history at SummerSlam. I would call myself Mr. SummerSlam, as a matter of fact," he said, and then he backed the nickname up with a countdown of his five favorite moments at the event.

Number five goes back to 2020, the pandemic era, when Rollins wrestled Dominik Mysterio in front of a wall of fan images instead of actual fans. The younger Mysterio, now known as Dirty Dom, was, in Rollins' words, "just Rey Mysterio's stupid little son" at the time, walking out in his father's gear. The pick is about the father as much as the son. Rey is someone Rollins says he has looked up to his entire career, and getting to bring Dominik into the fold for his first match on a huge pay-per-view registered as an honor rather than a chore.

Fourth on the list is 2023, when Rollins beat Finn Bálor to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. He called it redemption, and the receipt is seven years old. At SummerSlam 2016, Rollins and Bálor met for the inaugural Universal Championship, "the old big red title that we had," and Rollins lost.

At number three, the degree of difficulty jumps. That is 2019 in Toronto, Rollins versus Brock Lesnar in the SummerSlam main event. Rollins had beaten Lesnar earlier that year at WrestleMania for the title, then watched Lesnar win Money in the Bank and cash in on him, which meant Lesnar walked into Toronto as the champion. Rollins walked out with the belt back.

Number two is 2015 in Brooklyn, winner take all, Rollins as WWE Champion against John Cena as United States Champion. "With a little help from my friend Jon Stewart, I was able to defeat John Cena in the main event and take on both titles in the infamous white ranger gear there," Rollins said. Two belts, one night, and the white ranger gear to go with it.

And number one is not a match he was in at all. It is the ruse.

"Is there anything better than the ruse?" Rollins asked, and he credited the show with playing a major part in it. Go back to 2025, when he was on the shelf with a severe knee injury nobody could quite diagnose. When the moment arrived, he shed the crutches, ran down to the ring, hit Charles Montgomery Punk in the face with what he described as "that beautiful black and gold briefcase," stomped his head into the mat and left with the World Heavyweight Championship.

The list is a tidy summary of how Rollins operates. Four of the five entries end with a championship in his hands, and the one that tops them all is the one where he was not supposed to be able to walk.