Sometimes, there are mirror images of wrestling’s past and present. When they meet, it can get violent, as with Edge and Seth Rollins.
On one side of the ring, we had the Rated-R Superstar and the man who has made a miraculous return to finish his career on his terms. On the other side of the ring, we had the Architect and the man who seeks to destroy the past to elevate his future.
This is the rivalry between Edge and Seth Rollins.
Edge and Seth Rollins – Staring At The Mirror
Throughout Seth Rollins’ career, many similarities have been made between him and the Rated-R Superstar.
Whether it was the psychotic villain motivations both wrestlers had in order to keep a hold of the WWE Championship, their individual Money In The Bank cash-ins, or even their resembling looks of long shaggy hair. There are many parallels that can be seen between the two men.
WWE even saw this, airing a fantasy match promo for a match between the two on their YouTube on April 26th, 2015. This may be where the hatred for Edge came from for the Architect, and once Rollins joined the Authority, he quickly made this shown.
‘I’ll break his neck, I swear to God’
On the December 29th, 2014, edition of Raw, Seth Rollins was on a mission to reinstate the Authority to the WWE, and during the Cutting Edge, the man that he has been compared to became a huge part of his psychotic plan. In order to bring John Cena, the man with the power to bring back the Authority.
Rollins had Big Show launch an attack and place Edge’s neck on the chopping block of the MITB briefcase.
Seth threatened to break Edge’s troubled neck if Cena didn’t bring back the Authority, which was a successful plan, and so the hatred for Rollins began to grow in Edge.
A confrontation between the two was seen backstage during the September 7th, 2015, edition of Raw, in which the Architect awkwardly fled from the scene.
Despite all the intensity, fans believed that this match would never come to fruition due to Edge’s career-ending injury.
The Rumble Return Of A Lifetime
On January 26th, 2020, at Royal Rumble 2020, during the Men’s Rumble match, the countdown began for the 21st entrant into the match.
At the buzzer, ‘Metalingus’ began to blare through the speakers, and Edge made his miraculous return after, how Michael Cole says on commentary, ‘after 9 long years’.
This is where Edge got revenge on his adversary, Rollins, by joining Reigns, McIntyre, and Orton in eliminating him for the Royal Rumble.
However, he continues to make his intentions clear by naming the Visionary’s name as a future opponent after coming back with a furious facial expression.
Edge and Seth Rollins – The Final Straw
Throughout 2021, Seth Rollins had been collecting wins against guys such as Cesaro and Nakamura, seemingly earning himself a shot at the Universal Championship. However, plans changed as on June 25th, 2021; Edge made his return.
After his main event loss at WrestleMania 37 to Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan, he attacked the Tribal Chief in order to get a one-on-one shot at the Universal Title.
Later on, the Talking Smack edition of the show, Roman Reigns versus Edge, was announced for Money In The Bank 2021, which began to infuriate Rollins, with him believing that once again he was screwed over by Edge.
On July 18th, 2021, at Money In The Bank, the referee gets knocked down during the melee, and Edge takes advantage of this by using a chair leg to lock in a cross-face on Reigns.
Reigns taps, but Rollins kicks down Edge before the referee sees, and this leads to a victory for the champion.
After that, there is an intense face-off between the former Shield brothers, but the anger boils over for the Rated-R Superstar, and he brawled with the Visionary all through the audience.
‘I will not hesitate to pull the trigger…BANG!!’
On the July 23rd, 2021, edition of Smackdown, Edge makes his motivations to target Seth Rollins for costing him the championship and calls him out to the ring.
The Visionary comes out dancing to his music to mock his adversary, following up by telling him that he ‘will not hesitate to pull the trigger’ and following up with a sudden ‘BANG!’ to startle Edge, manically laughing at the Rated-R Superstar to get in his head.
The following week on Smackdown, Rollins continued to play mind games by laying out Edge during his entrance with another attack, following up by using a camera to damage his rival’s skull.
You’re just Edge Lite, kid
On the August 13th, 2021, edition of Smackdown, Edge calls out Rollins to a fight in the ring when The Visionary rejects his offer by appearing on the titantron.
Edge presents the idea of a dream contest at Summerslam. Seth Rollins is roped in when he is referred to as a bootleg version of the Rated R Superstar.
The next week on Smackdown, Rollins adds more fuel to the fire by stating that he was the reason for Edge’s miraculous return by not ending his life back in 2014 and threatening to take him out with the Stomp, stating:
‘If that is what puts you out for good, then so be it.’
The mind games between the two continue on the Summerslam go-home show of Smackdown when The Visionary comes to the ring for one final confrontation with his opponent before their dream match at the biggest show of the summer.
The lights proceed to go red, and Rollins is treated to a Brood bloodbath in his white suit that turns red, adding more hype to the war.
Edge and Seth Rollins – A Summerslam Dream
On August 21st, 2022, the dream match between Edge and Seth Rollins was miraculously made a reality at the Party Of The Summer. Rollins came out in his normal way, dancing around like a lunatic.
Edge, however, knew he had to go to a darker place for this match, going deep into his past by coming out to the ring as his Brood persona to truly bring the fight.
The match lived up to the expectations, with both men throwing everything at one another in a fight for pride and legacy. Both warriors went to battle in front of a crowd of over 50,000 in order to gain the status of being the best.
However, Edge had a huge weakness due to his neck injury and had to be aware of one move specifically: the Stomp.
Despite all of the mind games that Seth Rollins used and even hitting some of the biggest moves in his arsenal, such as the Pedigree, the Rated-R Superstar got his opponent on the mat to lock in his cross-face.
Then, he shut down an escape attempt by slamming Rollins’ head into the mat and wrenching in a sleeper hold.
In addition to making the Visionary tap out to give Edge the victory by submission. Edge got payback after many years after the threat of murder by Rollins, but that was not all for these two.
Unfinished Business
On the August 27th edition of Smackdown, both men had separate backstage promos about how they plan to move onto better paths, but Seth Rollins’ facial expression said otherwise. It seems that the loss to Edge has had an effect on the Saviour of Smackdown.
On next week’s edition of the show, Seth Rollins lost to a DQ after brutalizing Cesaro by mocking Edge with a chair-leg assisted cross-face.
Rollins once again tried mockery by attempting the iconic Con-Chair-To on Cesaro, but the Rated-R Superstar came to the rescue and left the Visionary scurrying away.
It was announced later in the episode that Edge and Rollins would face off for a second time the next week on Smackdown in MSG.
Edge and Seth Rollins – An MSG Massacre
The well-awaited rematch between Edge and Seth Rollins went down on September 10th, 2021, on a special Madison Square Garden edition of Smackdown.
Starting the match, Rollins wanted to finish it early to get one over on the man who had beaten him the month prior. But Edge repeatedly countered everything that was thrown at him, even putting Rollins into the ring post.
The pace began to pick up, with both men throwing their biggest moves at one another to thin near falls and the audience’s adulation. It seemed as if Edge would go 2-0 over Rollins. But after several superkicks from the Visionary.
He got Edge down and pulled the trigger that he tried to back in 2014. Seth Rollins stomped Edge’s neck into the canvas to get the victory.
After the match, Rollins dragged his body to the corner after a second war in disbelief. While Edge was taken away backstage in a neck brace on a stretcher, the Visionary had a regretful look at the shock of the sin that he had committed. Seth Rollins had potentially paralyzed the Rated-R Superstar.
‘For my own sanity, I have to finish you.’
On the September 17th edition of Smackdown, the man that had caused Edge to be sent home on a stretcher to a chorus of boos from the audience.
Rollins continued to add more fuel to the fire by blaming the fans for the neck injury, as they were the ones who willed on the Rated-R Superstar. This was followed by the Visionary calling out his hated enemy for one final match to settle the score.
On next week’s Smackdown, Rollins continues to call out Edge by challenging him to a face-off the following week.
Edge and Seth Rollins – Home Is Where The Heart Is
Edge returned on the October 1st, 2021, edition of Smackdown for his intense face-off with the Visionary, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Rollins appears on the screen shortly after, showing him outside the residence of the Copelands. Rollins began to push his rival to his emotional limit by touring the home of Edge.
All while the Rated-R Superstar ran backstage into a panic. Edge began to call his wife in worry; Rollins began to look at the family history from Edge, from the pictures his daughters drew to his family’s living room, as well as eating their food.
Rollins wanted to go to the heart of his enemy, but that idea may have been too dangerous.
Edge and Seth Rollins – ‘You! Me! Hell In A Cell!’
On the October 8th, 2022, edition of Smackdown, Rollins began to attack the soul of Edge with a scathing promo but was subjected to a psychotic assault from the Rated-R Superstar.
The two men brawled throughout ringside, with Edge getting the advantage due to his enemy giving him motivation.
When the Visionary got away, the challenge was made by the incensed legend for one final match at Crown Jewel 2022 in an evil twist: Hell In A Cell.
On the following week’s show, Edge sounded off before the two men went to war in Saudi Arabia, outlining how Rollins has brought out the worst in him, which will prove to be a grave mistake.
Edge outlined his intentions by screaming at the camera, with a furious expression, as a direct message to his adversary, ‘I am going to scar your soul.’
Edge and Seth Rollins – Dragged To The Fires Of Hell
On October 21st, 2021, at Crown Jewel, the Visionary and the Rated-R Superstar wrote the final chapter of their rivalry when they both stepped into the demonic steel structure known as Hell In A Cell.
The match started off with both men trying to beat each other down with wrestlings holds before it quickly dissolved into a brawl.
Rollins quickly got the advantage by throwing Edge around the cell and using chairs to not only destroy his opponent but also play mind games, as the steel chair was a big factor in the TLC wars for Edge and Christian back from 2000/to 2001.
Seth Rollins had Edge in the palm of his hands but flew too close to the sun as he set up a table on the outside, continued to mock Edge by hitting his partner, Christian’s, Killswitch, and went to land a dive inside the ring.
However, the Ultimate Opportunist saw his opportunity to throw his adversary through the wood to cause maximum damage.
The Rated-R Superstar continued to go back to his past in the TLC matches by slamming Rollins on the steps.
Unfortunately, he gave his opponent too much time to recover when he set up a ladder and a table underneath. Rollins fought back and hit a sunset flip powerbomb off the ladder through the table.
Despite the brutal damage caused by the Visionary. His opponent still managed to escape a loss. Seth Rollins went to stick to his promise of ending the legend that is Edge by wrapping a chain around his boot and proceeding to land a superkick.
A horrifically scary moment ensued when Rollins used the chained boot and stomped Edge’s injured neck into the canvas. In an act of courage, Edge managed to survive.
The psychotic Rollins tried to end his rival, but Edge reversed it by hitting a low blow, followed by a barrage of kicks to the face. Finally, he forced Rollins to pass out by choking him with a chain and a chair leg.
The final shot to the skull was to add insult to injury by putting down Seth Rollins in the same room that haunted Edge for years: the Stomp.
Edge not only won the rivalry with a second win but cast away his fears of Rollins and the Stomp, possibly ending his career with an emotional facial expression by ending the war on a battle for the ages.
Ever since, Seth Rollins has continued to be one of the top villains in WWE, putting on great matches with big names throughout the company on many shows. On the other hand, Edge has resumed his mission to end the Rated-R Superstar on his terms.
Edge will always have one more story told with a man many see as his psychotic mirror image: Seth Rollins.
