It’s nice, if nothing else, to see that the WWE are finally releasing a DVD set around someone whose career is still in the ascendancy, who is still a couple of decades away from a Hall of Fame honour. And if one performer deserves their own set from the “new era” few would argue against that man being Seth Rollins.
This 3-DVD set is largely based around the matches. There is no “documentary” portion of the proceedings, per se. It’s essentially a series of matches spanning the entirety of Seth Rollins WWE career from the small time FCW through to the beginning of the NXT revolution all the way to the top of the WWE ladder. The matches are linked though by an exclusive sit-down interview with Rollins, which does add a lot to the package.
Rollins clearly has confidence in his own abilities and that drive shows through. At times he appears to be parroting the company line, at others you are clearly hearing the real thoughts of the man behind the Seth Rollins character. It would be difficult to say you learn anything particularly new or shocking from Rollins’ interview but it does offer a fascinating glimpse into the hard work that went in to his seemingly overnight rise to the top of the WWE.
Three matches from FCW all offer both great enteratinment and an insight into the journey necessary to make it to the top. The Chemistry evident in the August 2011 match with Dean Ambrose makes it clear why the WWE put them together when the time came to go to the main roster. Matches with Hunico and Leo “Adam Rose” Kruger also clearly show that whatever Rollins had to “learn” in developmental, it wasn’t how to wrestle.
The only NXT match his his title loss to Big E. Langston. Whilst it’s unfortunate not to see more from those days in the ring, certain matches from that period have been released on other collections so it’s admirable that the producers want to cut down where possible on “repeats”.
Again The Shield’s debut PPV match is missing for the same reasons but the four Shield related matches all offer their fair share of entertainment. Rollins intersperses these with thoughts on his WrestleMania debut and being opposite The Undertaker in a WWE ring.
From there The Shield split (and Seth candidly states at the time he thought it was too soon but that in the end he had to admit it was the right decision) and Rollins’ career goes into supernova. He hypes the importance of his Royal Rumble Triple Threat match with Brock Lesnar and John Cena and it is a treat to see that match again. His WrestleMania 31 festivities are here in full, with the story that whilst the Mania cash-in was his idea, it was only confirmed to him AFTER he had already wrestled Randy Orton that night.
Championship matches against Dean Ambrose, Neville and John Cena follow (all of which are worth the watch) before we get to his untimely injury in 2015, during the WWE’s UK tour.
Upon his return he snaffles the World Title again, this time from Roman Reigns before we get Battleground 2016’s Shield Triple Threat; a match that Rollins wishes had been saved for the biggest stage of them all. He may have a point there. Things round off with matches against Finn Balor and Kevin Owens, a nice way to complete the circle to the point where Rollins is the WWE superstar up against the new up and coming breed from NXT.
In his final comments, Rollins says he is nowhere even started with what he wants to achieve. As good as this set is, maybe the best is yet to come!
This is another fantastic set from WWE Home Video. Whilst some might bemoan the lack of a full documentary, this set is not what that is about. This is about chronicling Seth Rollins journey to the top of the WWE through the matches. And it does an absolutely fantastic job of that.
TWM’s Verdict: 10 out of 10.
Photos courtesy: Fetch, Fremantle Media, WWE
Format reviewed: DVD
Thank you to our partners, WWEDVD.co.uk and Fetch for providing our review copy of Seth Rollins: Building The Architect which is available on DVD in the UK right NOW. You can buy your copy from WWEDVD.co.uk now by clicking here