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BOSTON — When they first competed in a WWE ring 18 months ago, we all heard the rumblings: The Shield is the future. Roman Reigns was a five-tool player and nobody was quite like the unique Dean Ambrose, but what about Seth Rollins? For all his talents and knack for keeping Reigns and Ambrose from imploding, it seemed that Rollins was the overlooked member of the now defunct trio. But with a stunning betrayal and a career-defining victory tonight, Seth Rollins can no longer be overlooked; the man that once was The Architect of The Shield is now Mr. Money in the Bank.
"I told everybody this was going to happen," Rollins said to WWE.com. "I said, at the end of the day, I would be at the top of the ladder, I'd be grabbing the contract, and Dean Ambrose would be lying beneath my feet."
View photos of the chaotic Ladder Match
In an astonishing development, the complexion of the contest was drastically altered before it even began. As mentioned by Renee Young during the pay-per-view’s Kickoff, Bad News Barrett had suffered an injury on SmackDown and was unable to compete in Boston — bad news for Barrett, but a welcome surprise to the other competitors. With the bruising Intercontinental Champion no longer a threat, it opened the door for the other participants to capitalize on his absence.
The bell hadn’t even rung when Ambrose stormed the ring and immediately targeted his friend-cum-rival, Rollins. As the former partners began to viciously claw at each other, Kofi Kingston took control inside the ring. With a ladder lying on top of Jack Swagger, Kofi landed a Boom Drop and began to climb to victory. Ambrose recovered from his brawl and tipped over the ladder, but Kingston — a ladder match veteran — showed his experience and unparalleled athleticism by landing his feet squarely on the top rope and bouncing off with a spectacular springboard crossbody onto the trio of Dolph Ziggler, Rob Van Dam and Swagger at ringside.
Kofi wasn’t the only man in this matchup with experience in Ladder Matches. Three of the six competitors had not only participated in Money in the Bank Matches in the past, but had won them. It had been eight years since Van Dam had won a Money in the Bank contract, but Mr. Pay-Per-View showed no signs of ring rust in Beantown. Not missing a beat, RVD hit Rolling Thunder onto Rollins while the turncoat was lying on a ladder propped up between the turnbuckles in the corner. He followed that up with a Five Star Frog Splash to Swagger, another former Money in the Bank Ladder Match winner.
Moments later, high atop a ladder, The Real American attempted to superplex Van Dam to the canvas below, but the former WWE Champion sent Swagger toppling down. RVD nearly landed a second Five Star Frog Splash but was interrupted by Rollins. After Swagger slammed Van Dam to the mat, Rollins was all alone, but Ambrose scurried up and finally scored the long-teased superplex to his own personal rival Seth Rollins, to boot. And it was, in a word, breathtaking.
For a moment, it seemed as though that was to be the only defining moment of the contest for The Lunatic Fringe. He nailed a DDT on Swagger and seemed to badly injure his own shoulder in doing so. Immediately evaluated by WWE physician Dr. Chris Amann, Ambrose was removed from the contest, instantly bringing an end to the opportunity he demanded.
Perhaps the most devastating moment of the bone-crunching bout came when, with a ladder set up in the ring, Kofi had prepared a dangerous contraption of a second ladder bridging the first ladder and the top rope. A short while later, Kingston’s efforts paid off. He executed a back body drop onto Rollins, who landed on the horizontal ladder and then crashed again to the canvas below. It was a painful sight to even watch as Rollins momentarily sailed into the air after experiencing a shock to his entire system.
This left the fan favorite, Ziggler, to completely clear house, first with Kofi, then Swagger, then Van Dam, topping it all off with a Zig Zag to Kingston, sending his skull cracking against a ladder. The Show Off had repeatedly stated that becoming Mr. Money in the Bank two years ago had completely changed his life, and had promised that lightning would strike twice. But it just wasn’t Dolph’s night. Rollins emerged with a steel chair, the same sinister object that he used to break up The Shield earlier this month, and sent it rattling across Ziggler’s spine.
Finally, Rollins had the briefcase within reach, but in a heroic effort, Ambrose came stumbling down from the locker room clutching his injured shoulder. Attempting to gain a measure of retribution for the intense chair attack that Rollins had unleashed on Raw, the fearless Ambrose grabbed the chair, and wailed away mercilessly on his former friend.
Watch Rollins discuss his historic win
With Rollins down, Ambrose had the match won, but The Authority just wasn’t having it. Fire blazing, out came Kane, clearly summoned by Triple H to ensure victory for his hand-picked Superstar. The demon destroyed Ambrose with a Chokeslam and Tombstone piledriver, allowing Rollins to recover and climb the ladder to victory as Triple H and Stephanie McMahon applauded from the stage.
"You put yourself in positions in life to succeed," Rollins declared. "You can learn a thing or two from this."
With a Money in the Bank contract in hand, Triple H’s pet project is nearly guaranteed to become a WWE World Heavyweight Champion whenever he chooses. Who can overlook that? After trading in blueprints for a briefcase, for Seth Rollins, the future is now.