On July 27, 2015, Seth Rollins was involved in an unfortunate incident during a match with John Cena on an episode of WWE RAW. In an accident that occurred while performing a knee strike – a move he uses in most matches without any issues – Rollins inadvertently broke Cena’s nose.
Speaking on CBS Atlanta 92.8’s The Game Mornings in 2016, Rollins candidly discussed his reaction to the incident backstage. He stated,
“I apologized profusely. John Cena and I wrestled a million times and every once in a while you’d get a clunker in there. But this one was just, for some reason, I just made real contact with his face, and rearranged it pretty bad.”
Despite the accident, Seth Rollins went on to win the U.S. championship from John Cena at that year’s SummerSlam pay-per-view event, becoming the first and only person to hold the U.S title and WWE Championship at the same time.
Cena would reclaim the U.S title a month later at Night of Champions, where Rollins run of bad luck continued when he accidentally injured Sting during their WWE Championship match later in the night.
Seth Rollins Later Battled Sting
In an interview with former WWE writer Vince Russo, Sting revealed that he was “lucky to walk away” from the match. He also said that Rollins was “extremely talented in the ring and very easy” to work with, and that he was “flattered” by Rollins’ decision to dress up as him for Halloween.
Seth Rollins, for his part, was similarly apologetic about the Sting injury, calling it “bad timing”. Speaking on the Sam Roberts Podcast he said:
“Ironically enough, Sting got a ‘stinger’. It happens to all of us, but it was just bad timing in his situation. We got through it and he’s a professional. I mean nothing against Sting – he’s in phenomenal condition, but he’s also a 56 year old man. I have taken the bucklebomb myself many times. It’s just one of those things. It’s a freak accident.”
Sting was forced to retire as a result of the neck injuries suffered in the match and never wrestled for WWE again, but he was able to return to the ring several years later in AEW, debuting in the ring in 2021 and becoming a regular on-screen character for the promotion in the years since.