Seth Rollins is an excellent in ring worker who has risen above the other members of his former group the Shield to grab the WWE title. He’s made the most of what the WWE has given him, but his run as Champion is not doing anything for WWE ratings or fan interest. WWE has to recognize this and at Payback flip Roman Reigns heel and put the belt on him.
Rollins was fully supported by the WWE after his turn in the summer of 2014. He was given the MITB briefcase and a big push. Randy Orton was soon out of the picture and Rollins became the top banana in the Authority mix. His value as a heel was never higher in the fall of 2014.
During his run with the briefcase the WWE botched a few things that probably dropped his status a bit with fans. Rollins didn’t win a PPV match almost for almost six months. He lost Survivor Series, he lost to Cena at TLC, he lost at the Rumble (his team did win at Fastlane), and he even lost earlier in the card at WM31. It really was bad booking on WWE’s part considering he was their only full time top heel at the time.
Rollins was made to look like an absolute fool in the Randy Orton saga building up to WrestleMania 31. He was the only one who didn’t see what was coming and it hurt his strength as a heel as well. WWE had a chance to breathe life into Rollins post Mania. They could have had him beat Brock Lesnar on Raw the next night. That would have done a lot in the way of raising his profile, but instead they had him run. They also continued to book him in the middle of the show instead of the main event on Raw most weeks and had him lose to Ambrose a few weeks back.
The bottom line is, to borrow the Austin catchphrase, the WWE has botched the push of Rollins, but it all might be part of the plan. WWE always likes to be crafty and if they actually had the mindset that they wanted to do something to swerve the fans at WM31 and putting the belt on Rollins was it. This move really works if now you flip Reigns heel and put the belt on him at Payback. The WWE has been lulling the fans to sleep the past few weeks.
The draining Kane angle and the silliness of Rollins behavior has exposed him as a weak champion. This will make it all the better when Reigns joins the Authority. He’s a legit and serious champion that doesn’t need the help of J&J. He’s a monster heel who can win matches in a believable way. He’s going to invoke more emotion from fans that have pent up frustrations over what happened in earlier in the year with him and his hotshot push.
The setup is perfect. Orton is being perceived as perhaps the reason Roman won’t win. They will get in each other’s way. Ambrose is being dressed up, as the major baby face that perhaps can win and fans would love to see it. He’s the one that’s mainly going to get screwed. Kane is looming over everything like a shadow that could perhaps cost Rollins the belt because of jealous or dislike. It’s all distracting everyone from seeing that Reigns is going to turn.
The fan base is beyond ready for this. When you combine the fact that Bryan just got knocked out of action and the legit heat that Reigns had with the crowd it’s all too perfect. It would push fans to build up someone that they believe could take Reigns out. The first combatant would of course be Lesnar. Fans would clamor for a match between the two. It would be ever so sweet if WWE decided to put Reigns over. At that point he would seem invincible. Who could ever stop him?
What WWE severely lacks right now is the turning point where fans can really jump on something to either root for or against. They need Reigns who was the center of fan angst only a few short months ago to embrace the idea that he is entitled and the next “big” thing in wrestling. That would drive fans absolutely batty. In the end that’s what helps build up someone new to love. In order to have a super hero you must first have a great super villain.