Let’s make this clear right here and right now: Seth Rollins is the future of WWE. The question: is he also the present?
Rollins gets a match with his doppelganger, Randy Orton, at WrestleMania 31 on Sunday. For Rollins, 28, it’s his chance to reprise the role that a younger Orton, now 34, once played, as “The Legend Killer.”
Rollins, not that long ago the third option among the three members of The Shield, has been given the ball as the top heel in WWE, and look at what he’s done in terms of running with it. Rollins has taken his shtick all the way to a brief feud with Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show,” getting mainstream pub that you know WWE is not wasting on a guy who is headed back to the midcard after ‘Mania.
Which brings us to his ever-present Money in the Bank briefcase. The briefcase entitles Rollins to a title shot whenever he wants it. Wonder what would happen on Sunday night if Rollins were to show up at the end of the main event between WWE champ Brock Lesnar and top challenger Roman Reigns and presented the briefcase to the referee and demanded a bell?
You have to wonder if that might not be in the offing, particularly with WWE announcing Thursday that it has decided to move the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal to the pre-show, leaving more time on the main show for … something.
One very interesting something would be a nice cluster ending to the main event with Lesnar and Reigns. Maybe a quick cash-in that leads to a longer-than-expected battle between Rollins and whoever emerges between Lesnar and Reigns as the champ-for-the-moment.
Such an end would add intrigue to the spring WWE season, setting up a possible three-way feud between Rollins, Reigns and Lesnar that could culminate one way or another at SummerSlam.
Or perhaps Rollins could simply bump Reigns, who has had trouble, to say the least, getting over with fans, out of the main-event picture entirely, with Rollins the next top contender to Lesnar, who told ESPN this week that he has signed a multi-year contract with WWE, meaning he will continue to play some role, and clearly a prominent one, at the top of the card for some time to come.
A Lesnar-Rollins series could prove quite entertaining, with Lesnar providing the power and the star appeal, and Rollins bringing the workrate to bring out the best in The Beast Incarnate.
The fact that it’s WWE creative who is responsible for the booking for WM and beyond means that we likely get the least exciting possible conclusion to the night on Sunday: with Rollins getting a fall over Orton involving some level of outside interference in his favor, and then remaining backstage for the duration of Lesnar-Reigns.
But it is a nice dream to think that Rollins could play a bigger role. He will one day.
– Column by Chris Graham
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