We are now two months into the Seth Rollins era as WWE world champion and one thing has become abundantly clear. It’s not working. The champ needs a makeover and with a little more depth to his character, he may be able to turn it around before all is lost.
[adinserter block=”1″]Let me start this blog off by saying this. I am a big Seth Rollins fan. I want nothing more than to see this guy succeed as a top guy. He is the first fresh face that the company has remained committed to as WWE world champion since The Miz. Yet any objective look at the first two months of his run will tell you that he is on his way to becoming a disappointment.
Disappointment may be a little harsh to some but as a fan I can’t think of anything other way to describe it. The ratings have been terrible since he took the title from Brock Lesnar and from a creative standpoint, his creative has become his biggest anchor. Rollins needs to be repackaged and a look at history and current booking will provide evidence of such.
Rollins needs to be booked stronger. I get the idea of a heel chicken or coward as world champion but it’s not working today nor has it ever worked for a sustainable amount of time. The problem with Rollins is that nobody in the casual audience is buying him as WWE champion and Rollins has nobody to blame for that other than the brilliant minds that are scripting his character.
I look at Ric Flair, heel NWA world champion as the gold standard of heel world champions. I grew up in the Flair era and watched him weekly on NWA World Wide Wrestling and TBS among other places. I have certainly seen enough of him on tape and video since to understand his greatness. While characters certainly have to evolve over time (although who would have expected a heel Russian to get over in 2015?), I think the WWE creative team could learn how to book Rollins using Flair’s character or any other successful heel champion for that matter.
Flair was never someone you would characterize as a chicken. Sure he’d beg off in every match and yes, he’d cheat to win when necessary but the one thing Flair never did was run from his opponents. Flair would get on television every week and whether it was Dusty Rhodes, Magnum TA, Lex Luger, Bruiser Brody, Barry Windham, Nikita Koloff, the Road Warriors, Ricky Steamboat, Ronnie Garvin, or Kerry Von Erich he’d tell you about how great his opponent was but emphasize that he was that much better. Flair was braggadocios, arrogant, confident which made you want to pay to see him get beat even more and it worked.
Flair wasn’t the only one who was a confident heel world champion that drew money. Look no further than the last couple of successful heel WWE world champions. Brock Lesnar, CM Punk, and Triple H cheated when necessary but never backed down from their rivals. Look no further than NXT champion Kevin Owens as a confident heel who will cheat when necessary, yet take the fight when it’s right. Even The Miz while not necessarily successful, exuded more confidence in himself than Seth Rollins. That’s a problem.
I am speaking not only for myself but for the casual fans. I talk to many casual fans that tell me Seth Rollins is too much of a “chicken sh*t” to be taken seriously as WWE champion. The first time I heard it I thought, “Well that is just one fan.” Now that we are two months into his title reign it is becoming more of a prevailing theme in his storylines. This is a guy who beat Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns in one night at WrestleMania! Controversial of course, but if anything that win should provide Rollins with false bravado as opposed to running away from a guy he has beaten on several occasions.
[adinserter block=”2″]The Dean Ambrose storyline is puzzling to say the least. These guys are rivals, hated enemies, former friends that have fought several times before with Rollins coming out with all but one win in the rivalry. Rollins’ character should be chomping at the bit for this fight yet he is doing everything he can to avoid it. As great as their matches are and I am sure their Elimination Chamber match will be nothing short of excellent, this second phase of their rivalry would be so much better if you had both guys wanting to tear each other apart, like most of the great feuds in pro wrestling history. Let Triple H and Stephanie be the cowards, trying to avoid matches with Reigns and Ambrose (like they did with Randy Orton) while Rollins is ready to go anytime and anywhere.
I think there is so much potential with Rollins as WWE world champion. Unfortunately the opportunity to create a legacy such as this one may only come once for Rollins and he is not getting the support he needs from the creative side. Rollins needs to be repackaged quickly or he is going to fall deeper down a hole his career may never recover from.
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So….
I agree with the concept of the article. But you’re wrong about HHH never ducking a fight. “McMahon-Helmsley Era” anyone? He always ran.
CM Punk was a decent example in terms of promos and skill, the problem there was that he wasn’t believable as champion due to his size. He was booked terribly during the Straight Edge Society period.
Ric Flair is a perfect example. Undertaker (“Make Ya Famous” version) was a perfect example. Outside of those two, I can’t think of any heel champion that was really booked like the “face all comers without backing down” suggestion you’re making. Don’t say heel Rock, he backed down from fights all the time and ended up booked against Hurricane. Heel Austin also backed down from fights. It’s like WWE feels that a heel should always be a coward.
That’s the problem with them. They’re trying to keep the heel hated the only way they know how. In my mind a fan should be able to like whoever they please – get rid of the “heel/face”, it’s stupid when kayfabe is gone already.
I can’t express enough how much I agree with this article. I have cancelled my membership and saved myself $9.99 because I couldn’t stand the idea of a cowardly champion. I think about when Hogan was champ. Sure he is the ultimate face champ, but he was a “buck stops here” champ. And he loved the challenge of facing the top guy. That’s a champion.