By now everybody is well aware of the situation that was forced upon World Wrestling Entertainment – WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins suffered a pretty sever knee injury in a house show (a non-televised event) last week and will be out for at least 6-months.
Wrestling is not a real sport. People don’t actually win championships, but holding a title in professional wrestling is still seen as an honor that should be respected. It shows that the company has faith in you and wants to base a good chunk of their storyline around you and your character.
As faithful viewers, we don’t know exactly what was in the works for Rollins – how long was he going to hold the title for? When was he going to drop it? And to whom?
It’s whom, not who, right?
Whatever storyline the WWE had planned for Rollins and the championship belt, things now have to change. Originally, Seth Rollins was set to defend his championship to #1 contender Roman Reigns at this month’s Survivor Series. Now, with Rollins on the shelf WWE announced that there will instead be a tournament, “with the victor becoming the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.”
What kind of tournament? How many men? Who is in it?
These are answers we will probably start getting tonight, but one thing is for sure – this is a chance for WWE to do whatever they want.
Well, WWE does whatever they want anyway, right? I mean, if they want Roman Reigns to be their champion – thinking, he was going to beat Rollins so he might as will win the tournament – they they can push forward with that story and just give us a different route for getting there.
If they go that route, the outcome of the tournament can help set up stories for multiple wrestlers as WWE nears their road to Wrestlemania.
But what if they decide to not go that route? What if that never really was the plan? What else could they do?
When in doubt, Rely on Cena
It’s inevitable that John Cena is going to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at least two more times. The man has been a world champion 15 times, and WWE will want him to eventually surpass Ric Flair’s 16-times as the champ. John Cena is WWE’s golden boy – a creation all their own – and they will want their own man in the record books eventually.
Even if it’s a record book they’ve written.
Now, Cena is off for the time being. I’ve read reports saying he may be back around December at the soonest. However, when something like this happens WWE has been known to rely on their favorite son to come in and make millions of kids happy.
And millions of tweet complainers pissed. Me, I’m half way. I like Cena, but I also like when he doesn’t have the be THE man. But, he is THE man – and because of that WWE could drag him back to either win the tournament or least compete in a match for it.
Bring Back the Beast
Brock Lesnar walked out of Hell in a Cell on top. He took out the Undertaker in a bloody and brutal main event. That pretty much means we won’t be hearing from him for a while – but money talks. If Vince wants to, he could write the right amount of zeros on a check and Lesnar – a fan of money – would at least think about upping his appearances.
The fans love Lesnar, and they love Paul Heyman – and RAW is always better with both of these men. It’s a no brainer really – but it’s not free.
New Blood
Look, Cesaro is not technically “New Blood” but he would be a new player in the World Championship field – and now would be a great time to elevate him at least near that status. He is definitely over with the fans, and he is an artist in the ring.
Maybe it’s too soon for him, I’ve heard people say – but if not now, when?
The Obvious Man. Not the Obvious Route.
I wish I could take credit for this idea, but I heard it on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast and I just loved it. What if they DO make Roman Reigns the champion? What if they actually turn Reigns and his buddy Dean Ambrose against each other?
But if Ambrose turns on Reigns – the people will side with Ambrose, who is supposed to be the bad guy. They love him, so they’d still love him. Reigns, who is supposed to get cheered, just wouldn’t.
So let Reigns turn on Ambrose. Turn Reigns now – have him join up with the Authority. People will hate him like they’re supposed to – and LOVE Ambrose like they already do. Then, whenever Rollins is ready to come back, he can come back as a good guy and be over in a HUGE way, and can be put in a story with him as the face and Reigns as the heel.
That would be a lot of fun, and honestly I hope WWE goes that route. But will they? That’s the real question.
In the meantime, we’ll find out a little more about what we will be seeing at the Survivor Series starting tonight – and even though they’re in the UK and RAW has already been taped, I’m not looking to find out spoilers – I’d like to enjoy the show.
As I do every Monday night (unless the Patriots are playing) while live-tweeting at @wrestlewatcher. Come find me!
