Browsing: Fixing

Of the many problems confronting WWE right now, where John Cena’s odd goodbye is the top culprit, the company probably didn’t think Seth Rollins would be near the top five.Â

How could it? Rollins is Rollins. He’s formed a stable with Paul Heyman, one of the greatest yappers to ever grace a mic in pro wrestling. And he’s taking future top-of-sport stars like Bron Breakker along with him for the ride while clashing with the very top names.Â

Yet, here we are, with fans not needing to look long or hard for Rollins criticism online, never mind fans just sort of finding themselves bored with The Vision stable.Â

Some might scoff, but the problem, at least for the most part, is Rollins himself.Â

Rollins is both one of the best to ever grace a ring with some all-timer moments that don’t need ticked off here. Fans know the drill. But he’s also the perfect encapsulation of the modern, social media-era wrestler. Fans also know the drill with every little thing about Rollins in and out of the ring, on and off the camera.Â

The impact is starting to be a little better understood here. When Rollins goes heel, he tends to crawl into and near the same usual character stuff. Cackling, funny outfits, etc. But it’s a little harder than before to separate him from the guy who is married to Becky Lynch, his public-facing family life and more.Â

That’s not a knock on Rollins, but layer on the lack of meaningful changes to his heel personas over the years, and there’s a multiplicative factor going on, it seems. Wrestlers who have crossed this threshold, like CM Punk, have to work harder than ever to actually become that bad guy fans will boo, when needed.

Rollins just isn’t there. The fact he’s finally teaming with Heyman and doing the expected good thing by taking Breakker under his wing registers as a huge positive for fans. It’s working against him in the storyline and with fans in a narrative sense, though.Â

These rumblings were around years ago, too, as far back as the weirdly booked matches with Bray Wyatt’s The Fiend persona that forced Rollins to dovetail off into a new character after fan backlash.Â

But lining up Rollins’ ensuing character there with what he’s doing now reveals how little things have changed, other than nicknames:Â

• The Messiah
• The Visionary
• The Architect
• The Kingslayer
• The Vision (a stable, but a bonus that brings to mind a Marvel character first)

Tack on “Freakin” as a middle name and, to keep things pop culture topical, they almost read like Taylor Swift Eras.Â

That doesn’t have to be a badthing, but Rollins waxing poetic about being the future of the business can only happen so many times. It almost vibes like everyone agrees his all-time heel moment of betraying The Shield was the peak and everything else is going through the motions.Â

But hey, good news: This shouldn’t be hard to fix in the slightest. Heyman is Heyman. Inner-faction conflict is as easy as it gets, given the names involved. It’s like fans are in suspended animation just waiting for Rollins to give Breakker the huge win that slingshots him to superstardom.Â

So let’s get started, right?Â

The answer is probably cutting the goofy stuff and going full-blown despicable heel who needs to be put down. And while we’re at it, why can’t, storylinewise, Rollins ever get the call from Hollywood or something greater outside wrestling like Roman Reigns, The Rock or Cena? That might sound old-school cliché, but the proven hits are hits for a reason and might just help him out.

Even without the Hollywood idea, the recipe is easy: Have Rollins snap, betray Heyman, make Breakker mad in the process and put on a lengthy feud. If the humor is gone and the wacky outfits go away and the evil dial gets turned up even a tad, there’s a launching pad that will shoot Breakker to the moon.Â

If done well, this can be a minor speedbump on Rollins’ career. He’s the prototype for the modern-era wrestler. Superstars for generations are going to emulate him like his generation has the likes of Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart, to name a very few.Â

After all, if anything, Rollins is the backbone of WWE. He’s the full-timer who doesn’t really leave. He’s the guy who can fit into any story at any time. There’s a reason he was the guy who took repeated massive losses on big stages to really drive home the return of Cody Rhodes to WWE as a big deal.Â

Granted, the fix here sounds simple. Maybe it isn’t so cut and dry. But Rollins being flexible and the modern-era trendsetter might have to get shoved aside. Now would be the time to get nasty. Evil, even. Match Heyman on the mic and do what he can’t physically.

Right now, fans need more from Rollins. And through it all, they have perfect faith he can pull it off, which makes it so much easier to tune out right now.

Like Rollins has shown before, though, all it takes is one status quo-ruining moment to rip them right back to attention. It needs to happen sooner than later.

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