It couldn’t have happened to a more important star on the current WWE roster. Seth Rollins, the self proclaimed “Undisputed Future,” is on the shelf for the next six to nine months. A roster with so many questions marks, what ifs and stagnant acts, now has its back against the wall. Vince McMahon has to think on the fly, what can he do to turn this into a positive for the brand in Rollins absence?
Lets start with the immediate course of action to have a tournament for the title at Survivor Series. Coincidentally, this isn’t the first time Survivor Series has hosted such a tournament. The memorable 1998 Survivor Series tournament had the Rock ease through the competition, only to beat Mankind in the finals, with the assistance of one of the biggest “scripted” screw jobs in the history of the company. There’s only one difference between 1998 and today: the Attitude Era was running on all cylinders! Today’s product has been floundering in the ratings and has received lukewarm response, seemingly, since the departure of CM Punk.
The Rollins injury forces the WWE’s hand to get creative. There’s a number of routes to go from here, but the most obvious one would be to have Reigns win the tournament. Would he win it clean or would the WWE recreate history, with the cousin of the Rock, and have Reigns turn the ultimate swerve job on Dean Ambrose, in the finals, setting up a rivalry that could boost the ratings a bit, while also providing the WWE with a replacement mega heel for Rollins. Or the WWE could simply give Reigns a clean victory and his moment in the sun. In my opinion, the WWE was hoping for Reigns to have his magic moment at Wrestlemania. Maybe they change course, and have him win it this month. Or maybe the WWE gets the creative juices flowing and does something different…
Kevin Owens is someone who can fill Rollins shoes as a top heel. His work in NXT speaks for itself. Go back and watch, he stole the show whether it was beating down Alex Riley in the broadcast booth or his debut back stab of Sami Zayn! And lets not forget his destruction of MGK. Instant heel heat, which in my opinion, the WWE didn’t capitalize on. But now Vince and company can right their wrong, and give Owens the ultimate platform. They may still think he’s too green, but they would be wrong. Owens is ready.
WWE could go the “placeholder” route. Meh. I don’t love the idea of placeholders, but it’s a possibility. Lets just say this, if someone wins this tournament, and it’s not Reigns or Owens, or any big name who’s trajectory has been toward gold, expect Sheamus to cash in before the program goes off the air. If Cesaro wins, expect it. If Ziggler wins, expect it. You see where I’m going with this.
Another question is: does the WWE panic and decide it’s time for Daniel Bryan to lace them up once again? Most likely not, but it would help immensely to add him to a roster who is arguably losing their biggest star on the immediate roster. My thought is the WWE is hoping that one day Bryan just offers to be a WWE personality and hangs them up.
The WWE has something it hasn’t had heading into a PPV for the longest time: unpredictability.
-Steve
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