The end of the proven WWE champs

[boywithbluehanger]

It was a really impressive run. As much as I bash him for the bitching he did/does outside of WWE, CM Punk sparked the beginning of "re-legitimizing" the WWE championship.

After his ridiculously long reign, he was pretty much solidified as main-event material with the many accolades to back it up. After him it was The Rock, John Cena, Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, and Brock Lesnar. Each were talents that garnered loud responses from the crowds and are very popular talents overall.

Now after cashing in his MITB briefcase, Seth Rollins is the new WWE World Heavyweight champion. He's the least accomplished superstar to hold the title since maybe Alberto Del Rio, and The Miz (I'll skip Rey Mysterio since that was a so very brief "thank you" reign). Rollins has a lot to prove to show that he can be at least as big as CM Punk became in 2011-2014. This day was bound to come sooner or later I just think that both Reigns and Rollins are talented and athletic pro wrestlers who leave a lot to be desired on the mic. But I'll definitely agree that Rollins is a few steps better in both departments than Reigns. Hopefully he'll be able to live up to a comparable career as the other 5 wrestlers before him.


So do you think Seth Rollins will be able to at least match the level of success of a Daniel Bryan or will he end up being relegated to the midcard like The Miz?

 

[SacredMesa]

Um Rollins has been a solidified main eventer for some time now. Hell when Bryan and Reigns where injured the WWE was carried on the shoulders of Rollins and Ambrose during that period. Since then Rollins has continue to solidify his position, he was part of a phenomenal triple threat with Brock and Cena at the Royal Rumble, and he continues to play his part as the sneaky as hell, ala Ultimate Opportunist Edge style, to perfection.

Rollins is the future and the future is now and with all the story potential created after he cashed in tonight the coming weeks and months should be amazing.

 

[Navi]

Seth Rollins is a very accomplished singles wrestler. He has quite a resume to back that up. He is a former ROH World Champion, the first NXT Champion and a WWE Tag Team Champion. He's come leaps and bounds on the mic, and like the another poster said, when Bryan and Reigns went down with injuries, he and Ambrose helped carry this company by having the feud of the year.

He's been portrayed as a chickenshit heel but he's one of the most athletic guys in the ring today. He can play both a face and a heel efficiently and out of the three Shield members, he's the best so far in singles competition. He and Orton stole the show tonight in one of the best matches out there. And that's saying a lot because the show was full of them.

He'll be a great WWE Champion, and we'll see him every week out there working his ass off. Everyone is coming for him so there is no shortage of good matches coming up.

 

[boywithbluehanger]

He'll be a great WWE Champion, and we'll see him every week out there working his ass off. Everyone is coming for him so there is no shortage of good matches coming up.

I hope this is the case. He's yet another guy who shows passion for pro wrestling and is embraces his role as the top heel. I like to think it's only up from here.

I'm sure there's a lot of envious people in the company who have every right to hate the higher-ups for giving him this opportunity but at least Rollins has been meeting expectations thus far. Pretty soon he might start exceeding some.

 

[GeminiGarlord]

The show has revolved entirely around him for months at this point. Narratively speaking it's a pretty fitting conclusion for wrestlemania season (surely much more than "the guy who went away for a while than sorta had a feud with big show" winning). He is also amazing in ring when he is not doing his chicken heel shtick (which admittedly should be tuned down a bit)

 

[BestWrestlingOpinions]

Rollins is a solidied SOLO guy ever after like 1 month that he joined the Authority. He topped his game, especially on the mic, and was really solid in all his promos, segments and matches. He has been pretty much the backbone of every Raw, and PPV since the summer. He is appearing at least once, maybe two or three times per show, and always nails every segment he is in.

Apart from that, Rollins has a lot of experience in the indy circuit, he knows how to handle certain situations, and he really proved himself for almost 10 months now. After all, everyone started from being a rookie, or inexperienced as far as a World Title goes, but the took the ball and ran with it. Rollins won't be another Punk, Cena, Bryan or anyone like that. He will be the Seth Rollins.

Last year, Bryan started from a good crowd reaction and he became the hottest thing and the WWEWHC. Same happens with Rollins.

You can't really compare Reigns and Rollins. Rollins is miles ahead of Reigns, on the mic, in the ring, and dare I say that Rollins has a better build and look than Reigns too. I'm not saying this for sure, but if Reigns was to become the champ, it would be a disaster. His match against Lesnar, even though Lesnar might not be the best example for an opponent, was carried by Lesnar. The only thing Reigns did are some knee lifts, Superman punches and spears. Nothing else. He can't cut promos. Maybe he would have proven me wrong, but we won't get to see. Thing is, Reigns would indeed be a rookie champion.

 

[MartialHorror]

The problem I have with Rollins as champ is he keeps losing. Even earlier in the night, he lost against Randy Orton even though he had help. He's a phenomenal worker who has been booked as a little bitch.

 

[boywithbluehanger]

The problem I have with Rollins as champ is he keeps losing. Even earlier in the night, he lost against Randy Orton even though he had help. He's a phenomenal worker who has been booked as a little bitch.

It makes sense in the context that a heel MITB winner should be booked as a somewhat unworthy talent. But whenever the championship is won, they should almost never continue down that same path.

I have not tired of the past 6 strong champions. I believe that whether heel or face, the WWE champ should almost always be booked as believably capable of fairly defeating anyone within the company.

 

[RobertTheBruce]

Championships and accomplishments

Rollins is a two-time ROH World Tag Team Champion...

... and the 2014 Money in the Bank winner.


Absolute Intense Wrestling
AIW Intense Division Championship (1 time)[144]
All American Wrestling
AAW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)[145]
AAW Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Marek Brave (1) and Jimmy Jacobs (1)[145]
Florida Championship Wrestling
FCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
FCW 15 Championship (1 time)[146]
FCW Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Richie Steamboat[40]
Jack Brisco Classic (2011)[146]
First FCW Grand Slam Champion[115]
Full Impact Pro
FIP World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[1]
Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South
IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[144]
Mr. Chainsaw Productions Wrestling
MCPW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[147]
NWA Midwest
NWA Midwest Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Marek Brave[144]
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
PWG World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jimmy Jacobs[1]
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Tag Team of the Year (2013)[148] – with Roman Reigns
Feud of the Year (2014)[149] vs. Dean Ambrose
PWI ranked him No. 12 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2014[150]
Ring of Honor
ROH World Championship (1 time)[23]
ROH World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Jimmy Jacobs[18]
Survival of the Fittest (2009)[20]
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Tag Team of the Year (2013) – with Roman Reigns[151]
WWE
WWE World Heavyweight Championship (1 time, current)[152]
WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Roman Reigns[153]
Money in the Bank (2014)[154]
Slammy Awards (8 times)
Breakout Star of the Year (2013) – with Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns as The Shield
Two-time Faction of the Year (2013, 2014) – with Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns as The Shield
Trending Now (Hashtag) of the Year (2013) – #BelieveInTheShield – with Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns as The Shield
Fan Participation (2014) – "You Sold Out"
Double-Cross of the Year (2014) – Betraying The Shield and joining The Authority
Anti-Gravity Moment of the Year (2014) – Diving off the balcony at Payback
Match of the Year (2014) – Team Cena vs. Team Authority at Survivor Series
WWE NXT
NXT Championship (1 time)[51]
Gold Rush Tournament (2012)

Wow how unaccomplished and established. Surely nothing on a 5 minute wonder like CM Punk.

 

[Mustang Sally]

He's been portrayed as a chickenshit heel but he's one of the most athletic guys in the ring today. He can play both a face and a heel efficiently and out of the three Shield members, he's the best so far in singles competition.

Yes, Rollins has the ability to be a strong champion......now, it's time for WWE to start letting him show it. At first, obviously, he's going to be doing things the same as he has been; with the help of outside interference .....which has already gotten old, imo. That Randy Orton cleanly defeated him last night, even while having to deal with J & J Security, contrasted markedly with the fact Seth became world champion later in the evening. For sure, it all points to him being a champion unworthy of the position......for the moment.

Still, it could change, and Rollins could develop a reputation to be respected, even as he continues to play a bad guy. Brock Lesnar is a good example of this.....who's more evil than him, yet how could one not admire how he's handled himself in the ring?

Seth Rollins can do the same. Now he's achieved the highest position he can.....but with too much help. He's an unproven champ, but is now in position to change it.

Do it, Seth. Whether it entails a face turn or not, it's time to start doing it on your own.

 

[boywithbluehanger]

Wow how unaccomplished and established. Surely nothing on a 5 minute wonder like CM Punk.

I wasn't bashing Rollins. I actually am wishing the best for him.

I thought common sense would dictate that I was referring to his accomplishments (championships) within the WWE. Also, I chose my words carefully (as you'll notice I often do). I said that Rollins is "the least accomplished superstar to hold the title since maybe Alberto Del Rio, and The Miz".

So speaking within the confines of the WWE, that statement is true.

 

[MCMG]

Rollins has been fantastic since his debut and is more than ready. This is unlike where they had two World Champs and guys who weren't ready got an opportunity. Or indeed, guys got the belt but were never the true champion.

It is actually quite a big deal when you think about it. The WWE unified the belts at the end of 2013 and the only champs since then had already been a World Champion. Rollins is the first to hold the unified belts and not since Brock in 2002 has someone won their first World title and been the only World Champ at the time. Before that, the guys from the Attitude Era so this is pretty extraordinary. Guys like Swagger and Ziggler won World Title's but Cena was also the champ. It sort of diminishes the achievement especially when they had the Smackdown guys on Raw.

Rollins is phenomenal in the ring. He can talk and has a wonderful character. With The Authority by his side there are options as a heel. Plus he has a long list of chasing opponents. This is absolutely a great decision and Rollins is worthy of being the champ.

 

[Headman]

Yeah, to be fair Rollins has been the #1 heel and focal point since last fall. His assent up the ladder has been one of the few well executed pushes the WWE has pulled off in a while and they did it right under everybody's noses. The fact that Seth still gets booed considering he's everything the "IWC" type of fan typically adores is a testament to his ability to play the heel. I do fear that when Seth starts getting cheered he's going to be baby face Alberto Del Rio version 2. Some guys are just better heels than faces. But we'll see.

 

[kadroan]

It was a really impressive run. As much as I bash him for the bitching he did/does outside of WWE, CM Punk sparked the beginning of "re-legitimizing" the WWE championship.

After his ridiculously long reign, he was pretty much solidified as main-event material with the many accolades to back it up. After him it was The Rock, John Cena, Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, and Brock Lesnar. Each were talents that garnered loud responses from the crowds and are very popular talents overall.

Now after cashing in his MITB briefcase, Seth Rollins is the new WWE World Heavyweight champion. He's the least accomplished superstar to hold the title since maybe Alberto Del Rio, and The Miz (I'll skip Rey Mysterio since that was a so very brief "thank you" reign). Rollins has a lot to prove to show that he can be at least as big as CM Punk became in 2011-2014. This day was bound to come sooner or later I just think that both Reigns and Rollins are talented and athletic pro wrestlers who leave a lot to be desired on the mic. But I'll definitely agree that Rollins is a few steps better in both departments than Reigns. Hopefully he'll be able to live up to a comparable career as the other 5 wrestlers before him.


So do you think Seth Rollins will be able to at least match the level of success of a Daniel Bryan or will he end up being relegated to the midcard like The Miz?

I think he'd exceed your expectations. In less than a year, he took the title of top heel. Something Orton, an established WWE superstar couldn't take away from HHH.

You can always count on Rollins to put on consistent matches and he's not injury prone. I look forward to his reign.