When WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins’ knee exploded last week under a mistimed sunset flip powerbomb attempt in Dublin, Ireland, fans were sad. He’s in the middle of the biggest run of his career and is going to miss WrestleMania 32 in Dallas, which WWE has planned as a “biggest show ever” type of event. That said, when the dust settled and a tournament was announced, there was hope.
With Randy Orton injured, John Cena on sabbatical, Daniel Bryan out indefinitely, and now Rollins out six to nine months, everyone figured WWE had to shake things up. How couldn’t they? They’re being forced into something new and have a ton of options.The bracket and booking for the tournament so far, however, have made it look like they’re not really interested in that. The expected names are in the tournament, like Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Cesaro, Sheamus, Kevin Owens, and to an extent, Dolph Ziggler. Everyone else felt like a designated jobber.
Nothing against Kalisto or Titus O’Neil, but they both stuck out like a sore thumb. At least The Miz is a former champion. Tyler Breeze being in the tournament was, in and of itself, a good idea, but then he lost his first ever Raw match in the process to Ambrose. What exactly is the point of that exercise? Seriously, why would you even consider doing that?
The way the brackets line up, it looks like the finals will be Roman Reigns from the left side taking on Dean Ambrose from the right side. There have been a number of times over the last several months where references to their friendship got so heavy-handed that it seemed like one or the other turning heel was inevitable. Now, with a new top heel being a necessity, it’s hard not to think one of them won’t turn. At first, maybe you’d think it’s Ambrose: He’s been a great heel in the past and a strong heel run would make him an even stronger babyface down the line.
After Monday’s Raw, though, that doesn’t look like the plan.
Raw opened with Triple H announcing the tournament and, basically, inviting Roman Reigns to turn heel, join The Authority, and get handed the title as an alternative. After all, that’s what Triple H did as a management-approved top contender in 2002 when the world title split off. Reigns, of course, turned him down…for now.
Where it gets interesting is that there are similarities to The Rock’s storyline 17 years ago this month in 1998. The Rock, then a freshly turned babyface, had left Vince McMahon’s Corporation stable and turned down offers to return. He made it to the finals of the WWF Championship tournament at the famous Survivor Series: Deadly Game PPV, where he was gifted the title in a Montreal Screwjob reprise.
Is this what WWE’s going for? Should they be trying it? One of the things about the fan reaction Monday in Manchester, England was that the fans like Reigns…they just don’t like his current babyface persona and wanted him to turn heel. That’s probably not changing for a while. A heel run where he wipes off the stink of WWE trying to model him too closely on John Cena would be a good setup for an eventual run as top babyface, similar. t0 what I said about Ambrose but arguably more necessary.
That would shake things up. Ambrose turning would shake things up to a point and probably help him, but feels like the worse thing possible for Reigns. At this point, I don’t see what option they have other than Reigns turning heel to get him the momentum he needs.
Meanwhile, in his WWE.com interview that went up today, Triple H had this to say (h/t Cageside Seats for the transcription):
People will do amazing things when given the opportunity. Some people will look at that opportunity and turn it down because they think they know better. Some people would look at that and say they’re crazy for turning that opportunity down. But I can guarantee you this: That opportunity is still there. Somebody will be crazy enough to take that opportunity. Somebody is willing to do absolutely anything to be the man.
Well, that’s certainly interesting.
