With Seth Rollins Out 6-9 Months, What Should WWE Do Now?

For the aforementioned upper middle class of wrestlers, Rollins’ loss is their opportunity. WWE has already announced, through the guise of an ESPN “report” disseminated by its former broadcaster Jonathan Coachman, that there will be a tournament for the title at Survivor Series later this month. Between now and then, there will be a lot of jockeying for entry into that contest. Presumably, there will be matches to earn one’s right into it, as well as surprise entries the night of the event to keep everyone on their toes.

In my opinion, the most likely scenario is that Roman Reigns comes out of Survivor Series as WWE champion. They’ve been building up/saving a split between he and Dean Ambrose. If this happens, it would be profoundly more compelling if Reigns, who has the look if not the vocal chops to be the next megastar, turns heel. But, given that he appears to be the heir apparent to John Cena in WWE’s branded philanthropy machine, that’s probably a pipe dream. Last time WWE sought to elevate Reigns as a face, at the Royal Rumble this past January, trotting out The Rock was not nearly enough to thwart a loud booing crowd revolt against the storytelling. It’s unclear if fans would react any differently now, but it’s certainly a risk WWE runs if he emerges as a good guy champion.

My first choices for champion would be Big E Langston, Kevin Owens, Cesaro, and Bray Wyatt. Big E and Owens are both great heels. New Day, which is the faction led by Big E, has been the most entertaining aspect of WWE for the past six months, and it’d be quite fun to see their chicanery if they were the focal point of the show. Owens may not have the appearance of a traditional WWE superstar, but his matches are entertaining and he’s got just about the best promos of anyone these days.

Bray Wyatt always seems to be the one losing in PPV matches, but he’s recently “acquired” the supernatural powers of Undertaker and Kane, is the head of a stable that’s much more formidable with the addition of Braun Strowman (aptly called BigAss McStrongman by Cageside Seats proprietor Geno Mrosko). Cesaro, who’s fantastic but always seems buried by WWE brass for what they evidently perceive as a lack of charisma, would seem to be a longshot, but boy would that be fun.

Anything is in the cards at this point, and that’s when WWE is at its best. It’s also possible Dean Ambrose emerges, or maybe, as a friend suggested, Daniel Bryan could be a surprise comeback champion. (He’d have to be cleared, and it would be a big gamble for WWE given that he was quickly re-injured on his last return.) Maybe Cena or Lesnar defers his time off, though that would be precarious because it means they’d both be around until WrestleMania in April — at the earliest. Perhaps Sheamus cashes in his Money in the Bank contract, but that’d cause fan revolt on the level of Reigns as a face. Really, the only thing one can definitively rule out is a CM Punk return, which would be the best, but also will not happen in the foreseeable future.

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