Seth Rollins' Future As WWE World Heavyweight Champion Revealed... Sort Of
Rollins' knee injury is serious, but...
After a week of speculation about the future of the World Heavyweight Championship, Seth Rollins put that uncertainty to rest Monday night -- somewhat.
Despite a torn MCL and other damage to his left knee suffered last week, Rollins vowed on Raw to defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 40. The champ confirmed the Grade 2 tear of his MCL and torn medial meniscus, noting that doctors said if he undergoes surgery, the recovery time is three to four months. That would put an in-ring return just beyond Mania on 6-7 April.
Rollins, however, told Gunther (who had interrupted his show-opening promo) and the audience that he doesn't "give a damn what the doctors tell me" and promised to rehab and push his knee as hard as he can so he can take the World Heavyweight Championship to WrestleMania, defend it and walk out as champion.
Nobody will stop @WWERollins from making it to #WrestleMania!#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/pTqmbak7BK
— WWE (@WWE) January 23, 2024
Last week, Rollins successfully defended the title against Jinder Mahal, but he injured his left knee on a moonsault, saying he felt it push in in a way it's not supposed to go. After the match, he couldn't bend his knee and realized he could be out for a long period of time and could miss Mania.
Although Rollins did not relinquish the title and committed to defending the title in April, it was couched by him saying he was going to rehab as hard as he could. One would have to assume that if he suffers any setbacks along the way, WWE would have to revisit the situation and turn to a plan B. In the interim, don't expect the self-proclaimed "workhorse champion" to defend the title until WrestleMania.
Rollins became the inaugural World Heavyweight Champion in May 2023, winning a tournament for the newly created world title, which Triple H said was necessitated by Roman Reigns taking on a more relaxed schedule and rarely defending the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, which represents the combined Universal Championship and WWE Championship.