10 Live Observations From Attending WWE Raw Live In Manchester

8. The Insanely Negative Reaction To Rollins

Raw Rusev Lana
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It's no secret that it's been a tough few weeks and months for Seth Rollins. From one of the hottest babyfaces in WWE, to rejected by the same audience that once cheered him, The Architect has been struggling to build any genuine connection to the WWE Universe. And in Manchester, the reaction to Seth was not a kind one.

How it comes across on TV on Monday night remains to be seen, but the response to Rollins was far from a positive one, was far from a mixed bag, and was nothing but majorly negative. To give an indication of just how bad things have gotten for the former Universal Champion, it would be no exaggeration to say that 80% of those in attendance for Raw were booing Seth.

As ever, the whole "Burn It Down!" part of his entrance got a pop, but then those cheers quickly turned to boos - and this is coming from somebody who's a loud 'n' proud Seth Rollins fan.

To only make that reaction worse, Rollins talked about how he loves the crowd's energy and that he encourages them to continue. Which obviously led to even more intense boos. And for Seth, the crowd would go even further against him once WALTER emerged to answer Rollins' open challenge.

The only way to make sense of Seth Rollins right now is to presume that WWE is turning him heel sometime soon. If they aren't, and they genuinely feel that what he's doing is supposed to get him over as a babyface, serious questions need to be asked.

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Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.