10 Things Everybody Got Wrong About WWE In 2016
4. Seth Rollins's Babyface Turn Did Not Go Well
In 2015, Seth Rollins was the undisputed MVP of WWE. He held the WWE World Championship for most of the year, and even though he was booked terribly (he was routinely made to look inferior to just about all of his babyface challengers, and he was even pinned by Joey Mercury on an episode of Raw), he consistently delivered in the ring. In fact, his performances were so good that by the end of the year, fans started to love the villainous heel.
Working the hardest schedule in the company took its toll on Rollins, and in November, he blew out his knee. It was estimated that Rollins would be on the shelf for six to nine months, and of course, he had to relinquish the WWE World Championship.
Roman Reigns became the champion in Rollins's absence, but fans rejected him - all while knowing that Rollins would return to claim what he never lost. When he finally did make his comeback at Extreme Rules in May, he got one of the biggest pops of the year.
So what happened? WWE couldn't jeopardize Reigns's popularity, so they kept Rollins a heel despite the fact that fans really wanted to cheer for him. Eventually, that meant that fans stopped wanting to cheer for him - and when he finally turned face in September, that hadn't changed. The turn was a failure when it really shouldn't have been.