10 Times Wrestling Fans Turned On Internet Darlings

3. Seth Rollins

Geek Seth Rollins
WWE.com

You know, if Seth Rollins had just shut the f*ck up, he'd have been all right.

The WWE machine is so fundamentally broken that the discourse of pro wrestling absolves the independent contractor of any responsibility in their downfall. It's perceived as the evil empire, and since they won't allow their talent to wear protective face masks behind the plexiglass - they are to look like fans, real fans, in this demented uncanny valley - it almost certainly is.

A wrestler could develop a beer gut and barely turn up, and all they'd have to do is "Like" a tweet complaining about their burial to convince the fandom that they are in fact being buried. The WWE sports entertainer is as protected by the fandom as they aren't by the office.

Seth Rollins missed that point and indeed all other points quite spectacularly on Stomping Grounds Eve ahead of a show that A) was headlined by Baron Corbin and B) was so poorly attended that a recent big US NJPW show had out-drawn it, making his bizarre "WWE is the best pro wrestling on the planet" flex wrong under at least two criteria.

He doubled down dawg, entered into a meltdown, and suddenly, the super-worker of 2015 had become the living, laughable embodiment of the Stand Up For WWE campaign.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!