5 Ups And 9 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (June 8th)
1. A Hapless Champ
Sadly, Seth Rollins has been little more than world champion on paper. Sure, hes carried the belt for more than two months, but he cant seem to win any kind of match even against his own brand of Stooges and now is getting shown up week after week on Raw by challengers. What is he, the Intercontinental Champion? Look, Rollins as a sniveling heel who needs help retaining his title is not a bad course, but hes not being booked in a manner that would lead a casual fan to believe that he could retain his title against Zack Ryder without at least a distraction from J & J Security. As a first-time champion, Rollins needs to win on his own occasionally to show hes a threat. Maybe he grabs the ropes or tights, but having Authority members bailing him out gets old. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU5_YnMLiQo Its that booking that could lead fans to think that WWE is contemplating taking the title off Rollins Sunday and hotshotting it using the Money in the Bank briefcase. It wouldnt be completely unprecedented, but it certainly would be unexpected. Or perhaps theyre setting Rollins up to prove himself finally. Or maybe Kane will life the title above the ladder, a la Big Boss Man.
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
