The WWE World Heavyweight Championship match was the sole saving grace of the Royal Rumble PPV. Granted, it wasnt enough to save it, but it was good enough to track down and watch. The match also marked an important step in the development of Seth Rollins as a main-event player. Sure, Rollins has main-evented Raw several times and also has been in the last match of Hell in a Cell and Survivor Series, but this was the first time Rollins really was put out there like this in a spotlight match on his own. J&J Security got involved a little, but for the most part, Rollins had to hang in there with a dominant Brock Lesnar and a resilient John Cena. Rollins looked like he fit in nicely with Cena and Lesnar, which is exactly what WWE needs from its next generation of stars. Lesnar is on a really short timeline with WWE, and Cena is approaching 40. New main-eventers are needed, and Rollins certainly looked comfortable in that role Sunday night. The ability to hit a flying elbow through the Spanish announce table and a corkscrew moonsault definitely didnt hurt either.
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.
