If WWE Was Being Honest About Seth Rollins
Conversely, as Money In The Bank proved, Rollins, the elite-level talent in WWE, was unable to do what the true elites do and carry a limited performer to an excellent match. Moreover, his at times grating promo work is indistinct and somewhat needy, unfavourably comparable to John Cena’s sycophancy. But, where John Cena put over sports teams and still drew jeers, Seth’s ploy worked on the April 30 RAW. He praised the fans as “maniacs”, thereby drawing a manic reaction. He was received as a son of Montreal, who showered him fawning chants. The smile on Seth’s face really was something to behold. Unlike the pained and creepy beams plastered over Finn Bálor and Bobby Lashley, Seth’s resonated as something real because it was. The fans had chosen him as the man, and he responded with an expression that took years of hard-earned graft to materialise.
Fans don’t gravitate towards Rollins simply because he is the best worker on the main roster. He is drenched in confidence because he has earned it. He has suffered debilitating injuries, a stop-start babyface arc, and a series of filler feuds that threatened to subsume him as filler.
Fans gravitate towards the Rollins character because he possesses so d*mn much of it. He has redesigned himself as a headliner in waiting.
Tellingly, Rollins has this year gotten “Burn it down!” over as a catchphrase when, really, it is a bit naff. The catchphrase was only tacked on to his entrance theme because Vince McMahon woke up one day and decided, after three years, that he didn’t like the gap of silence. It is a testament to Rollins’ popularity that fans are willing to chant along with it, really. It’s not cool, at all, but Rollins is. That is the distinction. That is the currency Rollins boasts in 2018. Seth Rollins is The Man, or at least the closest to it in WWE. He is the light shining through the creative darkness.
If WWE was being honest, they would acknowledge that, and burn down Roman Reigns to formally declare him as such.
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