5 Reasons Why Seth Rollins Must Win at WWE SummerSlam

Rob Wolkenbrod

WWE.com

Find out why Seth Rollins needs to defeat John Cena at WWE SummerSlam this month.

Seth Rollins is arguably going into the biggest match of his career on Sunday, August 23 at the WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view. He will defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship vs. John Cena, who will be defending his WWE United States Championship.

Rollins’ career has been trending up since he facilitated the breakup of The Shield in June 2014. No wrestling fan will forget him viciously bashing a steel chair into the backs of Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose.

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The first NXT Champion would go onto win the Money in the Bank ladder match, securing a chance to have a match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. He then cashed it in during the WrestleMania 31 main event of Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar. It was one of the greatest moments in the history of the show of shows.

Since then, Rollins has defended his title multiple times. He retained at WWE Extreme Rules, WWE Payback, WWE Elimination Chamber, WWE Money in the Bank and only thanks to The Undertaker at WWE Battleground. However, none of these wins have been anything special since WWE has booked him so cowardly.

Now Rollins has to defend his title at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY in less than two weeks.

Before we get to the match, follow along by clicking below to see 5 reasons why Rollins must defeat Cena at SummerSlam.

Next: Winning Clean

WWE.com

Seth Rollins Must Win this Match Clean

Throughout his time as WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Rollins has been booked as a slimy but cowardly heel. Being that latter trait has really hurt him at times in his matches, especially in the minds of the fans.

All of Rollins’ title wins have come by a slim margin or from outside interference. When he was aligned with Kane and J&J Security, they often distracted the first NXT Champion’s opponents and cost them the win. You can look back at his Extreme Rules, Payback and even his Elimination Chamber match, when Rollins hit the referee.

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Then there was the title match on Raw a few weeks ago when Rollins barely defeated Neville.

While Neville is very talented, he has not been booked on the level of Rollins. Thus why he’s in a feud with Stardust and King Barrett going into SummerSlam. Rollins should be dominating him, not being controlled for a majority of the match.

Even prior to that, he tapped out to Cena for the WWE United States Championship. This didn’t help him case.

Now that he submitted to Cena, Rollins has to get the clean win. It would be his biggest victory yet and give him another win on a top WWE PPV.

Rollins has to prove that he can win these big matches on his own. Winning this match clean would be a step in the right direction after the poor booking he’s received from WWE.

Next: Making Rollins Look Strong

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Time for a Champion Not Named John Cena or Brock Lesnar to Look Strong

To say Rollins hasn’t looked strong as WWE World Heavyweight Champion is an understatement. We noted in the previous slide how he’s been booked to barely Neville and always had help outside the ring.

Well, with this win over Cena, it would mark one of the very few times that the company champion looked strong.

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Cena is always booked properly as a champion because of how he’s valued by WWE. They have no issue with him defeating anyone on the roster clean. He’s reigned multiple times, especially over the past few years and has looked good every time except for the loss to Brock Lesnar.

Speaking of Lesnar, he has been untouchable since he defeated The Undertaker at WrestleMania 30. He dominated Cena at SummerSlam 2014 for the WWE WHC, won by DQ at Night of Champions and beat both Cena and Rollins at Royal Rumble this year. Roman Reigns even took the pin at WrestleMania 31 when Rollins cashed in.

Prior to these two was Randy Orton, who was also booked weak despite his tenure with the company. His booking was very similar to how Rollins is being booked now—cowardly.

Daniel Bryan also had a title reign but we know what happened with that.

Rollins could break the trend by defeating Cena and looking strong. Will WWE be willing to pull this off?

Next: Rollins is Doomed if He Loses

WWE.com

Seth Rollins is Doomed if He Loses

Every wrestling fan knows by now that when you place a young, upcoming WWE Superstar against Cena, that person loses the feud. Bray Wyatt, Rusev and Kevin Owens are all in that same boat. While Rollins is above them, him losing this match may be damaging for him.

If Rollins loses the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to Cena, he likely won’t regain the belt in a match. This would be Cena’s 16th reign as champion, so WWE would make it last for a little while. He would defeat Rollins in a rematch but if that ends in a disqualification, Cena would probably still defeat him in a third one.

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After that, Rollins has no title and Triple H may be booked to have “no faith” in him anymore. From there, Rollins would likely be placed in the very crowded upper mid-card that features Owens, Cesaro, Wyatt, Dean Ambrose and more. He wouldn’t get bad treatment but the “protection” for him would likely disappear. Would we see him in the title picture anytime soon following this? Probably not.

Rollins losing this match would be yet more damage to a young WWE Superstar.

Cena defeating Rollins could also lead to this:

Next: What About Mr. Money in the Bank?

WWE.com

If Seth Rollins Loses, a John Cena vs. Sheamus Program is Inevitable

As seen on Monday Night Raw, WWE made the fans aware that Sheamus is lurking with the Money in the Bank briefcase. He had one of the more pathetic cash-in attempts in recent memory.

At some point, Sheamus is going to be in the main event picture whether fans like it or not. Maybe a Rollins (as a face) vs. Sheamus feud could work but if it’s Cena defeats Rollins at SummerSlam, we may get an old feud from 2010.

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It’s safe to say Sheamus is not liked by the fans. People find him boring as a face and heel. While his work as a bad guy has been better, the matches he’s put on haven’t opened any eyes. You could go back to the multiple encounters with Randy Orton for proof.

Then there’s Cena, who is beloved by kids but mostly despised by adults. Those who don’t like him won’t want him in the title picture. While I’m more indifferent towards Cena, the idea of him and Sheamus main-eventing a PPV in 2015 is scary in a bad way.

Again, the opportunity would be taken away from young stars like Cesaro, Owens, Wyatt, Ambrose, Reigns and even Rollins, who would be forced out by these two veterans. Sheamus had two unspectacular title runs in 2010 that only totaled 161 days because the idea of him headlining a PPV just doesn’t work. He’s in that crowded, upper mid-card range but has proven he belongs there. He’s not a bad WWE Superstar but he’s not elite. Unfortunately, since WWE put the Money in the Bank briefcase on him, they may feel he’s that good.

The last thing here is the ratings. While they are lower than ever, why would a Cena-Sheamus feud as the highlight of Monday Night Raw draw anyone extra in? Not many people would go out of their way on a Monday evening to see these two be the focus of a show for a month or more.

Rollins keeping his title means we likely wouldn’t see this feud happening for the title. And safe to say, it’s for the better.

Next: Could This Affect WrestleMania?

WWE.com

Seth Rollins Winning Means We’re One Step Closer to a Shield Triple Threat at WrestleMania for the Title

Fans have clamored for a WrestleMania 32 match of Rollins vs. Ambrose vs. Reigns. This would pit the three former Shield members against each other.

While a match without a title on the line would be fine, having the WWE World Heavyweight Championship involved would make it even better.

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First, though, Rollins has to defeat Cena.

Cena is likely Rollins’ largest roadblock to get to this match. Well, you could also say WWE is Rollins’ largest roadblock to get to this bout with the title on the line. They make the booking decisions and we know Vince McMahon still views Cena highly, so if Rollins can sidestep that, we may have a chance at seeing this.

Rollins defeating Cena in a potentially multi-month feud would open the door a little more for a Shield triple threat match at WrestleMania for the title. It would mean Rollins has held the title for a year, which is fine. WWE needs to make these young guys into stars. Putting Reigns and Ambrose in this would be a big boost to their careers as well.

A Shield triple threat match at WrestleMania would be an incredible bout at the 100,000 seat AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas. It would be a fresh feud that draws in fans. Many things have to occur to make it happen, though.

Should Seth Rollins beat John Cena at SummerSlam? Let us know below.

You can follow Rob Wolkenbrod on Twitter @RealRobWolkey. If you would like to send a report from a live event, email us at trebor5227@yahoo.com.

Next: John Cena Defeating Seth Rollins Would Be Panic Move

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Rob Wolkenbrod

Robert is an editor, writer, and video editor. He covers the San Antonio Spurs for Forbes and the Toronto Raptors for Hoops Habit.