Seth Rollins: WWE Raw’s Next Top Babyface?

With the injury suffered by Finn Balor, is Seth Rollins about to become the top babyface on Raw?

Monday Night Raw featured a shocking win by Kevin Owens to become the new WWE Universal Champion. This new direction, triggered by the injury to Finn Balor, has changed the creative plans for some of Raw’s top stars. Owens is going in a new direction with his title run, as opposed to his tag team program with Jericho. However, it’s possible that Seth Rollins will be the superstar most affected by the recent turn of events. Could the events that transpired on Raw be the end of this heel run by Rollins?

Rollins has been a top heel for WWE since his break from The Shield. His loss to Balor at Summerslam should have been the start of a continuing storyline. But with Balor injured and the Universal Championship vacated, a fatal four-way match took place on Raw to crown a new champion. In a backstage segment before the match, Stephanie McMahon told Rollins that this would be his night, and firmly established him as the favorite to win the title. Triple H had other plans, though. He returned to Raw by delivering a pedigree to Rollins, costing him the match.

So where do things go from here? Owens is champion with no top babyface to chase him for the title. Roman Reigns (still seemingly in the doghouse) and Big Cass (too soon) are not poised to feud with Owens. Sami Zayn is not a viable option either due to his poor booking recently. Plus, he just finished a lengthy program with Owens. In addition, Rollins and Triple H are obviously heading into a program and that doesn’t work if they’re both heels. The booking of the fatal four-way match created sympathy toward Rollins due to the interference by Triple H. All of this adds up to a likely face turn by Rollins.

Turning Rollins would not be a difficult transition. Wrestling fans have long admired his in-ring work and promo skills. In fact, when he returned from injury at Extreme Rules in May and attacked Reigns, he received a huge face reaction from the crowd. This was interesting since he was essentially attacking the “good guy” Reigns from behind after his match in obvious heel fashion. The crowd only turned on Rollins after a brilliant promo the following night on Raw. Fans of the WWE would be more than willing to accept Rollins in a babyface role.

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Seth Rollins going after Kevin Owens and Triple H is an excellent option. Have Rollins pursue Owens for the title; with Triple H putting obstacles in his way. Triple H and Rollins was rumored to be slated this past WrestleMania until Rollins injury. Now Rollins can go through Triple H to get to Owens. This type of program would have the potential to take them all the way to a WrestleMania culmination. Plus, Rollins has a fast-paced and high-flying style that traditionally has always fit better in the good guy role. Could this be the direction that Rollins may be heading? We shall see…