WWE: Universal Champion Seth Rollins is overbooked and overrated

WWE Univeral Champion “Monday Night” Rollins is like Monday Night Raw: Overproduced and Bloated.

Okay, let’s get this out of the way for all the Rollins Rabble-Rousers: Seth Rollins is amazing in the ring. He has proven this many times, most recently at WWE SummerSlam 2019. Got it? Good.

But let’s put this in perspective: how many times have we said this about a wrestler? The one positive to WWE’s bloated roster is that they are stacked with amazing in-ring performers that could bring out brilliant matches.

I know this is going to get some flak since Rollins has topped the PWI list of the top 500 wrestlers in 2019, but, come on. Is really better than his fellow colleagues? To be honest, I would watch any of those top ten wrestlers over Rollins, and, yes, that includes Roman Reigns.

Read that sentence again: Roman Reigns. Have you seen his match with Buddy Murphy? So good. And Roman Reigns is probably the most overbooked in recent WWE history. So just because Rollins is great between the ropes, does this let him off with a pass?

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Now, why would I make such a claim? Well, let’s start with the fact that he is massively overbooked. Let’s go back to the main roster arc of the supposed “architect.”

The Shield made a huge lasting impact on the main roster when they debuted in 2011. The group meshed so well with Reigns being the powerhouse, Rollins being the “Ace”, and Ambrose being the chaotic leader. This made the Rollins heel turn more devastating, and, though it was the right move, I felt it could have happened later.

Oh, and let me make one thing clear: Rollins got more credit than he deserved. Ever since the heel turn, we keep hearing that Seth Rollins was “The Architect of The Shield.”

Anyone watching back then and now (courtesy of the WWE network) can see that the “Hounds of Justice” were going off the command of the Joker-ish Ambrose. If you can’t see this, you contributed to the rebirth of Jon Moxley.

Rollins joining the ranks of Triple H was fun, but his run was uninspiring. Flanked by Corporate Kane and J&J Security, Rollins’ potential was stifled as he portrayed the cowardly heel role. This damaged him more than can be imagined, leading WWE to overbook him to regain his credibility as one of the top guys.

Rollins’ strength was always as a heel, and this is reinforced by everyone one of his face runs, which have been, in the nicest terms, disappointing. Sure, some of his god awful promos are scripted, but he hasn’t done tremendously well when the spotlight is on him.

Remember his terrible Twitter tirades? I sure as hell do. If it wasn’t for that SummerSlam match, this whole program with Lesnar would have been a waste.

Looking at all his runs, especially holding gold, most of them have not been memorable. Arguably he has three most memorable moments as a singles competitor: cashing in for the triple threat match against Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns (my personal favorite), defeating Triple H (becoming the “Kingslayer”), and his win against Brock Lesnar at this year’s WWE SummerSlam.

Don’t get me wrong, he has had great moments, but for someone so pushed as him, he doesn’t nearly stand out in the long line of WWE “top guys.”

Let’s look at the fact that he now has been a double champion three times (he once walked out with three belts because of an injured tag team partner).

In 2015, Rollins, as WWE Champion, faced off with United States Champion John Cena in a Winner Takes All match at WWE SummerSlam and won via interference from Jon Stewart. This made him the first and only wrestler to hold both championships simultaneously until he went on to lose the United States Championship back to Cena.

John Cena single-handedly brought relevance and prestige back to the title with his open challenge, and him losing it to Rollins only served as a narrative tool, halting all momentum Cena built.

We saw this again in 2018. Engulfed in a feud with Dolph Ziggler, Rollins did a phenomenal job trading the title back and forth with the “Show Stealer.” While having the title, he re-formed The Shield, and, after the return of Dean Ambrose, Rollins became Raw Tag Team Champion by beating Dolph and Drew McIntrye.

Following the win, Rollins was betrayed by Ambrose, and a few weeks later lost the titles in a handicap match against the Authors of Pain. Instead of having the newly called-up tag team beat the team of Ziggler and McIntrye, the championship was yet again nothing more than a plot device. There’s no need to devalue the Raw Tag Titles like that.

Well, that lesson wasn’t taught correctly. Not long ago, Rollins was placed with Braun Strowman in a makeshift tag team and magically granted a title shot at The OC’s Raw Tag Team Titles. In a title reign meant to solidify the prominence of the latest reunion of The Club, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows were made to look weak as they lost the titles to Strowman and Rollins, who are set to face each other at Clash of Champions. Another time a title was devalued to help boost Seth Rollins’ stock.

This is just one of many moments of WWE overbooking Seth Rollins to help his pedigree. He has won almost everything you can, and he has had so many pushes, only to see his momentum fizzle. He even brought down the stock of Becky Lynch in a terrible program with Baron Corbin and Lacey Evans.

So, does this make him overrated? It definitely helps, but I want to focus on something that isn’t really discussed anymore. As talented as he is in the ring, Seth Rollins is an unsafe worker.

Wait, whaaat? Seriously though, when a wrestler injures another competitor, the move used is usually under scrutiny. The potential of injury forced Rollins to change his finisher twice. On NXT, Samoa Joe injured Tyson Kidd with The Muscle Buster in a freak accident, and the Samoan doesn’t use it anymore.

Yet, the horrible Buckle Bomb is still in Rollins’ arsenal. The move does nothing for him: he is too small to really sell the devastation of the move, and it does no favors for his matches. He ended the glorious call-up of Finn Balor with this unsafe move, forcing the Demon King to relinquish his newly-won Universal Championship.

But, Bassam! This was an accident. It’s not his fault that Balor got injured. Well, let’s look at his match against Sting.

When wrestling older wrestlers, it’s the responsibility of their young opponent to carry the match and protect their ringmate. But Rollins, attempting to look strong, did the Buckle Bomb to the Hall of Famer, injuring him.

This match forced Sting to retire and led the wrestler to question Rollins’ in-ring safety. We cannot critique the likes of Goldberg and the safety concerns of older wrestlers without putting that same energy into the “top guys” of WWE. Then, there was that time he broke John Cena with the V-Trigger, oh i’m sorry, the Ripcord Knee. Come on, man.

Let’s just face it, Rollins isn’t as good as people claim he is. He has his moments, but he is either forced upon the audience or is inconsistent in his genuine delivery in promos. This is not accounting for his in-ring work.

Don’t tell me he is one of the best when AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan are still wrestling and look like they are in an extended prime of their career. Also, Kofi Kingston is putting on a run of a lifetime and is, arguably, more captivating in every way.

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Number 1 out of 500 wrestlers? Seriously? Go watch Will Ospreay and Robbie Eagles at Southern Showdown for New Japan. Jesus, that opening exchange is better than the past ten Rollins matches.

But, yeah. Rollins has had a great 2019. I’m just excited to see who takes the title from him, and it won’t be soon enough.

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