WWE: In Seth Rollins’ potential post-Mania absence, Murphy will rise

If new rumors are to believed, former WWE Champ Seth Rollins may be going away for awhile. If this is true, then his disciple Murphy must step up as Raw’s next top heel.

Despite losing the WWE Universal Championship back in October, Seth Rollins remains a top star on Raw. In fact, with Brock Lesnar being regularly nowhere to be found 24/7 more often than the 24/7 Champion, Rollins has asserted himself as the brand’s top heel.

Dubbing himself The Monday Night Messiah with a legion of followers, he’s evolved as the man we all love to hate. But the man may be gone from our television airwaves sooner rather than later.

Recently, there’s been a lot of rumor and speculation suggesting that both Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins are expected to take some time off shortly after WrestleMania 36 (likely so that the engaged couple can marry and honeymoon). And rightfully so. After all, Lynch spent the entire calendar year as WWE’s top star while Rollins flip flopped between being Raw’s top male babyface and top heel.

However, this article isn’t about who deserves what kind of time off and when. It’s about the hole that will surely be left in the red brand’s heel division for however long Rollins is expected to be gone.

Luckily, there is a new top heel just waiting in the wings for the right moment to strike … for the moment that Rollins is out of the picture … and that heel’s name is Murphy.

Okay, Murphy may not be the most menacing name for a top heel to build a show around, but hey, he’s in the right position for it to happen and that’s saying something.

Much like the night when Murphy first joined Authors of Pain in serving The Messiah of Wrestling’s movement, this would be a case of being in the right place at the right time.

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Going from – essentially – a second in command to leading the whole squad and being Raw’s top heel is a tall task to even suggest. But first off, as Murphy proved in his show stealing feud with Aleister Black, he knows how to rise to a challenge when the opportunity presents it.

Second, it wouldn’t be the first time a second banana took over an entire stable for himself when the leader couldn’t muster the team to prominence. In fact, something like this has happened on more than one occasion in WWE.

You know what that reminds me of? When Shawn Michaels’ career unexpectedly ended in 1998 and his second in command, Triple H, stepped up to the plate as the leader of DX. In due time, he became one of WWE’s top heels. The same can be said for a young Rock, who preceded Farooq in leading the Nation of Domination before dominating as The People’s Champ when the time was right.

I bring up these examples to highlight how a past template could still work in 2020 and most importantly, could benefit Murphy in the future.

It doesn’t even necessarily need to lead to a split between Rollins and co. – not right away, at least. Rollins could get himself written out of storylines for the foreseeable future somehow and he leaves Murphy in charge while he’s gone. But as Murphy slowly turns out to be a better leader than Rollins, his compatriots wonder if Murphy’s temporary leadership should become permanent.

However it happens, though, the past has proven how a faction takeover has helped propel wrestlers into not only the next stage of their careers, but also into the main event picture. Murphy seems destined to one day solidify himself into that picture and Rollins’ potential, upcoming hiatus would help set those wheels in motion.

Even better, once Rollins does return, it opens the opportunity for a dream feud/match between him and Murphy, and who doesn’t want to see that, right?

I say all of this to say that all hope is not lost once the Monday Night Messiah momentarily walks into the sunset. His group of disciples would be in great hands as Murphy takes over the reigns, becoming a top star in the process.