Seth Rollins Will Bounce Back from Likely Loss to Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 31
WrestleMania is the time to settle scores in WWE, and few on the roster today have a bigger grudge match in the works than Seth Rollins and Randy Orton.
The story is a rather simple one that the WWE Universe has seen time and time again: greed and ego cause a rift between teammates and sooner than later, they're at each other's throats swearing a blood oath against the opposing man.
Typically, the returning babyface has a straightforward path ahead of him. How often does he lose at the biggest stage of them all, disappointing his fans and sullying the mood?
Chances are, Orton will be victorious at WrestleMania and Rollins will have to take the punishment for his previous actions. But while that's a good thing for The Viper, what happens to The Architect?
A loss is almost never a good thing for a Superstar. It's difficult for WWE to push two people at the same time after a feud because one of them is simply the loser and the winner takes top priority.
First things first, it isn't set in stone that Rollins will lose at all, so fans of his shouldn't go straight into panic mode.
Rollins has won the vast majority of his matches over the past year even when it appeared that he could easily come up short.
In fact, the only times he's lost has been when the outcome of the match dictated that he could not win, such as against John Cena and Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship or at Survivor Series.
However, this is a case where a loss isn't the end of the world for Rollins and may actually even open up some better doors in the long run.
Orton has a lot of momentum on his side that WWE will want to capitalize on. If he were to lose, it would do more damage to him than it would do anything positive for Rollins in comparison.
Because of that momentum and the history Orton has behind him, losing to him is not going to make Rollins look like a chump. It isn't as though he's being jobbed out to Hornswoggle, so keep that in mind.
Another factor that should ease the worrying of Rollins' supporters is his position as the top dog in The Authority.
Being a heel with the type of character that Rollins is allows him to take a loss and blame it on something else, acting as though it never really happened. Since The Authority will have his back 100 percent in the process, it doesn't come off as a grandiose failure most of the time.
All it takes is for Triple H to endorse Rollins yet again and say he is the future of the company that he believes in for him to be back at the same position he was before WrestleMania, particularly if he puts up a good fight in the match itself.
Holding his own and only losing due to a technicality or just a random RKO out of nowhere that Orton gets lucky with is hardly grounds to write Rollins off as old news.
Most importantly, Rollins is in possession of the Money in the Bank contract, allowing him to cash it in for a title shot at any given time.
Although fans can only speculate as to whether or not it will happen, there's always a chance that WrestleMania ends with Rollins cashing in on either Lesnar or Roman Reigns to become the new WWE World Heavyweight champion.
That's far from guaranteed, but if it does happen, there aren't many other bigger opportunities to turn things around than going from a loss to winning your first world title, that's for sure.
Even if it doesn't occur at WrestleMania, there have been cash-ins soon after. Dolph Ziggler won the title from Alberto Del Rio in 2012 the day after that year's event, and Jack Swagger waited only two days to do the same in 2010.
With the Raw after WrestleMania becoming a hot spot for big things to happen, Rollins could definitely become champion if he isn't willing to wait until the chaos has settled at Extreme Rules, where the champion will be prime for the picking.
Outside of Triple H and Lesnar—two part-timers—there is no bigger heel in the company right now than Rollins, so WWE won't be diminishing his value in the slightest bit, as the creative team just cannot afford to drop such an important piece of the puzzle.
Both his in-ring and mic skills are too good to push aside, so even if he stopped being the top priority for heels, he would find his way back above the rest soon enough on his own merit and talent.
Someone has to lose at WrestleMania, and it's most likely going to be Rollins. But history has shown that he can bounce back from a loss before, and there's no reason to believe that he won't this time, either.
What do you think will happen at WrestleMania 31 between Orton and Rollins?
Do you think the Money in the Bank title shot will come into play?
Tell us your predictions and booking ideas in the comments below!
Anthony Mango is the owner-operator of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment as well as the host of its podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.
