What's Next for Seth Rollins After Elimination Chamber Match?

Oddly enough, Seth Rollins retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Elimination Chamber but did not win the match, nor did he leave the arena with the belt in his possession.

Through a series of circumstances involving interference from The Authority and two referees, Dean Ambrose was declared the victor, but through means of disqualification rather than pinfall.

This, of course, meant that Rollins would lose the match, but not the title. It is as close of a win as you can get when you still technically aren't the one who came out on top.

This crushed the fans that had celebrated when Ambrose was temporarily announced as the newest champion. However, instead of merely giving the belt back, The Lunatic Fringe decided to take it with him anyway.

Where does Rollins go from here? How does he recoup from not only the loss at the pay-per-view, but more importantly, the physical loss of his rightful property?

Credit: WWE.com

The Inevitable Rematch

Money in the Bank is rapidly approaching, and it can be assumed that Rollins and Ambrose will clash once more with the championship on the line.

This seems to be all but confirmed, as it's unlikely that WWE will drop the story and rush setting up an alternative for the event.

Since the tease with Ambrose as champion happened, many would be in the right to think that he can officially dethrone Rollins at Money in the Bank, but the total opposite may have a greater chance of happening.

The Authority will not stand for the theft of the championship, so unless Ambrose holds it ransom in exchange for a title opportunity, he will probably have to give it back to Rollins on Monday Night Raw.

The idea of him winning the title for real will entice the audience, but that normally means that he will fall short of his goal. At the very least, the track record of wins that Rollins has built up over the past year speaks to him having a better shot at retaining than dropping it to The Lunatic Fringe.

Ambrose is far too popular to just sit the event out, though, so he will undoubtedly either receive a title shot or be involved in the ladder match. One way or another, he is the current top threat to Rollins and that story is definitely not over.

The Possible Detour with Kane

If by some chance Ambrose and Rollins aren't facing each other, the only other scenario that could come to fruition would be to finish the feud between Rollins and Kane that has been lingering.

For months, The Devil's Favorite Demon and The Architect have been at odds with each other. They've bickered, talked poorly about the other and even exchanged blows.

Kane makes it a point to reference how this all started at last year's Money in the Bank when he helped Rollins win the briefcase, which would eventually allow him the opportunity to cash in at WrestleMania and become champion in the first place.

What better timing for things to come to a full-blown match than this pay-per-view?

Ambrose can be inserted into the Money in the Bank ladder match, which will already be the biggest selling point to the event, while Kane can be a temporary opponent for Rollins.

Of course, Kane would not be winning the championship. His time in that position is over, and there's nothing that alludes to him taking precedence over The Authority's top priority.

There hasn't been a resolution to their feud, so even though it is not at the forefront, it could come rearing its ugly head at any given time and should not be overlooked.

The True Battleground to Come

After Money in the Bank is the Battleground pay-per-view, which is probably going to be somewhat unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

It is sandwiched between two events that far outshine it in terms of significance, as Money in the Bank and SummerSlam can set the pace for everything up until WrestleMania and beyond. Just look at last year for an indication of how that can occur.

Battleground will be filler, but the threat of the new Mr. Money in the Bank cashing in on Rollins will be ever-looming and could come to collect karma on the champion at SummerSlam.

Brock Lesnar never had his rematch against Rollins when he dropped the title to begin with, so WWE could very well be booking those two to fight at SummerSlam.

If Roman Reigns in particular wins the briefcase, could we be looking at a reflection of WrestleMania happening in August, but with Rollins losing the title instead?

The next few months are the most crucial to the landscape of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and Rollins in general, so it will be interesting to see which directions the creative team decides to go.

Whether it all ends in a full circle payback situation with Reigns as the new champion having defeated Rollins and Lesnar at SummerSlam or the obvious is set aside for something shocking is yet to be seen, but fans should keep an eye out for sure.

What do you think is next in the storyline of Rollins as WWE World Heavyweight champion? Will the events above go down or do you have any other suggestions in mind?

Tell us your thoughts, booking ideas and predictions in the comments below!

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.