Ryan Dilbert's 10-Count: Seth Rollins in Limbo Until Randy Orton's Return

1. Seth Rollins Needs The Viper Back

WWE Fastlane will arrive in less than two weeks. The man who is arguably the company's MVP right now isn't on the card.

Rollins has to watch as Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns fight for a title shot at WrestleMania. Dean Ambrose is likely to collide with Bad News Barrett. Rusev will get a crack at John Cena.

Mr. Money in the Bank has no dance partner. Instead, he has existed as a supplementary addition to the story surrounding Reigns and Bryan. While those men focus on each other and then on the gold in Brock Lesnar's grip, Rollins waits for his own narrative to kick in.

That can't happen until WWE finally brings Randy Orton back to TV.

Once Orton wrapped up his movie-shooting duties, fans waited at every big event for him to re-emerge. He still hasn't.

It was no secret where he would be charging toward. After all, it was Rollins who led the assault on Orton that wrote him off programming. So the company isn't going to thrust Rollins into anything substantial until he's back; it would only get in the way of the expected WrestleMania showdown between Rollins and The Apex Predator.

In the meantime, Rollins is busy battling in handicap matches designed to punish Bryan and Reigns. 

With these contests, he shares the spotlight with Kane, Big Show and J&J Security. He's just a solider in an army. He has no enemy of his own, no one to direct his rage toward

That will come in time, but for now, the focus zeroes in on Bryan and Reigns. Rollins is forced to run in place until Orton comes chasing him.

2. Triple Threat Trend?

Should WWE shift its plans in reaction to fan backlash, the company will make history.

According to F4WOnline (h/t WrestlingInc), Vince McMahon has changed his mind about putting Bryan into the main event at WrestleMania 31. The current plan is to have Lesnar vs. Reigns vs. Bryan.

The Fastlane marquee matchup will either confirm or debunk this report. A draw or some sort of non-finish points to WrestleMania's main event being a Triple Threat for the second year in a row.

That's a major departure from what WWE has done in the past.

There have only been four WrestleMania main events that have not been singles matches. Only two of those were Triple Threat bouts.

Event	Date	Match
WrestleMania I	3/31/85	Mr. T and Hulk Hogan vs. Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff
WrestleMania 2000	4/2/00	Triple H vs. Big Show vs. The Rock vs. Mick Foley
WrestleMania XX	3/14/04	Chris Benoit vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H
WrestleMania XXX	4/6/2014	Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton vs. Batista

WWE went a full 20 years in between having three men all headline The Show of Shows. If the reported plan for this year's event goes through, the wait will be just a year this time around.

3. Throwback Video of the Week: Drew McDonald

As WWE announced, "U.K. wrestling legend Drew McDonald has passed away following a battle with cancer." Paige paid tribute to him on Monday's Raw, wearing his name on her arms.

McDonald is not a wrestler many American fans are familiar with. The bruiser battled many a famous name during runs with promotions like Scottish Championship Wrestling and All Star Wrestling.

This clip from 1989 shows him colliding with Billy Samson from Colombia:

It's a glimpse into the kind of presence he had and into his rough-and-tumble style. He dishes out a healthy serving of European uppercuts in this bout.

Paige's tribute was certainly the first time many fans on this side of the pond have heard McDonald's name. Hopefully it inspires them to seek out more of his work, allowing his legacy to grow even after he's gone.

4. The Real Hideo Itami Will Arrive

Itami hasn't looked like the man who thrived at Pro Wrestling Noah. His inability to tap into what made him so great in Japan has to have fans wondering what all the hype about NXT signing him was all about.

They will discover that soon enough. His adaptation to his new surroundings is still in progress.

Triple H touched on that on a conference call with wrestling media Tuesday (h/t Pro Wrestling Torch). He said of Itami's struggles, "It's a hard transition. Every time I see him, I say, 'Let go. Let loose. I brought you here for a reason, let me see it.' There's going to be that moment: 'Yeah, that's the guy.'"

The Game is absolutely right, and that moment may be arriving soon.

Itami made big strides in in his recent showdown with Finn Balor. It was best NXT performance to date, one where he looked most comfortable, most himself.

At NXT Takeover: Rival, he will get a prime opportunity to bring out his best. He takes on Tyler Breeze in what promises to be a stellar match.

5. WWE Has Given Up on Adam Rose and Fandango

Being a comedy character doesn't pay. Both Fandango and Rose have been pushed aside in favor of other stars.

The year has offered little to celebrate for both men.

Fandango's 2015 resume thus far features just one match on SmackDown and zero bouts on Raw. Rose's year has only been slightly better. He's been on Raw once and SmackDown twice.

WWE tweaked Fandango's gimmick, adding a Spanish dancer element, but has done nothing with him since. He has no feuds and no string of wins to build him up.

WWE Creative has neglected Rose as well. After partnering with Cesaro and Tyson Kidd for a short while, Rose has slipped out of the spotlight completely. His story with Cesaro and Kidd went nowhere. WWE didn't follow up on his recent heel turn either. 

With NXT sure to add talent to the main roster before long, Rose and Fandango can't be hopeful for more airtime. Expect both men to be relegated to the little-watched Superstars for the most part moving forward.

All match statistics courtesy of CageMatch.net.

6.  Not in the Hall of Fame, Not His Fault?

With the announcement that Rikishi is heading to the Hall of Fame, the discussion naturally turns to who deserves induction next.

It sure won't be Snitsky. That didn't stop an enterprising YouTuber from crafting a Hall of Fame tribute video for the former WWE Superstar:

This ranks right up there with similar videos made for Braden Walker and Heidenreich.

7. The Rusev Bomb

During his battle with John Cena at Fastlane is a perfect time for Rusev to debut a new finisher.

The Accolade is a fitting submission hold, but he doesn't have a true pinfall finisher. The superkick isn't unique enough at this point to serve that purpose for him.

His strength and monstrous ways make the powerbomb a great fit for him. So many of wrestling's big bruisers have used it in the past, from Vader to Sid Vicious.

Bringing a variation of that move back would be a smart addition to his arsenal. Jushin Thunder Liger's Running Liger Bomb would be perfect.

Imagine how devastating a man like Rusev could make that move look. Plus, it's one that requires little setup and one he could do after catching someone in midair.

Should Cena escape from The Accolade, perhaps it takes a move out of Liger's playbook for Rusev to finish him off.

8. Rikishi's Greatest Hits

Rikishi may be more known by some for his dancing than his wrestling, but he had a long, successful career. 

He lacks a large collection of stellar singles matches, having made his mark as part of various tag teams. To better appreciate the soon-to-be Hall of Famer, be sure to seek out these clashes: 

• The Samoan Swat Team vs. The Road Warriors—Clash of the Champions VIII: Fall Brawl 1989
• The Samoan Swat Team vs. The Midnight Express and Steve Williams—Halloween Havoc 1989
• Too Cool, The Rock and Cactus Jack vs. Triple H. X-Pac, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn—Raw, Feb. 7, 2000
• Rikishi vs. Kurt Angle vs. The Rock vs. Undertaker vs. Steve Austin vs. Triple H—Armageddon 2000 (Hell in a Cell)
• Junior Fatu, Samoa Joe, Hernandez and Homicide vs. Christian Cage, AJ Styles, Senshi and Christopher Daniels—TNA Impact, Oct. 1, 2007

It's intriguing to see him back when he was half of The Samoan Swat Team or The Headshrinkers. He transformed so much later in his career that it's easy to forget that Fatu was actually Rikishi pre-Too Cool.

This period is actually where he had the majority of his best in-ring work, carrying on his uncles' lineage.

9. Bad News Barrett

The Intercontinental Championship curse continues.

Since Barrett won that title, WWE hasn't booked him impressively in the least. Per ProFightDB.com, he has gone just 2-3 and 2-4 if you count the Royal Rumble. He's already lost to Dolph Ziggler, Sin Cara and Dean Ambrose in non-title action during a reign that is just longer than a month.

Credit: WWE.com

Why WWE insists on having guys start stumbling as soon as a midcard title around their waist is hard to understand. As Ambrose prepares to take him on, Barrett doesn't have a lick of momentum. He should be stomping on the company's jobbers, looking formidable. 

Instead, he's falling into a pattern of losses he should be quite familiar with now considering this is his fifth IC title reign. 

10. Jim Ross, Spot On

If you watched Monday's Raw begin with two straight disqualification finishes and sighed, you weren't alone. Apparently, Good Ol' J.R. isn't a fan of this all-too-common ending. 

Ross wrote on his blog:

"

Can you imagine how much antagonist angst a wrestling villain or support that a hero would have if there weren't so many frustrating non conclusive endings to so many matches on TV in general on a variety of TV wrestling shows? In today's conditioned market place, the standby and seemingly obligatory disqualification or count out decisions rarely compute to the audience. Who advances in these scenarios? If no one advances their TV persona then why have the match?

"

He pinpoints one of the key issues with going this route so often. It devalues the match and holds back the performers. True wins have power, something WWE doesn't hand out enough as of late.

With Rusev likely to have some sort of fluky finish against Cena at Fastlane and Reigns and Bryan possibly going in the same direction, WWE may offer a few more decisions that don't compute with the audience.