Lack of WWE World Heavyweight Championship Division Hurts Seth Rollins

Monday on Raw, Seth Rollins carried the entire opening segment.

John Cena, Rollins' projected SummerSlam opponent, was off the show with a broken nose. As a result, Rollins was left alone in what has inexplicably become WWE's thinnest title division. The lack of multiple world championship contenders not only hurts the prestige of the title, it hurts Rollins as well.

In Cena's absence, there was no next-man-up to seize an otherwise golden opportunity. In fact, Rollins needed to make an open challenge before Neville finally joined in on the fun with a good, one-off match.

Throughout 2015, Cena has been a gatekeeper, working with younger midcarders and main roster newcomers. His United States Championship run serves as a weekly opportunity to share the spotlight with lesser-known talents.

When he returned to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture, however, it was evidence that Rollins was running short of fresh contenders. Now that he's out with injury, it's clear there are no contenders to speak of.

On a recent episode of the PodNasty Wrestling Podcast, Seth Rollins spoke highly of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship:

"

(The WWE World Heavyweight Championship) is (the most dominant title in the company) no matter what. No matter who is wearing what other title, this is the big boy. This is the one that everybody wants.

"

But in recent weeks, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship seems to be the only title nobody wants.

Each WWE championship division has multiple contenders vying for the title, thereby making it seem more special.

The Miz and the Big Show want the Intercontinental Championship. At least six Divas have their sights set on the Divas Championship. The budding feud between Kevin Owens and Cesaro is a spinoff of their quest to become United States champion. Four tag teams competed on Raw to make their case as No. 1 contenders.

Even R-Truth competed for the opportunity to wear King Barrett's worthless crown.

For WWE's most important championship to not have a single contender outside of its perennial top star is concerning.

Brock Lesnar didn't even consider asking for a rematch despite closing in on a WWE title victory at Battleground. Instead, he turned his attention to The Undertaker. Their WrestleMania rematch was immediately announced as the SummerSlam main event, further undermining WWE's alleged brass ring.

If WWE can rebuild all of its other title divisions by bolstering them with legit challengers, there's no reason why Rollins shouldn't have a laundry list of hungry talent looking to supplant him as WWE champion. 

High-profile babyfaces like Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose already had their shot, but why not continue to seek additional opportunities to at least establish how much that title means? Unfortunately, outside of Ambrose and Reigns, there are no deserving babyfaces who could be taken seriously as title contenders at this point.

The pressure is on WWE to establish multiple WWE Superstars as potential world title contenders by not only having them work with Rollins, but playing up world title implications in matches against other talents.

If the WWE World Heavyweight Championship is only desired by one or two individuals, the entire roster looks weak and undetermined.

Every professional wrestler should desire the WWE championship. Because it can't truly be considered a championship without a division.

Alfred Konuwa is a featured columnist and on-air host for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @ThisIsNasty and subscribe to his weekly wrestling podcast.