Seth Rollins Lacking Momentum While John Cena Recovers from Injury

His neck craned up toward the Jumbotron, Seth Rollins talked with a photo of John Cena. There was no pull-apart brawl, no intense showdown, no dastardly sneak attack; Rollins instead found himself in a sketch straight out of Conan O'Brien's playbook.

That's where this feud is right now: The WWE champion is forced to have a dialogue with a two-dimensional image.

With Cena's status unclear after undergoing nasal surgery, Rollins is in limbo. Without Cena, Rollins has no real foil at the moment. He's a villain without a hero to torture.

Triple H mentioned on Monday's Raw that it's 50-50 as to whether Cena will be ready for SummerSlam on Aug. 23. It's not clear how much of that statement is part of the storyline, but it makes sense that after his severely broken nose and the emergency surgery that followed that Cena wouldn't be able to jump right back in the ring.

So it appears that WWE is stalling.

Rollins has mocked Cena from afar, which has acted as preparation for the champion-versus-champion match that looked to be on the way. But he has also dabbled in another rivalry and twice put his world title on the line. That's left Rollins unable to fully engage in his war with Cena.

The champion's opening Raw by talking to a photo of Cena (voiced by Rollins himself) is in a way a perfect summation of where their feud is right now.

It's ongoing, but not substantial. It's getting airtime but isn't heading anywhere.

Rollins is forced to tap dance on stage until Cena joins him. 

If WWE knew for sure that Cena wouldn't be able to compete at SummerSlam, it could make Rollins move on and start trying to dig under someone else's skin. It doesn't, though. So WWE is hedging its bets, throwing Rollins into the rivalry between Sheamus and Randy Orton.

On Monday's Raw, Orton won a Triple Threat match, defeating Kevin Owens and Cesaro to earn a title shot against Rollins that same night. 

What followed saw the WWE's top champion become a pawn in a lower-rung feud. Orton had Rollins beat, an RKO flooring the titleholder. Sheamus then made sure The Viper didn't get the victory by dragging him out of the ring. A Brogue Kick soon had Rollins taking a nap on the canvas.

Sheamus tried to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase; Orton prevented that by way of RKO.

Rollins was not one of the central figures of this story. He was the means to make Sheamus and Orton hate each other even more. That's presumably because he may not be involved in this story much longer.

Being thrust into a battle with Orton and/or Sheamus at SummerSlam has to just be the backup plan, so WWE isn't making Rollins a major part of that narrative just yet.

Instead, he's floating between two islands, awaiting direction from WWE's writers, waiting to find out how healthy Cena will be come Aug. 23.

Thanks to that scenario, Rollins can't generate buzz as Stardust did by pushing Stephen Amell. He isn't assaulting Cena or signing a contract for a title match in one of those segments that always ends in chaos. And the WWE production team isn't ready to fire up a big promo video for a bout that may not happen.

Rollins, the marksman without a target, has to settle for ending Raw in the background on his back as the camera zooms in on two other men.