5 Reasons Why Seth Rollins' WWE Championship Reign Has Been a Success
Regarded as one of WWE's most elite factions of all time, The Shield's split was only inevitable as all three of its members were ready to become breakout stars by mid-2014. While Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns undoubtedly have their supporters, Seth Rollins has become the centerpiece of WWE in the last six months.
At WrestleMania 31, Rollins made history when he became the first man to successfully cash in his Money in the Bank contract on the grand stage to steal the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
In the months since, he's solidified himself as the company's top antagonist with a strong reign as champion. Some have questioned the way WWE has handled him as a cowardly heel when in reality, he's been booked perfectly.
He has all the tools necessary to be a main event player for years to come, and as seen at SummerSlam, his title run is just getting started. From Randy Orton to Neville, Rollins has knocked off all comers this year with no end to his ruthless reign in sight.
He'll next put the gold up for grabs against Sting at the Night of Champions event, but even then, you can bet the self-proclaimed "future of WWE" will look for any shortcut he can to ensure he comes out on top.
Credible Competition
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To hold a championship for any length of time is unquestionably an accomplishment. However, without an ample amount of title defenses under the champion's proverbial and literal belt, the reign is irrelevant.
A champion is only as good as his challengers, and don't think for second that Rollins hasn't been going up against the best of the best during his stint as WWE World Heavyweight Champion. In fact, he had to overcome Brock Lesnar and Reigns in the same match to capture the gold at WrestleMania 31.
Over the next several months, he was challenged by the likes of Orton and Ambrose, two Superstars who are high on the WWE totem pole. After disposing of them, he shifted his focus to Lesnar, and while he couldn't beat The Beast at Battleground, he still managed to walk out of the event with his title intact.
While Lesnar's considered the top of the heap, Rollins had an equally credible adversary in John Cena the next month at SummerSlam, beating him to add the United States Championship to his long list of accolades. Let us also not forget his one-off outing with Neville in the Aug. 3 edition of Raw.
Having trumped just about everyone on the roster, Sting has emerged from the shadows to take on Rollins at Night of Champions. Will he fall victim to Rollins' underhand tactics similar to everyone who has preceded him?
The Quintessential Heel
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Being a heel is a lost art in wrestling nowadays, not only in WWE but also in all of professional wrestling. While true villains are far and few between, Rollins is without a doubt the greatest heel WWE has to offer at the moment.
There were a ton of questions regarding whether he'd make a good heel when he initially turned on The Shield last year. Although he started off rocky, he's come into his own as a bad guy by improving every aspect of his game, including the small mannerisms that make him so effective.
Rollins has received flack from fans lately for receiving help during his title defenses, but isn't that what heels do? Granted, he can't be made to look entirely weak, but the best part about Rollins is that he's a vulnerable champion, and fans buy into him losing the belt.
The interference from J&J Security and Kane grew to be overbearing after a while, I'll grant you that, but Rollins is the epitome of what a heel should be: He runs away from his opponents, commits despicable acts of violence and can't be trusted. So despite how much you might appreciate his in-ring ability, you can't help but boo him.
Since turning, he's come across as WWE's new version of Edge circa 2006 simply based off the way he takes advantages of opportunities, but of course, he'll cement himself as the first Seth Rollins in due time.
Rollins Garners Great Heel Heat
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The most important part about portraying a character—either a heel or a babyface—in WWE is being able to elicit a reaction from the audience. There have been a handful of heels over the years who enter to crickets because they can't connect with a crowd or are a victim of bad booking, but Rollins hasn't fallen victim to either scenario.
As a member of The Shield, Rollins was beloved for his high-risk aerial maneuvers. When he turned heel and parted ways with The Shield in June 2014, there was doubt as to whether he could get over as a villain because of his flashy in-ring style, but that wouldn't a pose a problem whatsoever.
Despite not changing up his moveset at all, Rollins morphed into a major heel from his mic skills alone. He was never the greatest talker early on in his WWE run, but by cutting promos on a consistent basis after joining The Authority, he honed his skills on the stick and has improved immensely.
That's not to say his 20 minute monologues at the start of Raw each week don't get boring after a while, but he's become much more comfortable than he was originally with a microphone in hand. He can now stand toe-to-toe with anyone during a talking segment, whether it be Cena or Paul Heyman.
To boot, it's been over 14 months since he turned on The Shield, yet he's still receiving "You Sold Out" chants from crowds. If that's not the sign of being the ultimate heel, I'm not sure what is.
Winning on His Own When Necessary
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One of the biggest criticisms of Rollins' reign as WWE World Heavyweight Champion thus far is that he's been booked to look fairly weak more often than not. That's been the case here and there over the past few months (see: immediately tapping out to Cena on the July 27 Raw), but he's mostly established himself as a credible champion.
It was certainly an issue early on, especially after his Steel Cage match at Extreme Rules featured an absurd amount of interference and shenanigans, but WWE has found its way with the character in recent weeks. With J&J Security and Kane gone from programming, Rollins has been given the chance to flourish on his own.
Going into the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, he bragged and boasted about being able to beat Ambrose on his own. Subsequently, The Authority prevented anyone from getting involved in the match, and in the end, Rollins pulled out the win without any outside interference.
This was also the case on the Aug. 3 edition of Raw, when he defended the gold against Neville. The Man That Gravity Forgot was the perfect opponent for him because he can take a loss. Even after Rollins put him down for the count, he made Neville look strong in defeat, which is a sign of a successful champion.
"Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat." That famous quote from Jesse Ventura sums up Rollins in a nutshell.
Contests Consistently Excellent Matches
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Rollins has come a long way as a character and a mic worker since turning heel, but one thing that has remained the same has his been his ability to contest a classic. Needless to say, he's been an exceptional in-ring performer dating back to his days on the independent circuit, but his matches in 2015 alone have made for some of the best bouts of the year.
In battling so many fresh faces during his lengthy WWE World Heavyweight Championship reign, Rollins has had a handful of excellent matchups with a variety of competitors. Each of his encounters with Orton at WrestleMania 31, Extreme Rules and on Raw were outstanding, while he and Ambrose have always had amazing chemistry together.
He wrestled a different type of match against Lesnar at Battleground when he was virtually squashed for 15 minutes, but it was entertaining, nevertheless. Even his match with Cena at SummerSlam stole the show, and those two never cease to create compelling matches against each other.
The aforementioned match with Neville was also easily the best world title match that has taken place on Raw in the past decade. Regardless of whether it's Steel Cage, Ladder, Triple Threat or Fatal 4-Way, he's made the most of every stipulation he's been a part of and has survived to defend his title another day.
Will Rollins continue his strong streak of stellar pay-per-view matches when he faces Sting at Night Champions? Only time will tell, but it's almost guaranteed the self-professed "Future of WWE" will get a better match out of The Icon than Triple H did at WrestleMania 31.
Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is a journalism major at Endicott College. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.
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