Seth Rollins Injury: Twitter Reacts as Star Vacates WWE Title to Undergo Surgery

A torn MCL, ACL and medial meniscus has brought to an end to Seth Rollins' 221-day run as WWE world heavyweight champion, as announced by World Wrestling Entertainment's official website Thursday afternoon.

The injury is a major disappointment for one of the company's hardest-working stars. Its lead heel, he has been the centerpiece of WWE programming for the last year, the face of The Authority and most detestable character on Raw and SmackDown. 

His absence—expected to be six to nine months, as revealed in WWE's official statement—now leaves the company in a predicament in which it is forced to take a look at its lineup for the November 22 Survivor Series pay-per-view and rebook everything on the fly.

Social media erupted into a frenzy as the news broke, with fans jumping at the opportunity to predict what the catastrophic injury means for a company lacking stars and in the midst of a ratings decline that it has not quite figured out how to stop at this point:

ESPN SportsCenter anchor and WWE alumnus Jonathan Coachman broke the news of a tournament to crown the new WWE world heavyweight champion on his official Twitter account, and the sports entertainment world wasted little time reacting to both that announcement and the severity of Rollins' untimely and unfortunate injury.

The Hardcore Legend, Mick Foley chimed in with support for Rollins. Having endured his fair share of disappointing and untimely injuries, the WWE Hall of Famer most certainly understands the emotions wreaking havoc on Rollins at this point:

Current WWE tag team champion Big E echoed Foley's sentiments while also playing up the recent on-screen interactions the two have had. As a member of The New Day, Big E has partnered with Rollins in numerous tag team bouts, including this past Monday's traditional Survivor Series elimination tag team match.

David Otunga, who still does...something for WWE, opted to look at the opportunity that Rollins' injury and the vacancy of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship presents for the current roster—all the while taking a not-so-subtle dig at Raw Pre-Show analyst and NXT commentator Corey Graves:

Dave Meltzer, an industry insider for years and creator of The Wrestling Observer, had a more pessimistic take on the news. WWE really could not afford another major injury, especially given the state of the company from both a star power perspective and television ratings standpoint:

Echoing Meltzer's concerns about the strength of the roster as WWE begins to set in stone its WrestleMania plans, B/R's own Ryan Dilbert petitioned for one Superstar in particular to earn the nod as champion come Survivor Series:

Then there are the Superstars chomping at the bit to step up and fill the void. Some, such as Curtis Axel, have sat on the sidelines for too long and watched opportunities be handed to others: 

Let us not forget about the impact that the injury will have on the WWE product as whole going forward. 

After having a pretty good foundation set for Survivor Series, with a handful of intriguing matchups and stories ready to play out on the WWE Network on November 22, WWE Creative has been forced to essentially tear up any and all scripts that may have existed for the coming week's shows:

"

#WWE Forced to Re-Write All Television Scripts & Plans https://t.co/ZlXulLAYoJ pic.twitter.com/SyC0JNY1z7

— RSN - WWE News (@RingsideNews) November 5, 2015"

And finally, professional football doctor David J. Chao spoke on the seriousness of the injury suffered by Rollins and the toughness of sports entertainers:

Sean Ross Sapp of WrestlingInc.com further put in perspective of the impressive nature of Rollins' feat, despite having just one leg to stand on:

Seth Rollins' injury is a major hit for WWE, one that will have long-lasting implications on television and promotions both now and as far as WrestleMania. His sudden absence does open up a huge spot for others to leap into, but over the last few years, WWE has done such a poor job of creating new stars that one has to wonder whether it will be able to get through this rough patch without major (and detrimental) financial implications and knocks to the overall quality of its product.

Twitter and other social media platforms are sure to be abuzz over the next few days as more details emerge surrounding The Architect, his injury and the status of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship heading into Survivor Series in just over two weeks.