Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins' Best Booking Options at WWE Money in the Bank 2016
At the 2016 edition of WWE's Money in the Bank pay-per-view, Roman Reigns will defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against No. 1 contender and former titleholder Seth Rollins.
Reigns and Rollins have a long history that dates all the way back to their time together in The Shield. After Rollins turned on Reigns and Dean Ambrose, it was The Architect who ascended to the title scene and captured gold.
Due to an injury, Rollins was forced to vacate the title, and Reigns has risen to the top of the card in his absence. Now the two former friends will have the opportunity to see which of them deserves the spot as the top dog in the company.
Here are the best booking options for the championship match between Reigns and Rollins at Money in the Bank.
Rollins Wins the Championship via Dirty Tactics
Despite having the support of the WWE Universe and a great story following his return from injury, Rollins returned to WWE as a top heel. If the company wants to ensure Rollins returns to the upper echelon, he should win the championship via dirty tactics.
Rollins was the ultimate weasel during his first championship run, and cheating to steal the victory Sunday would make for an instant boost to the title scene. As a protege of Triple H, there are plenty of dastardly heel tactics Rollins could use to steal the championship from Reigns.
Not only would Rollins stealing the belt make him look like a smarmy heel, but it would also help in WWE’s relentless quest to get Reigns over as a face. Since it would create legitimate sympathy for Reigns’ character to have the title stolen from him again, changing champions could be a win-win for WWE officials.
In addition to building sympathy, Reigns could chase the title, which is the better role for any face. Over the course of the last several months, Reigns has shown he can be passable with elite wrestlers, but his promos as champion have been mediocre at best.
Instead of focusing on being “The Guy,” Reigns should be chasing “The Man” and looking to recapture a championship that was stolen from him.
Money in the Bank Winner Cashes In During Match
One of the most intriguing options would be to have the person who wins the Money in the Bank briefcase in the ladder match earlier in the night cash in his title shot and make the main event a Triple Threat.
Just like Rollins at WrestleMania 31, the Money in the Bank winner would wait until Reigns and Rollins beat each other so severely that a cash-in attempt would almost certainly result in a title change. Whether it’s Kevin Owens or Ambrose, a surprise title change would instantly infuse excitement into the product.
On one hand, Ambrose winning the briefcase and cashing in the same night would build to the potential Shield Triple Threat match the WWE Universe has been waiting for. While Battleground is the next PPV on the schedule, SummerSlam needs a marquee main event, and a three-way battle involving the former members of The Shield would be perfect.
On the other hand, Owens winning the briefcase and stealing the championship from Reigns would be a classic heel move. If WWE officials don’t want Rollins to take a clean loss, not being involved in the decision would allow him to move to another storyline on the following Raw after being attacked by his next challenger.
Whether Ambrose or Owens wins the briefcase—or one of the other Superstars involved shocks the world—cashing in on the same night would be the perfect callback for Rollins, and it would instantly spice up the title scene.
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