Breaking Down WWE's Most Controversial, Shocking Stories for the Week of Feb. 2

The Royal Rumble promised a field filled with big stars and future Hall of Famers, and the much-hyped main event did not disappoint.

Congratulations are in order to Randy Orton, who secured his second Rumble victory, but somehow his big win was overshadowed by a series of shocking—and potentially heartbreaking—stories. 

Will Seth Rollins be at WrestleMania? Will Samoa Joe take his spot and never look back? Are some fans still upset about Roman Reigns?

Another week, another bottomless pile of controversy.

Seth Rollins Injured, Could Miss WrestleMania 33?

In what could be one of the truly heartbreaking stories of 2017, Seth Rollins suffered a knee injury, according to PWInsider (h/t Wrestling Inc), Monday night on Raw and could miss WrestleMania 33. 

Rollins met with renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Alabama, and is anxiously awaiting his fate in terms of competing in April. 

Rollins has issued a statement about his knee injury, while Samoa Joe has taken to Twitter to taunt The Architect and his fans. WWE cameras have also documented Rollins' ongoing knee drama, which indicates that there is a possibility WWE has received good news about the severity of this injury and is simply playing it up in order to enhance an already intriguing WrestleMania angle. 

Should Rollins miss extended time with his injury, it would be a devastating blow to someone whose ACL injury in late 2015 forced him to miss last WrestleMania. 

Roman Reigns (Almost) Wins the Royal Rumble

Anti-Roman Reigns sentiments have become a phenomenon. It gave us the empty threat of the otherwise entertaining #CancelWWENetwork movement. Philosophy on Reigns' polarizing-to-negative responses has its own Wikipedia page. 

In the latest installment of nerd rage directed toward Reigns, WWE fans went viral with a series of very funny clips showing their disappointment and fear as Reigns took to the ring as entrant No. 30 in the Royal Rumble. 

Hardcore wrestling fans hoping for Samoa Joe, Finn Balor, Kurt Angle, CM Punk or even Tye Dillinger again were instead treated to Reigns. The great irony is that his presence in the Royal Rumble eventually added tension, drama and suspense to an already exciting main event. 

Reigns' complex relationship with pro wrestling's most diehard fans has many different layers. And while there are many words to describe this relationship, "apathy" is not one of them. 

Triple H vs. Samoa Joe?

With WWE awaiting word on Seth Rollins, officials reportedly held a meeting to discuss possible alternatives for WrestleMania 33, according to F4WOnline (h/t Wrestling Inc). 

One interesting scenario would pit Samoa Joe against Triple H. Not only would this be a viable alternative to Rollins, but with all due to respect to the former Shield member, it could also represent an upgrade. 

WWE has done a fairly lackluster job in having Rollins come across as a true babyface. His shining moment came at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio when he hijacked the show, but this has been the exception to the rule of Rollins’ scattershot booking. 

Rollins has been hurt by the fact that he was a heel upon his return, and he never actually turned babyface so much as he was simply abandoned by Triple H for justifiable reasons of being entitled and spoiled. As a babyface by default, Rollins still has yet to truly connect with fans.

By the end of Triple H’s heel promo this past week on Raw, fans were chanting for The Game. When Samoa Joe debuted, fans celebrated even more as he took out The Architect. 

Given Joe’s momentum, WWE has an opportunity to truly make this hired mercenary abandon his current mission in favor of turning his attention to Triple H. Not only would he be a babyface to casual fans, but meta, contentious speculation would begin to develop as to whether or not Triple H is going to put a new star over at WrestleMania. 

John Cena Quietly Wins 16th Championship

John Cena defeated AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble to win his record-tying 16th world championship…didn’t he? 

WWE has been curiously quiet during Cena’s incredible accomplishment, the likes of which could never be seen again, given the rarity of somebody spending 13 consecutive years as a top star in WWE the way Cena has. 

WWE is known to have several rules of what announcers can and can’t say, and also has selective memories of various organizations and WWE Superstars who can be mentioned on air. And while WWE has been criticized for demonstrating petty behavior in light of these mandates, it seems right to downplay Cena’s 16th championship. Technically, Cena is a 16-time world champion and has tied the great Ric Flair in world title wins. 

But by not going overboard and celebrating this incredible feat, Flair’s legacy can continue to be tied with a record that has literally become one of his catchphrases. Nobody is going to forget about Flair's incomparable career regardless of how many times Cena wins a world championship. But with little fanfare behind Cena’s big win, there will be a feeling that the 16-time gimmick will always belong to The Nature Boy. 

Randy Orton Wins the Royal Rumble

Randy Orton emerged as a late favorite to win the Royal Rumble, as a rumored WrestleMania match against Bray Wyatt was reported by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Wrestling Inc). 

On paper, Orton winning the Royal Rumble seems somewhat anticlimactic given the choices of Goldberg, The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar, all whom benefit from being underexposed, part-time stars. 

Still, WWE found a way to make it interesting by teasing a possible Roman Reigns win, which allowed Orton—often an enemy of the Internet Wrestling Community—to become a folk hero, if only for a few brief, breathtaking moments. 

Orton saw somewhat of a renaissance in 2016 with a memorable feud against Lesnar and was reinvigorated by his involvement with The Wyatt Family. It will be interesting to see how this storyline unfolds through WrestleMania. 

Alfred Konuwa is a Featured Columnist and on-air host for Bleacher Report and Forbes. Like him on Facebook.