WWE: How Long Will Seth Rollins Hold On To The WWE World Heavyweight Championship?

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins shocked us all when he cashed in Money in the Bank at WrestleMania 31 to win the title. We all assumed going in that Roman Reigns would win it all and become the face of WWE as the company wanted. Although some speculated that Brock Lesnar would walk out still champion after he decided to re-sign with WWE the week WrestleMania took place.

Neither happened and we got the result many of us didn’t see coming. It was great to see as it allowed us to get a WrestleMania moment we wanted to see instead of one that management felt we had to sit and watch. The love was reflected in the ratings for WWE RAW the next night as they set record numbers for themselves, garnering their highest rating for RAW in nearly 3 years.

The RAW show was great as well, giving us not only the classic RAW after Mania crowd chants but the content succeeded as well. While WWE still ended the night with Roman Reigns looking like he was the best in the yard, we at least can take a RAW moment such as this over a WrestleMania moment like it.

The target is now on the back of Seth Rollins and everyone knows it. He has been a fantastic heel over the last year and has given us amazing matches since coming into the WWE. His mic work has improved greatly and the man deserves to be holding his first WWE World Title. Many feel that he could be this generation’s Shawn Michaels, which is a high compliment that Rollins will certainly need time to live up to.

Many feel that like HBK before him, Rollins is in a period of time almost exactly like the time Michaels was in as WWE Champion. WWE is in a youth movement and older stars are still used but not as much as the newer talent. There were few leaders in the youth period then, but today things have changed. This is where the happy difference begins.

Many wonder, since this is Rollins’ first World Title win….how long will he hold the championship? While people such as John Cena held their first World Title for a while, most who win their first only hold it for a short period of time. Even Rollins’ opponent at Extreme Rules in Randy Orton held his first World Title for about a month. Unlike Orton’s time period, WWE is in a youth movement trying to build stars. During Orton’s first time, Triple H was the top dog and people such as Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio, and Undertaker all had roles with WWE as well. This was not the time in which Orton had a chance to hold a first World Title long.

Today, Rollins can do so. Who is his main competition right now? Brock Lesnar. Yet Brock is “suspended” and will probably remain as much until WWE SummerSlam in August. This leaves people such as Roman Reigns and Randy Orton. How long can WWE push both men into random matches?

Right now, WWE has to go through 4 PPVs before they get to SummerSlam. The upcoming show, Extreme Rules, will have Rollins take on Orton, where we can assume he retains. The next is WWE Payback, which we can probably assume Orton faces Rollins yet again due to issues at ER. We can assume yet again that Rollins retains. Then we get to the big one, Money in the Bank. This adds a wrinkle into things. Whoever wins MITB can cash in at any point, so Rollins is no longer safe with just getting by in matches.

At MITB, we can potentially assume Roman Reigns gets an opportunity at Seth. It would be too easy to have him beat Rollins in a real life scenario, so we have to then assume The Authority gets involved once more. This forces Rollins to go into WWE Battleground where we’re rumored to be getting the Elimination Chamber match back. If we do so, it would make sense. We could see 6 of WWE’s best go at it, 5 wanting to take out Rollins. In this match, Rollins won’t have much or any help.

This would be where we can naturally assume Rollins would lose. However, once again it would be too easy for Rollins to go in and lose such a match because of the obvious nature in which he could lose.

We can assume that Rollins retains in an interesting way.

Keep in mind, all of these defenses will be “mapped out” by Rollins who is a thinking man. He is known as “The Architect,” which means he always has a plan to get what he wants and has proven this more times than not since going out on his own. This has made his character fun and unpredictable, because you what you expect isn’t always what you get with him. It means much more to have thoughtful actions put in than to just have a random interference help you out.

If Rollins finds a way to get out of Battleground, one can imagine that The Beast Incarnate will be back and on the hunt to take out Seth Rollins. This is where planning may go out of the window and just random luck would help Rollins out. Naturally, we’d assume Lesnar gets his rematch at SummerSlam, where once again we could expect him to win. However, having Lesnar win yet another World Title in the exact same way and place he did before mirrors exactly what we saw last year. This is not something WWE would give us again.

That leaves yet another successful defense for Rollins. However, since the wildcard of the MITB winner is in play, we could potentially see a cash-in here or at Night of Champions. Eventually, the top three contenders would go down and we’d have a repeat. So having the MITB winner cash in allows for us to get someone new thrown in for a bit. Plus it removes the MITB equation from storylines for the rest of the time and set-ups won’t always have to include it.

After Night of Champions comes Hell in a Cell. HIAC is known for creating impossible moments to get out of, and it would be amazing to see Lesnar in this match again if WWE wants to give us such a match. If Lesnar does get Rollins in a Cell, we can’t expect Rollins to walk out champion. However, Lesnar will probably get his last shot at the World Title at NOC. Afterward Survivor Series where the champion doesn’t always have to be defending. From there we go into TLC where the title would have to be on the line, but lots of help could occur for the champion.

Rollins could very well hold this WWE World Heavyweight Title until next year’s WrestleMania if he plays it right. However, that would be a dream scenario for anyone and it wouldn’t be believable because eventually you want the heel to get what it coming to him. That is why between SummerSlam and TLC, we could expect a cash-in to occur or for Rollins to get caught and beaten. Will it happen this way? Potentially. Especially if WWE storylines continue to go in the direction they are going.

[IMG Credits: WWE.com, YouTube]