Seth Rollins was preparing to finally get his hands on Triple H after he called out “The Cerebral Assassin” at NXT Takeover: San Antonio last Saturday night, and once again on Monday Night Raw. Instead, Triple H welcomed former NXT Champion Samoa Joe to the Raw roster, who proceeded to demolish Rollins. That is the storyline aspect of this story. However, something serious happened that could dramatically alter key plans for the WWE and WrestleMania.
During Joe’s attack, Rollins hurt his knee and was helped to the back after cameras stopped rolling on Monday. Many viewers initially thought the injury was a part of the storyline, but it was confirmed by the WWE on Tuesday that Rollins legitimately hurt his knee and was pulled from non-televised shows for the remainder of the week.
This puts the company and the creative team in a bad spot. The match they have been leading up to since September is now in jeopardy, and you can guarantee that they do not have a backup plan. Rollins was in Birmingham, Alabama to visit the renowned Dr. James Andrews to get his knee evaluated. That examination will determine whether the injury will be a long-term one, or just temporary.
You have to feel bad for Rollins. After tearing his ACL in 2015 and missing last year’s WrestleMania, he returned in May and even won the title in June, but lost it immediately when Dean Ambrose cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase. If the knee injury is as serious as many think, this could be the second consecutive WrestleMania he misses, which means he’ll allso be missing out on a big payday and notoriety.
The other aspect of the Rollins injury is how he will be perceived going forward. Vince McMahon is known as being a fickle leader and if someone is hurt and misses two WrestleManias, that could hurt their stock going forward. We could imagine something along the lines of, “It’s not that he’s a not a good wrestler, but he gets hurt all the time,” as a possible quote from McMahon or others in the company. The trust may disappear for Rollins and he may not be seen as that “dependable” piece of the puzzle for the WWE.
The possible loss of Seth Rollins for an extended period of time would be a terrible development as the WWE is on the road to WrestleMania. The Rollins-Triple H match has been highly anticipated for months. The inclusion of Samoa Joe as that roadblock to Triple H added a level of intrigue to the feud. Hopefully the knee injury is not as bad as it seems. Another WrestleMania without Rollins would be sad for fans as he is one of the best workers in the WWE.
