Is Seth Rollins truly breaking out on his own?
It’s been a rough week for Seth Rollins. At WWE Elimination Chamber, even though The Architect kept his WWE World Heavyweight Championship reign intact through nefarious means, it was Dean Ambrose who left the arena with the prestigious title. Keeping sports-entertainment’s grandest prize in an undisclosed location, The Lunatic Fringe delivered a rematch challenge to Rollins through Roman Reigns the following night on Raw, demanding a Ladder Match between the former “brothers” at Money in the Bank. The Authority seemed to balk at Ambrose, but after The Big Dog questioned Rollins’ legitimacy as champion, the infuriated “Future of WWE” launched into a wild tirade, accepting the rematch and affirming that he doesn’t need The Authority to help him fight his battles.
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Proving that it was no mere emotional outburst on Raw, Rollins affirmed his solitary stance on SmackDown, taking full credit for all of his accomplishments, including the Money in the Bank Contract Ladder Match victory — which Kane actually made possible — and his successful WWE World Heavyweight Championship cash-in against both Brock Lesnar and Reigns at WrestleMania.
Granted, Rollins can and should take credit for pouncing on the opportunity to seize glory on The Grandest Stage of Them All, but his inability to fully acknowledge the role that The Authority has played in his ascent raises several questions. Why is Rollins’ attitude emerging now, just when he and Kane were starting to get on the same page? Why is he openly defying Triple H, the man who anointed Rollins as “The Future of WWE” one year ago when The Architect destroyed The Shield?
It’s that sinister anniversary that reminds us that Rollins isn’t exactly a team player, and it was perhaps only a matter of time before Rollins had grown tired of appeasing Triple H and Stephanie McMahon and being forced to “play nice” with Kane. If Rollins is finally showing his true colors, is he inadvertently setting himself up for failure as his Ladder Match with Ambrose approaches? Would it not be in his best interests to maintain his relationships within The Authority, just in case? If Rollins fails to capture the title next Sunday, would that conversely prove that he needs The Authority after all?
Or perhaps Rollins has us all fooled? The Architect is a master of manipulation, and it’s equally likely that Rollins is luring Ambrose into a false sense of security — or is playing mind games with The Authority itself.
Whatever happens next, rest assured that Rollins has his — and only his — best interests in mind.
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