Seth Rollins is in an unwinnable situation

When I called Seth Rollins’ World Title Open Challenge dumb, many Cagesiders took exception to my commentary, suggesting that I was dumping on Seth Rollins.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Seth Rollins is one of my favorite wrestlers. He was the MVP of Raw for 2022. Despite multiple defeats across several premium live events, Rollins was as slick as Teflon because the losses didn’t stick to him. It’s a testament to the strength of his character work, which was never one of Rollins’ strong points.

But after returning from paternity leave in early 2021, Rollins slowly began morphing into a flamboyantly-dressed version of Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker character, complete with an over-the-top maniacal laugh. Though I don’t understand what his gimmick is supposed to be, I love it!

I got a tickle when he trolled my Tribal Chief at the 2022 Royal Rumble, coming out to their match dressed in their old Shield uniform, and I got an even bigger belly roll when he showed up in polka dots like Dusty Rhodes to take on The American Dream’s son, Cody.

Unfortunately, Rollins has the unenviable task of establishing a world title that WWE poorly introduced. I stand by my criticism of WWE’s runner-up trophy and the decision to run open challenges for the world championship. Regardless of who WWE picked to hold this title (yes, even GUNTHER), I would still have an issue with the belt.

As I predicted, “The Visionary” had an excellent battle with Damian Priest on the best edition of Raw I’ve seen in I don’t know how many years.

WWE did well in teasing a potential breakup between Priest and the Judgement Day, and the match with Rollins continued to raise Priest’s stock. But what they crammed into a two-hour show would’ve been more compelling television spread out over the weeks leading into Money in the Bank, especially if Priest splits from his pack.

Now with his first challenge out of the way, Rollins seems to be on a collision course with Bron Breakker, who recently called out the World Champ following a second exciting night of WWE action on NXT.

Now, that’s something I want to see, mostly because I’d like to see an event where, once a year, an NXT star, preferably its champion, gets a crack at one of WWE’s world titles.

Once again, I predict that Rollins will have another banger that elevates someone’s position. It also highlights my biggest issue with Rollins’ boast/challenge to wrestle anyone, anywhere, just say when approach.

If all one has to do is say, “Hey, Mr. Rollins, I want a title match with you,” then there’s no point competing in the Royal Rumble, Money in the Bank, Elimination Chamber, or any match really, when saying please and thank you is the only prerequisite to becoming the number one contender.

It also leaves a gaping hole in logic for the competitors.

Cody has a chance to move one step closer to getting a rematch with Reigns; all he has to do is ask Seth Rollins for an opportunity and win. The same is true for Brock Lesnar and every main eventer on WWE’s roster.

Again, I’m calling on you, Cagesiders, to help me understand something. Why are WWE’s top stars suddenly like, “A free World title match? Na, I’m good.”

Based on the feedback I received, I know some of you don’t care about all that. You enjoy watching hot matches, and I don’t fault you for that. I do too. But I also like big fights to mean something and to have more stories and build behind them, especially for a world championship.

In the future, I will continue to hang an asterisk on every Rollins title defense because WWE spent several years building the importance of the WWE and Universal titles while presenting Roman Reigns as the man to beat.

Simultaneously, I’m rooting for Rollins to continue making that sweet lemonade with the lemons that WWE’s creative throws at him. He’s done it before. I have faith he’ll do it again.