wrestling / Columns

The 8 Ball: Top 8 Seth Rollins Challengers

April 17, 2015 | Posted by Mike Hammerlock

Top 8 Challengers for Seth Rollins

The WWE has a new champion these days in Seth Rollins. His pursuit of the title and the way he won it was top class stuff. Now the challenge is to have him wear the belt with some distinction. Rollins has MOTY ability if he gets the right opponent. So these are exciting times. We’re going to get some fresh main events at the WWE’s big shows. Since he’s a heel, Rollins won’t be a fighting champ, but he should be an action champ whenever he hits the ring.

Rollins also marks a potential changing of the guard. Who else can come along with him and break the WWE out of its doldrums? We need excitement. Through no fault of their own, John Cena and Dean Ambrose don’t make this list. It’s just that Rollins vs. those two is a bit played out at this moment. Much as I’d love to see it, Cesaro doesn’t make the list despite the fact that a match between him and Rollins should be incredible (they have ring chemistry built from facing each other back in their ROH days). Yet Cesaro is occupied with the tag division at the moment, and doing yeoman work there (to no one’s surprise). No idea what the plans are with Samoa Joe — when will he debut, will he get to call himself Samoa Joe, could he bypass NXT — so I can’t in good conscience include him here, much as I’d love to see the match. Ryback is the honorable mention pick. His return to quasi-prominence has lacked a payoff to date. A run at the title, even an unsuccessful one, would do him good. However, my guess is the E feeds him the carcass of Rusev after Cena is done with the Bulgaro-Russian brute. Poor Rusev, it’s going to be a long way down. When does he join New Day?

Anyway, quick reminder that the 8-Ball this week is looking for the eight best potential opponents for Rollins, both in terms of in-ring performance and storyline logic. This isn’t a traditional top challengers list, ranking them like some boxing alphabet soup organization. The 8-Ball is going after the fights Rollins definitely should have while he’s holding the WWE Championship.

8. Kevin Owens

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The former Kevin Steen has won almost everything Rollins (the former Tyler Black) has won – namely the ROH and NXT titles. Owens’ rationale for going right after Sami Zayn in NXT was that he didn’t have time to be everyone’s buddy and wait his turn for a title shot. He’s got a family to feed. Well, why wait around with the NXT title when you could go after the WWE title? At some point NXT is invading the mothership, right? I mean, that’s got to happen. NXT is thick with main roster talent. The story almost writes itself. Sami Zayn stands out as perhaps a more natural face opponent for a heel like Rollins, but a slower build for him in the WWE makes sense so that he can win over massive fan support. Adrian Neville is in the WWE already and he put on a hot match against Rollins on Raw last week, but he doesn’t have an immediate case for making a title challenge. Finn Balor and Hideo Itami would be stellar opponents as well, but they’re behind Owens in the NXT pecking order. Owens giving up the NXT title to go after the WWE World Heavyweight Championship would make for a fabulous story. NXT vs. Authority. Owens’ smashmouth style vs. Rollins’ insane moveset. They faced each back in ROH, so they’d probably click. It would be an outstanding introduction for Owens to the broader WWE audience.

7. Daniel Bryan

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We know he and Rollins have crazy good ring chemistry. Every time they’ve faced each other in the WWE, it’s been a hot match. On top of various Raw/Smackdown matches, they’ve squared off for the tag belts and in six-man encounters back when Rollins was running riot with the Shield. Rollins and Roman Reigns beat Team Hell No for the WWE Tag Team Championship back in 2013. What they haven’t had is a major stakes 1v1 clash at a pay-per-view. I assume they’ve reserved another gear in case that happens. If so, minds will be blown. Important to remember Bryan still hasn’t gotten his rematch for the WWE title, that he never lost. He has an obvious case to make. Plus, inserting Bryan into the main event is a guaranteed way to energize the WWE fanbase. I think this feud most likely will happen while Rollins has the belt. The reasons why Bryan ranks this low are that it’s a bit too obvious and the Intercontinental title creates a complication. Does Bryan care about that belt? If so, then treat it like it’s the most important thing on earth. Last thing that belt needs is another champ who’d rather be holding a different piece of waist candy.

6. Sheamus

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But he’s a bad guy, and bad guys can’t face bad guys. Sure they can, especially when the bad guys in question could put on an insanely good match. Sheamus did not get enough credit for how consistently excellent he was in 2014. He was churning out mid-card gems two, three times a week. His character had stagnated, but his work was phenomenal. Now that he’s in Celtic reaver mode the character issue is fixed, freeing him to lay waste to anyone and anything. It looks like Dolph Ziggler and Daniel Bryan are at the top of his hit list, but why not hotshot him into a one-off clash against Rollins for the WWE title? Maybe there’s a battle royal to determine who gets to face Rollins and the big fella wins. Or maybe Sheamus goes final two with Rollins inside an Elimination Chamber match, earning him a 1v1 shot. The 1v1 doesn’t have to be at a PPV. Give us an awesome Raw or Smackdown title match. You need to feed the millions of those programs special treats every now and then. And maybe Rollins can win Sheamus’ loyalty in the process. Sheamus would make a fantastic faction enforcer. Makes sense that you’d have to beat him in trial by combat to get him accept that role.

Side note: Rollins makes more sense to defend his title in an Elimination Chamber than anyone in a long time just because of the sheer number of people who are out for his head.

5. Randy Orton

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Obviously this one’s happening. The good news is it should be happening. We’ve already seen Orton and Rollins work quite well together in the ring. Orton, regardless of how you feel about him, serves as a top echelon gatekeeper in the WWE. Beat him and you’re main event certified. Rollins actually channels Orton a bit in the ring. Both have a locker full of huge moves. Their transition moves should knock you out cold. And they both excel at countering into impact moves. They’re video game wrestlers with unlimited secret codes that unlock special moves. Rollins and Orton inside a steel cage should be premium wrestletainment. Orton also has a logical case for being there. Not only did he beat Rollins at WM31 (with the best RKO ever), not only did Rollins curb stomp Orton into oblivion prior to Survivor Series, Orton never got a 1v1 title rematch after losing the WWE strap at WM30. In fact, Orton never even got pinned to lose the title. I know, such are the breaks of life in pro wrestling, but Daniel Bryan finds himself in similar circumstances and many consider that near criminal injustice. Orton is owed a shot and he’s getting it at Extreme Rules (and probably at Payback as well). Got no problem with that, looking forward to some killer matches.

4. Roman Reigns

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Allow me to start with some praise for Reigns. He has put on the two best singles matches of his career in the main events of the last two WWE PPVs. That gives him some momentum. Mind you, he got carried in both cases. Less so against Daniel Bryan at Fastlane, where Reigns got to press a bit more of the action. At WrestleMania, Brock Lesnar tossed Reigns around like he was up against Yoshihiko. It worked, but Reigns wasn’t much more than a prop. That said, Rollins is talented enough to put on a ***½ match against a prop. More than that, the history between Rollins and Reigns kind of demands a title clash. They have a mountain of unfinished business. The downside of them having a title feud is Vince McMahon keeps turning off his hearing aid whenever Reigns comes to the ring. Simply put, he is not a popular figure with far too much of the WWE fanbase (at least outside of Texas, where he drew cheers). Reigns could be some of the best storytelling the WWE has done in a long time if he gets what looks to be his second sure-thing shot for the WWE title and loses. Maybe he can’t, because he didn’t. That’s the fundamental problem with Reigns, he hasn’t been tested. He hasn’t loved and lost like Frank Sinatra. Currently, fans aren’t along for his journey to the title because we’ve been given no reason to be invested in him. On top of that, Reigns hasn’t been tempted by the dark side when life proves to be harder than he expected. Facing Rollins and losing would put Reigns on the path to doing something awesome or awful in order to gain the title that has eluded him.

3. Bray Wyatt

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I devoted my post-WrestleMania 8-Ball to Bray Wyatt’s redemption. He got shafted, again. Taking on the top names in the industry and losing gives you no rub. Wins and losses matter. The Streak and being a 15-time world champion turned Undertaker and John Cena into all-time industry icons. They won, a lot. Bray has lost his two biggest fights. Now he’s looking for a way forward. My top suggestion remains that Bray should be the man to win the Money in the Bank briefcase. Oh the mayhem he’d cause. While you’d normally assume Bray would be cashing in on some unfortunate face after Rollins drops the title, Bray is an odd cat. No reason he couldn’t cash in on Rollins as part of an anti-Authority move. It could be a face turn turn for Bray, who has the facest entrance in the business, or it could be pure evil disdaining common avarice. Doesn’t matter how Wyatt gets there so long as he does get there. He should be working in or near the main event in the WWE for a very long time. Plus, Rollins-Wyatt would be a shout back to Rock-Foley. Young, corporate superstar faces sloppy, rotund genius. It’s about as 1% vs. 99% as you get. Of course, Bray is the poisoned id of the 99%, which just makes him that much more interesting.

2. Brock Lesnar

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He’s coming back at some point, likely SummerSlam. He not only wants Seth Rollins’ title, he wants Seth Rollins’ hide mounted on the wall of his den. We want to see it too, because Lesnar is a different animal from everyone else in that ring. He’s not professional wrestling so much as he’s putting on an exhibition of physical prowess. Lots of guys hit suplexes. Lesnar hits suplexes that make your eyes bug out due to the torque and explosiveness he puts into them. It is a pleasure to watch the man at work. Dosing out his appearances so that each of his matches feels like a special attraction is the absolute right way to use him at this point in time. So, assuming Rollins can keep ahold of the belt for a few months, Brock Lesnar will be returning to reclaim it. That doesn’t mean he’s going to get it, but Rollins will feel the full blast of Hurricane Brock. They’ve done such an amazing job with Lesnar, it almost feels like he should rampage through a city like Godzilla on his way to the ring. At the very least they should change his entrance music to Blue Öyster Cult’s “Godzilla”. Main point being, the Brock Clock is ticking.

1. Dolph Ziggler

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Remember Survivor Series 2014? I bet you do. The event that was supposed to be so earth shattering at the time has translated into a holiday season in Connecticut for the Levesque clan and a Monday Night Wars nostalgia match at WrestleMania for Sting. Yet there is one loose end remaining. Dolph Ziggler won the main event at one of the WWE’s traditional Big Four PPVs and he remains preposterously over with the fans. Not only did he win on that night, but he got the pin (after much shenanigans) on Seth Rollins. Now, say Ziggler wins his feud against Sheamus. Where does he go from there? He could chase another IC title, but it would make infinitely more sense to have him put in a bona fide chase of the WWE Championship. Unlike Reigns’ story, where not nearly enough fans are invested in him winning the title, Ziggler has crawled through the proverbial Shawshank tunnel of shit hoping to come out the other side. There is no doubt a Rollins-Ziggler contest for the biggest prize in the business could be an epic. Beyond that, Ziggler would have close to 100% of the crowd going ballistic for him. If he won, the fans would blow off the roof and rip a hole in the sky. That’s where he is right now, the man trapped beneath the glass ceiling, the most deserving mid-carder on the roster. We’re rooting hard for him to win it all, but we’re close to convinced he’ll never get to do it. This is America. We love underdog stories, and at this moment in time Dolph Ziggler is the WWE’s leading underdog. Time to throw him a bone.

.I take requests.. The purpose of this column is to look forward. What could be? What should be? What is and what should never be? What would make more sense? 411 has plenty of columns that count down and rank things that happened in the past. This is not one of those columns. The Magic 8-Ball is here to gaze into the future. If there’s someone or something you think should be given the 8-Ball treatment, mention it in the comments section. I might pick it up for future weeks.