The boy who cried wolf is a tale from literally centuries ago, and it’s still a lesson that the WWE office had to learn the hard way.
When there was speculation that Seth Rollins’ injury from a springboard off of the ropes might’ve been a work, I penned an article to warn of the potential pitfalls of such a tactic to try to swerve the audience. You can work the audience on performers being traitors to their country, sleazy con artists, and implied cult leaders, but injuries are a different matter entirely. The reason being is that the legitimate injuries, which are inevitable in professional wrestling, affect the real-life people behind the pro wrestling personas.
When Seth Rollins clutched his knee and looked terrified at Saturday Night’s Main Event back in July, a spot that looked to throw off the timing of the rest of the show, as there was no logical reason to script a 15-minute Bill Goldberg retirement match, fans were understandably concerned.
If the injury was legitimate, it would affect the real life of Colby Lopez, not just the TV time of the Seth Rollins character.
Granted, professional wrestling isn’t known for its high ethics and moral standards, but as I wrote before, working injuries, especially in the modern era, comes off as too low brow, even for sports entertainment. It creates an unnecessary level of distrust with the audience, specifically when legitimate injuries put talent on the shelf for an extended period of time or shorten their careers. When someone is seriously hurt, it’s not wise to have any doubts from the audience since it’s a real-life health concern.
At the time, I wrote that I didn’t think the WWE would script a worked injury for those type of reasons, as it just seems sleazy, and that covers a lot of ground in pro wrestling. I was wrong, as it was revealed at Summer Slam a month after the injury angle that Seth was fine and cashed in his Money in The Bank contract to beat CM Punk for the world title in a very memorable moment. For the time being, it worked as it was a progression of the biggest and most effective push, one that he deserved for several years, of his entire career after he aligned himself with Paul Heyman at Wrestlemania in April.
I was wrong about the injury until I was right.
Unfortunately, there are again reports that Seth suffered a legitimate shoulder injury during his match-up with Cody Rhodes at the Crown Jewel pay-per-view last weekend. Of course, I’m skeptical of anything at this point, and while I don’t think the WWE would try to work a second injury angle two months after the original swerve, I didn’t think fake injuries was a decision they’d make in the first place so who knows?
That being said, I’d actually give more credibility to current reports about the shoulder injury at Crown Jewel than the initial reports of a knee injury at Saturday Night’s Main Event. The reason being is that the angle that was used to conclude Raw, which was very well done, seems to be a decision based on the circumstances rather than meticulous planning by the writing team.
A photo of Seth with his arm in a sling surfaced online, but that means very little, considering that he made appearances on ESPN on crutches to push the swerve at Summer Slam. However, and I could be completely wrong on this, Bron Breakker turning on Rollins seemed to come out of nowhere, implying that legitimate injury could be the reason that Seth has to be written off of television for the time being.
Logically, it doesn’t make sense for Breakker and Reed to turn on Seth while he is still the champion. It was an unprovoked two-on-one attack, which puts Rollins, the devious champion that conned the audience into thinking he was hurt before he took a short cut to win the champion, in a sympathetic position. It would gel much better if the same segment was done after Seth lost the title, as it shows no loyalty between stablemates without the belt. Given that Seth is still the world champion and will seemingly defend it against the newly-minted number one contender, CM Punk at some point, I’d guess that the decision to split the stable was a reaction to a legitimate injury that puts Rollins’ availability, at least in the foreseeable future, in question.
Another reason that I think this was a rushed decision based on a legitimate injury is that while I’ve been one of many that have said that Bron Breakker should be considered for a top spot in the future, particularly based on his skill level as compared to his experience, I honestly think that there was much more meat on the bone with Seth Rollins in the role as the leader of The Vision stable. The guy continues to be a workhorse, albeit an injury prone workhorse for the company, and he was finally getting a chance to make the most of his talent and cache in the organization. As I wrote at the time of the alliance at Wrestlemania, it was the first time in a decade that he wasn’t playing second fiddle to either Roman Reigns or Jon Moxley, or simply bogged down with horrendous booking. Seth Rollins was finally going to get the chance to shine on all levels instead of being the guy that just didn’t get the full force run that it seemed like he was capable of. There’s no reason to pull the rug out from under him less than six months after the alignment with Heyman and less than two months after winning the championship.
An injury that will keep him off of television appears to be the only realistic path for him, as he can’t be an effective heel leader without the stable that he put together, and he can’t automatically be expected to be embraced as a baby face again. It puts his character in a storyline purgatory since there wouldn’t be a clear justification for a baby face turn and there’s no reason for the fans to want to cheer for him after he used nefarious tactics to win the title. In my opinion, the only way around that, as disappointing as it would be is for Rollins to be away for television for a significant period of time to allow for a fresh coat of paint for his character when he returns.
At this point, if Rollins is going to be on the injured list, the split with the stable might’ve been the only choice, but even if that’s the case, it doesn’t automatically mean that Bron Breakker is ready for that spot.
Rushing Breakker to the main event scene might lead to him being exposed in longer matches that would require more peaks and valleys than the segments he’s used to working on television. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Breakker can’t get there, I’m just pointing out that there’s a risk of trying to shoehorn the narrative rather than allow it to unfold organically over the course of the originally storyline.
It goes without saying that Breakker is ahead of the curve, but again, nothing is automatic, and there’s a laundry list of talents from the modern era, specifically within the time frame of when there were two world titles on WWE programming that certain prospects fell flat when they were given the belt too early in their development as performers. Remember when the office thought that Jack Swagger was going to be a main event guy? Alberto Del Rio checked all the boxes on paper, but his reigns fell short of expectations. Even Sheamus, who is a tremendous performer, had much bigger success long after his title reigns than when he had the belt.
If the office decides to run with Bron Breaker, it would be a feast or famine scenario, particularly because of the nature of the modern audience. However, the biggest takeaway from this potential injury is that it might be a situation where management has to shift the direction of Seth Rollins in the future. Sure, the injury in July was a work, but there’s no doubt that he has proven to be injury prone. He had well-documented knee injuries, back injuries, and there were reports over the years of neck issues. That isn’t to say that his career is over or that he won’t return to continue as a star, but given this most recent shoulder injury, he might be someone that the office will invest a limited amount of stock into going forward, more as a precaution than anything else. It will be interesting to see what moves are made within the next few weeks, as the star power on Raw has gotten noticeably thinner than it was when the brand debuted on Netflix at the start of the year.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
