Rollins vs. Rhodes at WrestleMania would be a mistake
With only a little over two months before WrestleMania, there has already been a shake-up in current plans. CM Punk’s triceps injury at the Royal Rumble and Brock Lesnar’s more than likely inclusion in the Sex Trafficking lawsuit against the WWE, both superstars aren’t going to WrestleMania. On top of this, Seth Rollin’s is already deemed injured and will probably be dropping the World Championship belt at WrestleMania to take time out and recover, and there’s are other talks of executives wanting Roman Reign’s title reign streak to outrun Hulk Hogan’s meaning he might retain the WWE title at WrestleMania, with a potential bout with the Rock.
On this week’s Raw, there’s already been a push for the Cody Rhodes vs Rollins, if it’s not just a plan to keep the creative as unpredictable as possible. The angle was done in the most boring , mutually baby face the friendly foe, with Rollins trying to falsely claim his belt has more honour and worth over Reign’s ‘hollywood’ title, and ended with Rhodes saying “I’ll think about it”. There are many reasons why this is a bad creative direction and when it comes down to it, it’s all about business vs fan interest.
The match is uninteresting on many levels. They have already fought each other multiple times, including their bouts at Wrestlemania and Hell in a Cellback in 2022 with Rollins being a heel and Rhodes being a babyface. There has been no strong build-up to this match and both are baby face’s anyway. It’s been 3 years since there have been two men's wwe/world/universal title match’s on the WrestleMania card. Is this match strong enough to be in the main event at WrestleMania night 1 or 2? The Rock vs Reigns could take its place as the the no.1 main event, i.e. Night 2. While devaluing Rhode’s story and would and might not deliver as much as people want due to the Rock’s age and ‘ring rust’.
The main story needs to be resolved. Rhode’s needs to beat Roman Reigns’ to give back to the fans. Why is it important to have Roman Reigns’ beat Hogan’s streak? He’s already the huge superstar he can be and is the top merchandise seller of last year, and Cody even made that list despite losing to reigns’ last year. WWE has already landed the Netflix deal, The Rock is on the board of directors. Money will be made. In the height of finally getting rid of Vince McMahon, as well as the Sex Trafficking lawsuit, the WWE needs to put the fans first over the business in height of all this, to add more integrity to the brand.
Alternative matches for Reign’s? On Smackdown, right now it’s only Randy Orton or AJ Styles but they can wait and be used to gain other PPV’s and Streaming profits. LA Knight shouldn’t be considered and should face Logan Paul for the US title in case his fast-rising push has just been a trend.
Alternatives for Seth Rollins? What about a triple threat or four-way match. There is just not enough stock in putting two baby faces in Rhodes and Rollins in a match. There needs to be an additional heel, like Finn Balor or Drew McIntyre, and potentially having Damian Priest cashing in the Money in the Bank briefcase after the match or the next night. They could also have Rollins drop the belt at the Elimination Chamber to a ‘heel’ substitute.
If they’re not going with Reigns vs Rhodes, they need a strong alternative to finish Rhode’s story, to monetize on it effectively, and not deliver lackluster creativity.
