For the last decade, one of the first faces seen on Monday Night RAW is Seth Rollins. He’s a multi-time World Champion, a Royal Rumble Winner, two-time Mr. MITB Winner, and even ended two separate WrestleMania broadcasts victorious. The crowd are always loud for his entrance and promos. Even after the show’s ended, the crowd sing his theme song as they pour out of the stadium.
Yet he’s never been positioned as the undisputed top star in the company. Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar have always been above him. When it was time for Reigns to pass the torch, it wasn’t to Rollins – who he has a storied rivalry with – it was to Cody Rhodes, someone who had returned to the company only two years earlier.
On paper, it seemed like Seth’s destiny to end the monumental 4-year title run of Roman Reigns. Out of all the options, Seth stood out the most. He and Roman had entered WWE together as brothers in The Shield. Seth betrayed Roman to chase solo success, and this betrayal bubbled within Roman for years, eventually turning him into the ruthless Tribal Chief. By this time, Seth had repented, changing his ways and becoming an honourable, courageous fighting champion.
When Roman was sidelined with medical issues, the spot at the top was clear and Seth was at his most popular. He won the 2019 Royal Rumble and went on to WrestleMania 35, beating Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. All the while, the crowd were firmly behind him. But, in an unprecedented move, that match – which would usually be the main storyline of the show and end WrestleMania – started the show. It was used to warm up the crowd.
Then during Seth’s championship reign, fans began to tire of him. His heroic promos lacked sincerity and specificity, all sounding the same. He tried to stand up for WWE against the new competition, AEW, and that only made fans dislike him more and WWE didn’t even reward him for his loyalty. Instead, they took the world title off of him. His reactions had changed. Fans rejected him. Seth even tried to lean into the dislike and turn a negative into a positive. He rejected the fans, embraced a villain role, and became the leader of his own faction. Instead of success, he slid down the card into an upper midcard position, not winning a world title again for four years. For the next three WrestleMania’s, he was involved in side-stories and lost all three matches.
Meanwhile, Roman Reigns had done a similar thing, turning heel and leading a faction. For Roman, this took him to new heights, finally fulfilling the potential forced on him for the last decade.
During this cool period, Rollins experimented with a new character and fans began to warm to him again. He fought Reigns at Royal Rumble 2022 in a well-received match that developed the relationship between them. It revealed a new layer to the Tribal Chief character, exposing his key weakness – he’s still traumatised by Seth’s betrayal. With this story hook, it suddenly felt likely that Seth could be the chosen one to defeat Roman.
That’s when Cody Rhodes returned to WWE. The former jobber who left the company, went out on his own and returned a new man. The second he appeared on the stage at WrestleMania 38 to a massive ovation from the crowd, it became clear – Cody was the guy. The prodigal son had returned. And Seth Rollins could do nothing but watch.
At WrestleMania 40, Cody Rhodes, after a long rollercoaster of build-up, pins Roman Reigns, ending his 1316-day World Championship reign. The entire locker room empties out to the ring, including the top executives in the WWE. They join Cody as he celebrates with his family. Cody gives the championship to his mother, fulfilling a childhood promise. It’s clear that this isn’t just another championship win, this is a coronation of the next face of the company. Sitting on the outside of the ring, alone, watching with tears in his eyes, is Seth Rollins.
He did everything he could. Sacrificed his ego and his body, wrestling through injury to help someone else accomplish his dream. And it wasn’t enough. It’s not clear exactly who he’s supposed to be anymore, what his role is supposed to be. But it’s clear what it isn’t.
This story is excellent and beloved by fans, helping make WWE the most popular it had been for 20 years. Seth plays his part as the deuteragonist well. His storyline is sincere and unique to him. The tragedy of his character is honest and relatable as it’s been established that Seth’s dream is to be the face of the WWE. He wants to be the protagonist. He wants to have his face and name on the poster for WrestleMania, with him being the focal point of the main event. He wants to be the reason that fans feel like they have to tune in.
Fortunately for him, the head creative writer for WWE is his mentor, Triple H. When Triple H began his career in creative, he chose Seth Rollins as his first NXT Champion. They’ve always had a close relationship. As soon as Triple H became head writer for main roster WWE, one of the first things he did was create a new World Championship and have Seth win it.
After the climax of the Cody Rhodes and Bloodline stories, WWE needed a new main arc. And who did Triple H choose to lead that arc? Seth Rollins.
WrestleMania 41 Night 1 ended with Seth Rollins defeating both Roman Reigns and CM Punk. Once again embracing a villain role, this time aligning himself with the man that once helped make Roman the face of the company, Paul Heyman. If WrestleMania 40 meant that Seth couldn’t be the protagonist, then WrestleMania 41 was Triple H trying to make him the antagonist. Maybe this is how Seth will finally become the undisputed focal point of WWE.
He built another faction, The Vision, won the Money in the Bank for the second time and cashed it in to become World Champion again. Seth was being dressed up with everything needed to become a superstar. Even his MITB cash-in wasn’t just a normal cash-in, Triple H decided to write a fake injury story designed to give Seth an iconic moment.
But in a cruel reflection of 2019, fans once again rejected him. This time it wasn’t with boos or anger, it was with apathy. WWE began to cool off from its hot period of popularity (not only because of Seth. Various reasons across the show also attributed to this). But Seth’s storyline as World Champion with The Vision was not well-received. Having just come out of an era dominated by factions like The Bloodline and The Judgement Day, The Vision felt too similar and too predictable. The ultimate goal of Bron Breakker beating Seth for the World Title at WrestleMania 42 didn’t excite many people. Instead, fans mostly tuned out, not wanting to see Seth Rollins heel World Champion promos open RAW every week for the next year.
But why didn’t the same thing happen to Roman Reigns? How come he was catapulted to generation-defining star by the same storyline and Seth wasn’t? What’s wrong with Seth Rollins?
When reading Macbeth, there’s clear discussions of people’s God-given roles in life and what happens when we try to step outside of our roles. Macbeth lusted for King Duncan’s crown, despite it never being a natural possibility for him to wear it. He isn’t in the lineage. However, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth torture themselves and the natural order around them, bending will itself so that Macbeth may be King. But nature always balances itself out and no amount of fighting and contorting yourself can stop it. Macduff cuts off Macbeth’s head and restores the natural order.
It’s a difficult possibility to consider, that we all have predisposed roles to fill and trying to grow outside of them will be punished. But perhaps the roles aren’t predetermined by nature, our skills and heart and timing are and that’s what leads us to the roles we eventually fill. For example, at any point from his first appearance in 2007 to before his return in 2022, no one would have believed that Cody Rhodes’ role was to become the face of the WWE. Not only did it seem impossible that WWE would put him in that position, but it seemed impossible that millions of people would genuinely rally behind him. But over those 15 years there were flashes of heart and vulnerability: his Hall of Fame speech in 2007, his feud with Randy Orton in 2013, and the “Undeniable” promo in 2019. It just took years of work and persistence to refine himself and find the right timing until he fulfilled his destiny. Cody’s struggles have never come from him being forced into a bigger role than felt natural for him, always coming when he was put into a role too small for his nature.
For Seth Rollins, it’s been the opposite. Every time he’s been pushed to the top, almost reaching the stars, the spotlight has revealed that this role doesn’t come naturally to him. On a subconscious, emotional level, fans can feel it and they don’t connect. His words and stories as the top guy don’t feel completely genuine or natural. Almost as if that’s not what he naturally wants to say in that moment. When he follows the top guy formula of rarely wrestling on TV, saving up for big PPV main events, it doesn’t feel like the type of wrestler he is.
But when he wrestles often, in that workhorse position, it does feel natural. When he speaks candidly with an edge, it does feel natural. And that’s when fans get behind him. WWE just make the mistake of believing that those cheers and investment are a demand for a bigger role.
As World Heavyweight Champion at Crown Jewel 2025, Seth Rollins beat WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, signalling his new position at the top. But just like Macbeth, nature corrected itself and Seth Rollins suffered a shoulder injury which forced him to vacate the Championship. The injury came from Rollins attempting a coast-to-coast headbutt, something he may have been able to pull off in his athletic prime, but not in his 40s after a long list of injuries. This injury crumbled WWE’s next arc, now leading to where we are today without a primary storyline to follow, leading to the main event scene feeling disorganised and unfocused.
Since then, Rollins has floated around, with him, WWE, and the fans not sure what his role is or where he fits. Triple H again tried helping with smoke and mirrors, coming up with a masked man storyline that, despite being convoluted and repetitive, guaranteed pops. But it hasn’t changed anything. His feuds lack the emotional depth and clarity required to invest people in him to the level of a top guy like Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, or CM Punk.
Though it’s always still possible for Seth Rollins. The hook that got fans to love him to the level he’s at now – just below the top tier – is that he’s an incredibly hard worker and doesn’t give up. For over a decade, Rollins has been the workhorse of WWE. Every night he gives all his effort, and he’s done it more regularly than basically everyone else on the roster. He’s always had the physical skills. He’s just missed that last emotional hook to get him over the finish line.
The only way WWE can grow his role to the next level, is by first growing the heart of his character. Perhaps if presented more honestly, leaning into his position as the forever bridesmaid, fans will find a character they can deeply relate to and appreciate. Someone with layers. Someone with familiar problems. Someone determined to achieve their dreams by overcoming an arbitrary role placed upon them, seemingly by nature itself.