In the main event of Monday’s episode of Raw, Seth Rollins won the Cross-Branded All-Star Top 10, Battle Royal.
Seth Rollins won the match by eliminating Randy Orton last and setting up a rematch between Rollins and Brock Lesnar for the Universal title at SummerSlam.
Rollins won the title from Lesnar this past April at WrestleMania 35 in New Jersey and dropped it Sunday night at Extreme Rules after Lesnar cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase.
Earlier in the night, Natalya won a Fatal 4-Way Elimination match to earn the Raw women’s title shot against champion Becky Lynch at SummerSlam with two matches confirmed.
SummerSlam will take place Sunday, August 11th in Toronto, Ontario at the Scotiabank Arena.
If they were going to do a battle royal then the winner being the guy everyone thought was going to get the match anyway is anticlimactic and further surrounds Seth with a feeling of meh. Lashley would’ve been a good one off match. Would’ve been even better if they actually gave him the win the night before.
I honestly think it was the “no more automatic rematches.” Thing. They always end up doing rematches anyway they just have guys “earn it”. Honestly if Seth and Brock have an actual match it is fine. I found the other 9 guys having a lot of odd picks. Cesaro? The guy just lost to Black, after losing to Ricochet, how is he a top guy. Big E? Yeah he just won the tag championships but as a singles guy he is in the top 10? Corbin? He is in there after losing to Seth what 3 straight times. Orton has legacy appeal but has been doing nothing for months. I mean realistically what were the options for the winner? Seth and Roman, those are the only 2 guys I could have seen winning. Maybe Braun, but I didn’t think he would. I mean put Black in there I don’t think having him lose a battle Royal hurts him as he doesn’t need to get pinned or submitted. Or put Drew in over Baron or Big E. Realistically they should have made it something like an 8 man tournament for the contender-ship it would have been better at building guys up.
There were a ton of complaints that their Mania match was only two minutes, and now the bitching seems to have turned to “Seth vs. Brock again!” when we might actually get the awesome match we were hoping for in April.
Yup Mania was terrible given Seth is supposed to be a face. I wanted to see him overcome the obstacle that is Brock, not take a shortcut to “screw” him out of the title. But it should have been done at Mania. This seems like the briefcase is being used as a do over.
IDon’t mind Seth vs Brock, but it does feel like a new guy should be in the mix. Seth’s been there since Rumble and a Battle Royal would have been the perfect chance to get a differently guy in there.
The final four (or 5 with Orton) bummed me out even more though. Could they not have put Big E or Lashley in there?
Seth is lukewarm right now. Brock v. Seth should definitely happen again but they should build Seth back up again and have the match at Survivor Series. This relationship nonsense involving nonstop cringe has hurt him. They need to take a step back so they can take a few steps forward otherwise they’ll end up with another Reigns situation where they’re pushing the guy hard even when fans aren’t into it. Better to take that step back before the crowd turns on him.
I can agree with that. I think they got too focused on the Summerslam title match needing to be “a big one” as far as the matchup that they rushed the build. If you’re not ready for a big program, just put Seth with someone he can have a good match with.
Also, the MITB contract has become an albatross more than anything else as of late. I feel like over the past few years… especially since there have been two briefcases to deal with… they either get rid of it ASAP (same night if possible) or dump it somewhat randomly as a shortcut to replace an actual build/storyline.
I think the lack of good feuds has hurt him far more than the relationship. At least for me. His weak win at Mania, hurt especially as he was probably third in terms of excitement going in behind Kofi and Becky, then he had a good match with AJ, but no substantial feud to go with it. Then it has been Baron Corbin for 3 straight PPV matches. Of which the match involving his relationship with Becky (in-spite of terrible onscreen chemistry) was probably the most interesting match. Rollins was a great IC champ but his universal title run sucked.
I’m just completely done with babyface-boyfriend-Seth Rollins. In real life he heeled himself hard against Osprey and the response to Moxley. He came across as a corporate stooge and honest a-hole. Then in kayfabe he’s been The Man’s Man. Nothing screams 2nd fiddle than being Becky’s boytoy. Becky shouldn’t have a man, given she’s the man and the Universal champion shouldn’t be shrugging and blushing while his girlfriend cuts the promos. His character is the epitome of WWE not knowing how to do the baby face role.
On the flip side, Kofi was an organic babyface that the crowd made and one that would have a great underdog story vs Brock.
Seth beat Brock at Mania. He got the huge win and run and now is in the exact same position a few months later as the challenger to Brock at Summerslam. That is WWE booking for you. Diminish big wins, book champions to look stupid, and rerun matches because they are afraid to trust anyone outside the core guys they have that toe the company line.