I just can’t care about Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns | Opinion
I am sorry, but I just can’t care about this SummerSlam match between Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.
I didn’t want to be this vocal about a match I have no interest in seeing, but I am pretty blown away by just how cold the match feels. On paper I could see why WWE would go with the match, as they haven’t wrestled in a while and it was also one of the rumored WrestleMania matches before Rollins’ injury late last year. But between the lethargic build and meandering promos, all their latest feud has done so far is reinforce my thoughts on Reigns, Rollins, and WWE’s safe and boring summer.
Rollins is one of the best wrestlers in WWE right now. He always does an incredible job and has tremendous in-ring instincts, better than many on the roster. But my problem with him has always been this: I have never believed one word he has said on television. He never feels authentic and is always trying to play a character, and never one that comes off well.
For example, on Monday he arrived and cut a promo whining about how great Roman Reigns is and how much he had to work to get where he’s at whereas Roman became more successful by doing less. Thanks for admitting that on live TV! Nevermind the promo lasted way too long, but by the time it finally ended it made me less interested in the match than I was before.
This program is a symptom of WWE’s booking this summer where they’re playing it as safe as humanly possible. I’ve seen all of this before: Rollins turned against Reigns and the mystery third Shield member whose name can’t be mentioned on television twelve years ago. What’s worse is that the crux of Rollins’ argument for the match, that Reigns has never beat him, was quickly pointed out to be false: Reigns defeated Rollins on an episode of Raw in 2017.
By pointing this out, WWE at least wants you to think that Reigns has a good chance of winning the match and retaining the title, which I find pretty boring. Watching Raw feels like a repeat of 2023: Roman is at the top and the Bloodline is stronger than ever before. And the feeling of deja vu is actually an ongoing storyline as wrestlers point this out every week, with the reformed Bloodline never really dismissing the allegations.
Maybe everything turns around this Monday when Reigns will have a response to Rollins’ very boring promo. And their match at SummerSlam could be very good, even great. But the point of all of this talking and build is to get me excited for a match between two of WWE’s biggest stars. I can’t care about this if WWE isn’t doing an effective job of making me care.
Bryan Rose is an editor from California that has been covering professional wrestling for well over a decade. He officially joined F4WOnline as an editor in 2017.