As one half of the tag team champions, Seth Rollins continues to be a consistent part of Monday Night Raw. Since 2017 WrestleMania season he has not sustained any injuries and he’s always been ready to put on great matches for all intents and purposes. But why does it feel like he’s lost in the shuffle? Has WWE forgotten what they saw in him initially, or are they concerned with focusing on other stars?

Reuniting the Shield

In WWE’s slow period (November/December), WWE decided to reunite the shield to bring some intrigue to the product. Since Brock Lesnar was not on TV much and had few title defenses, it seemed like the logical move. I was a fan of it and words cannot describe how cool it was to see the Shield back in action. There was an obvious difference though.

Throughout the Shield’s very short lived resurgence (did they even ever do a 6 man tag together?) Roman Reigns was essentially booked as the center of it all. Initially, Dean Ambrose was the featured “leader,” but the second coming of the Shield physically placed Roman in the middle of his two comrades every week. Ambrose and Seth Rollins tore up the tag division while Reigns kept being Reigns. It’s clear that WWE wanted to use his as a vehicle to further push Reigns, but that left Rollins and Ambrose to look like lesser competitors. Although the team would have great matches with The Bar, “the big dog” was the one gaining all the momentum.

Now that Ambrose is injured though, there’s another problem that’s taking the wind out of Seth’s sails.

Tagging Seth Rollins with Jason Jordan

I honestly love the fact that Seth Rollins is now tagging with someone who is essentially a boo magnet. This team is good news for Jason Jordan and his development, however I struggle to think what’s in it for Rollins. Do Rollins and Jordan engage in a feud at some point, or do they lose the titles and go their separate ways? Both sound a bit dreadful considering the options out there for Rollins.

Jordan could easily jump into a high profile feud with his Kurt Angle, aka his Dad, but Rollins seems to have nowhere to go for WrestleMania season. The Royal Rumble has far more favorable stars to win it, and Seth seems to have no real prospects for a good program because of how focused WWE was on using him as enhancement for Reigns and Jordan.

The Road Ahead

The only real feud I can see Seth Rollins take part of is one with Dean Ambrose. If Dean Ambrose returns as a heel before WrestleMania, claiming that Rollins injured and then forgot about him, that could lead to a pretty intriguing back and forth. The timetable for an Ambrose return may extend past ‘Mania though, and in that case I’m just not sure where to put Rollins. However, his recent resurrection of the curb stomp (the blackout) gives me faith that WWE is trying to get Rollins back to his former glory. Seth Rollins is a hell of a competitor, and he has nothing but promise in the future. With that said, 2018 is looking rather dry for him so far.

WWE needs to reignite Seth’s career with a great program. Since he faced Triple H last year and Ambrose is injured, who could they pair him with? Maybe even a move to SmackDown or an inter-promotional match on the big stage could be in order to explore possibilities there. A classic one on one match with a SmackDown star could be a great use for Rollins at the biggest show of the year, similar to a Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 21. There just needs to be a reason for the fans to get behind him again, and I think pitting him against the right heel with the right physicality is the way to do it. In that way he can maybe etch himself as a believable world title contender once more.