Unprotected: WWE Raw Strikes Gold With Seth Rollins Heel Turn

Gouesmi Oussema gives his honest opinion about Seth Rollins’ heel turn and the great potential it can have for WWE RAW.

This week’s RAW was an exercice in how WWE can make lemonade out of sh*t lemons, which is exactly what they have achieved with this (definitive I guess) turn to the dark side for the architect.

WWE in one move, not only refreshed Seth Rollins’ super-stale character at the moment, but also gave fans a kayfabe reason to hate him aside from being (to quote Kevin Owens) “an insufferable prick” on Twitter. It was obvious for the better part of the last couple of months that Seth Rollins’ babyface momentum had long past his expiration date, but the company somehow couldn’t see that and persisted in pushing him as RAW’s (and to an extent the entire WWE) top hero. It can be argued that WWE should have pulled the trigger much earlier, particularly after Hell in A Cell (let’s all forget that that finish had happened right!). The fans already were starting to not like him, but it went astronomically high after that match with the “Fiend” where he was audibly booed and even entered into a bit of a spat with the fans (in particular one who was holding a sign saying “Seth Rollins is not cool”). We all thought that WWE would learn from that and turn him after Crown Jewel, but they still persisted to book him as a bland babyface.

In the build for Survivor Series, WWE somehow planted the seed for that heel turn by putting Seth Rollins’ loyalty to RAW on the line against HHH’s temptations for him to join NXT. When he didn’t turn on his RAW partners during the 5 v 5 v 5 match, we all thought that WWE was being stubborn again. However, they went (surprisingly) in an unpredictable way to turn him heel. Rather than having him turn on someone like classic heels would do, the company decided on taking advantage of both RAW’s loss at Survivor Series and fan resentment (to a certain point) towards Seth Rollins’ company man persona and merged them into his kayfabe character. This was an inspired decision, as “the best heels are the ones who feel justified”.

WWE now have on their hands a terrific kind of heel. On the surface, Seth Rollins looks and wrestles the same way he has been all along, yet once he start talking one can feel how demented he became and how dillusional he is. His RAH-RAH speech on RAW was threatening to be the same old bulls*it when he went after CM Punk, but instead he bashed his roster mates for being incompetent and unable to get the job done. Here is where the brilliant part comes to light; Seth Rollins himself didn’t get the job done on Sunday which makes him as incompetent as they are, yet he is so self-centered that he can’t see this and he still thinks he is a locker-room leader.

AOP’s involvment in this still obscure for the moment, but a faction that is similar to the Shield or even larger (akin to AEW’s Inner Circle) is a very viable option. Although I can not personally see this “demented locker room leader” kind of heel being in an alliance, as the entire point of this character shift is that he distanced himself from the rest of the locker room, but who knows what WWE can get out of that too!. This heel turn is a much needed shot in the arm for Seth Rollins, and can take a lot of real life weight of his shoulder now that the fans’ response and his TV character are on the same wavelength.

Don’t get it twisted by the way, this isn’t the old Seth Rollins heel character. The 2015 heel incarnation of Rollins was about getting titles and aligning himself with the authority to achieve his own goals, whereas this incarnation is about him embracing the delusion that he is a “locker room leader” who loves RAW and is doing things for the greater good of his roster mates and the fans in general. WWE have definitively a top heel now on their hands, and if they book him perfectly, this could rejuvenate Rollins’ perception as a character among fans. These heel mannerisms can only prove to be a one-week thing, or even like they did to Dean Ambrose, completely misunderstand the premise of the character, but I will keep my fingers crossed they don’t. One last thing though, whatever you do WWE, don’t bring back the half-blond hair, and specifically that AWFUL laugh!.

After all, this is only one man’s opinion, so tell me yours in the comments and reach out on twitter @Austin316Tn. Till next time guys!