What’s the story?
WWE legend ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin spoke about current WWE Superstar Seth Rollins on a recent edition of his podcast The Steve Austin Show. Stone Cold spoke about Rollins’ current career trajectory in the WWE, his character not being completely ‘over’ with the fans, his similarities with Bret Hart and more.
In case you didn’t know...
Seth Rollins (real name- Colby Lopez) debuted on the WWE main roster as part of The Shield alongside Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns back in 2012. Following the disintegration of the stable in 2014, Rollins went on to achieve success as a singles competitor, becoming a 2-time WWE World Heavyweight champion.
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The heart of the matter:
Despite winning the WWE’s top title more than once, critics of the Architect have pointed out the lack of character development that he’s shown during his singles run, besides emphasising the fact that he’s not gotten ‘over’ with the pro-wrestling fans despite receiving a significant push from WWE management.
The aforementioned opinions of Rollins’ detractors notwithstanding, Stone Cold praised the Kingslayer’s athleticism whilst noting that it’s his character-development that may be lacking. Here are a few excerpts from Steve Austin’s statements, transcript courtesy WrestlingInc:
“Rollins is somewhat over, not all-the-way over, not by a long shot. Now, I don't mean that in a bad way. That's just being honest. He [has] relied on his sequences and his athleticism to carry him. To take him to the next level, he'll have to get more character development."
“When you say 'Seth Rollins' or if you want to say 'Seth Freakin' Rollins', I still don't have a sense of what or who this guy is. And so, that rests on Seth Rollins' shoulders, as an individual, as a performer, to define or create that as well as the WWE because I still don't get a sense of what kind of personality he is."
Austin also praised the 30-year old whilst asserting the similarities between him and Bret Hart. He stated that Rollins has the potential to develop his WWE persona along the lines of someone like Hart, who’s not very over-the-top or gaudy but down-to-earth and simply a world class worker.
What’s next?
After defeating Triple H at Wrestlemania 33, Seth Rollins will now face Samoa Joe on April 30th at WWE Payback.
Author’s take:
Stone Cold may be onto something here, something that most of you guys may have noticed if you’ve re-watched Mania. Seth’s match against Triple H saw the 75,000+ crowd go dead-silent for the majority of its air-time, with the only major pop during the matchup coming when Stephanie took a bump on a table.
In other words, the crowd reactions to Rollins seem to have soured as compared to his days with the Shield and he may, in fact, require a minor revamp in the near future.
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