The very first Monday Night Raw after the Royal Rumble had a great surprise ending.
Just as Seth Rollins thought he was going to finally get his hands on Triple H, six months after he was screwed out the WWE Universal Championship, he was blindsided by a debuting Samoa Joe before he could even reach the ring.
Check out the video of what happened below:
The unfortunate part of this great debut was the fact that Seth Rollins tweaked the knee that had put him on the shelf back in November 2015. Many speculate that the moment he reinjured his knee was when Samoa Joe dropped him down to apply the Coquina Clutch submission at the very end of the show.
Seth Rollins would travel to Birmingham, Alabama to have his knee checked out, and it appears that he has avoided the worst, but could still be out for up to eight weeks. If he has any kind of setback, there is a good chance that he’ll miss WrestleMania 33.
This article is going to take a look at five potential replacements that could provide an entertaining two-month build-up to the biggest show of the year, in the absence of Seth Rollins.
#5 – Shinsuke Nakamura
Any enemy of Samoa Joe’s will be an enemy of Triple H as well. Shinsuke Nakamura just lost his NXT Championship to Bobby Roode at NXT Takeover: San Antonio, and is too big of a talent to keep in NXT for much longer.
Nakamura and Joe had many epic battles for the NXT Championship in 2016, and that could carry over to a WrestleMania feud culminating with a match against Triple H as well.
Also read: WWE Rumors: Samoa Joe vs. Triple H a possible WrestleMania match
While it would be better to put Shinsuke Nakamura on Smackdown Live, there is always the possibility of a roster swap in the summer, so having him make his debut on Raw and taking on Triple H at WrestleMania before moving over to Smackdown Live in time for a SummerSlam feud could work out great.
Triple H obviously doesn’t need to win at WrestleMania, and that puts Nakamura in line for a career defining win.
#4 – Dean Ambrose
Who from Smackdown Live would be crazy enough to invade Monday Night Raw to avenge a fellow Shield brother? Dean Ambrose for sure. While crossing shows should not be done too often this early in the current brand split era, an exception can be made if Seth Rollins cannot go at WrestleMania.
Of course, we all know that Seth Rollins turned his back on Dean Ambrose back in June 2014, but they are both on the same side of the fence now.
At the first ever Roadblock pay per view just before WrestleMania 32, Ambrose and Triple H tore the house down in a match for the WWE Championship. In a pinch, inserting Ambrose into this feud would help the Road To WrestleMania for certain.
#3 – Finn Balor
If there was anyone who was anti-establishment for most of their career, it was Prince Devitt, creator of the Bullet Club.
Much like Dean Ambrose, when Finn Balor was last in the WWE, he was against Seth Rollins, not with him. Now that they’re both on the same side, however, Balor could step up to the plate and challenge the injustice that Triple H and his destroyer Samoa Joe have bestowed upon Rollins.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Finn Balor travelled to Birmingham, Alabama to see if he could get medically cleared to wrestle.
While he wasn’t cleared in time for the Royal Rumble, he could return very soon. The duo of Balor and Seth Rollins would be a great combination to fight Triple H and Samoa Joe on the Road To WrestleMania, and you never know, a new “Club” could be formed in the process.
#2 – CM Punk
This is a huge pipe dream, but imagine Cult Of Personality playing on an edition of Monday Night Raw on the Road To WrestleMania.
It would break the internet. It would be just as shocking as when we heard the song played in the WWE for the first time when Punk had returned after leaving the company with the title.
We know in real life, there is probably no love lost between CM Punk and Triple H, and that would make great theatre in a storyline leading up to WrestleMania.
The only problem is that CM Punk probably has no desire to return to the WWE and is currently focused on trying to avenge the loss that he incurred in his UFC debut. The only silver lining to this is that Dana White probably has no problems letting Punk out of his contract to go back to the WWE, but don’t hold your breath on it.
#1 – The Rock
Over the past couple of years, there have been seeds planted that could have led to a Triple H vs. The Rock match at WrestleMania, but it has never materialised mainly due to the Rock’s hectic movie schedule.
This option is another long shot, but if the Rock could get it to work with his schedule, a return feud against The Game would be a great one worthy of a WrestleMania match.
While both The Rock and Triple H are not in the prime of their professional wrestling careers, they are both in phenomenal shape, so a solid WrestleMania match could definitely happen between these two.
It’s all just a matter of whether The Rock is able to do so.
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