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One of the biggest Superstars of the current era, Seth Rollins has been absent from WWE TV recently due to his paternity leave. Earlier this month, Seth Rollins and his fiance, WWE Superstar Becky Lynch, welcomed their first child.
Rollins last appeared for WWE at Survivor Series 2020 where he competed as part of Team SmackDown in the men's five-on-five elimination match but sacrificed himself for the 'greater good' in the very beginning and got eliminated.
WWE has now announced that Seth Rollins will be returning to Friday Night SmackDown next week and the question is what could he do upon his return? Rollins was drafted to SmackDown at the 2020 WWE Draft and claimed himself to be SmackDown's savior.
Let's take a look at five things Seth Rollins could do on SmackDown when he returns next week. Be sure to comment down and let us know who do you think he should go after?
#5 Seth Rollins announces his entry into the Royal Rumble match
The new year brings with it one of the most exciting nights of the year for WWE fans in the form of Royal Rumble. WWE Royal Rumble 2021 has been announced to take place on January 31, 2021. This past week on SmackDown, Daniel Bryan officially declared himself as the first entrant into the match and we might see more top Superstars do the same in the coming weeks.
Seth Rollins, the 2019 Royal Rumble winner, could very well announce his entry into the match when he returns to SmackDown next week. While there have been talks of Goldberg challenging Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 37, a clash between The Tribal Chief and his former Shield brother, Seth Rollins, at The Show of Shows would be an exciting match as well. Of course, for that Rollins will have to win the Royal Rumble once again. Can he do it?
#4 Seth Rollins resumes his feud with Murphy and the Mysterio family
The feud between Seth Rollins and Rey Mysterio started very well. The two had some amazing matches, including their clash at WWE Extreme Rules in the 'Eye for an Eye' match. Then Rey Mysterio's son Dominik Mysterio got involved in the mix and made his debut against Seth Rollins at SummerSlam 2020.
However, things started getting complicated when the entire Mysterio family got involved in the mix. While Murphy turning face and going against Seth Rollins was always on the cards, no one expected him to start an on-screen relationship with Aalyah Mysterio and everything that happened between the two.
On the SmackDown before WWE Survivor Series 2020, Murphy defeated Seth Rollins with a lot of help from the Mysterio family. While fans would be happy if that was the end of the feud which dragged a little too long, that might not turn out to be the case.
A very possible direction for Seth Rollins upon his return to SmackDown next week is continuing his feud against Murphy and the Mysterio family. The Mysterios have pretty much disappeared from WWE TV in the last month as well which goes on to prove how crucial the feud with Seth Rollins was for the likes of Dominik Mysterio and Murphy to get that main-event spotlight.
#3 Seth Rollins enters the Intercontinental Championship picture
Seth Rollins is one of the few WWE Superstars on the current roster who have won all the singles championships available on the main roster (of course, without counting the 24/7 title). Seth Rollins' reign as the Intercontinental Champion was one of the best ones in recent memory as he truly was the workhorse champion.
This past week on the Christmas special episode of Friday Night SmackDown, Big E became the new Intercontinental Champion by defeating Sami Zayn in a Lumberjack match. While there are several heels against whom Big E can have a program going forward, WWE might have some big plans for him in the form of Seth Rollins.
An interesting possibility for Seth Rollins' return to SmackDown next week would be for him to enter the IC Championship picture and possibly layout a challenge to Big E. Rollins is now in that stage of his career where the responsibility to create and put over new Superstars falls on his shoulders. We saw him do that to Murphy and WWE might use him again to give a massive rub to the new Intercontinental Champion, Big E. Would you like to see Seth Rollins vs. Big E for the IC title at WWE Royal Rumble 2021?
#2 Seth Rollins confronts the Universal Champion Roman Reigns
Former Shield brothers, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns have had quite a history together, be it on the same side or against each other. However, The Architect of The Shield hasn't come face-to-face with this new version of Reigns, The Tribal Chief. But could that happen really soon?
Ever since Seth Rollins' departure from WWE last month, fans have speculated whether he would return with a new gimmick and become a face again? If that does happen, it would open the doors for him to go after Roman Reigns and his Universal Championship.
A fascinating possibility for next week's SmackDown when Seth Rollins returns could be for him to confront Roman Reigns. If WWE does have plans to let Goldberg take on Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 37, Rollins would be a pretty great option to feud with him and have a match for the Universal Championship at Royal Rumble 2021.
However, there could be another interesting twist in the tale as Roman Reigns has been in a feud with Kevin Owens recently. More on that in the next slide.
#1 Seth Rollins forms an alliance with Kevin Owens
Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens are two Superstars who excel both as babyfaces as well as heels. The two have had quite a history and clashed against each other at WrestleMania 36 earlier this year.
At WWE TLC 2020 and then on the Christmas special edition of SmackDown, we witnessed Kevin Owens falling short to defeat the Universal Champion Roman Reigns. A big reason for that was the involvement and interference from Jey Uso as he and Reigns outnumbered KO.
Such situations usually result in the victim getting himself a massive back-up and in this situation, it could be Seth Rollins who returns on SmackDown next week and forms an alliance with Kevin Owens to even the odds in his favor. Of course, this would lead to Rollins turning babyface.
There would of course be questions of how WWE would explain Seth Rollins turning from a sadistic heel to a babyface in just a month's absence. However, a very significant real-life event that happened with Seth Rollins recently could be used on TV to explain his character change as well. We saw even The Miz turn babyface after the birth of his child, so why not Seth Rollins.
