Seth Rollins must connect with the crowd before breaking out as a babyface

A missed opportunity

There were few better than Rollins in 2015, especially when he ran the joint for a whopping seven months as WWE World champion. It was only after he suffered a serious injury at the tail end of the year and it was revealed he would be out for many months that the tides turned against him.

The story essentially wrote itself: Rollins was forced to relinquish the prestigious prize as a result of his extensive surgery, and when he resurfaced he would be a babyface. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and the WWE Universe was ready for Rollins to take his place as the company's top face.

Despite Rollins receiving a raucous reaction from a rowdy Newark, NJ crowd in his initial appearance back from injury, WWE was determined to keep him a heel for the foreseeable future. They refused to listen to their audience and Rollins remained an antagonist for months before plans changed due to Finn Balor getting hurt at SummerSlam.