The shocking betrayal of Seth Rollins by his own faction, The Vision, on this past week’s episode of Raw was reportedly not a long-term planned storyline, but a creative decision “necessitated” by a legitimate injury to the World Heavyweight Champion. According to a new report from PWInsiderElite.com, there is a belief within WWE that Rollins may be heading for shoulder or rotator cuff surgery to repair the damage he sustained at the Crown Jewel premium live event.
The report states that while some within WWE have a “wait and see” stance on Rollins’ injury due to a previous, fabricated injury storyline from earlier this year, others believe this situation is legitimate. Those who believe the injury is real have pointed to the fact that the turn on Rollins happened very early in The Vision’s run and that it has seemingly taken major money-making matches against CM Punk and Roman Reigns off the table, at least for the time being.
One high-up executive acknowledged to PWInsider that Rollins was hurt, but at the time, no one had the full details. Now, “there was word spreading of a potential surgery, but nothing has been officially announced by anyone in the company – nor has there been any acknowledgement of what this means for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.”
Rollins is believed to have injured his left shoulder during his main event match against Cody Rhodes at Crown Jewel in Perth, Australia. The injury is thought to have occurred when he landed awkwardly while executing a coast-to-coast dive. He was then seen in a sling in a photo with a fan before the Raw taping, which further fueled the injury speculation. The on-screen angle where Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed attacked him and aligned with Paul Heyman was a dramatic way to write him off television so he could recover.
The “silver lining” to the situation, as noted by some in the report, is the opportunity to “push Breakker and Reed to the moon” with Paul Heyman as their mouthpiece, a move that could “shake up the current creative doldrums.” For now, the wrestling world awaits an official update on the condition of the World Heavyweight Champion and what the future holds for the title he may now be forced to vacate.
