Credit: WWE
As Seth Rollins made his way to the ring as part of the Night 1 festivities at WrestleMania 38, one thing became very clear, very fast: Now is the time to turn him babyface.
That was even before his loss to Cody Rhodes.
The fans sang along to his theme music as he entered the squared circle, but they had been singing along in the weeks that preceded the event. Dating back to his feud with Roman Reigns over the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble, The Visionary has been poised for a major babyface run.
After losing to Rhodes on Saturday night, Rollins interrupted The American Nightmare’s promo Monday night to extend his hand in a sign of respect and welcome him back to WWE. It was the first step in a turn that will benefit both the performer and the brand.
Freshening Rollins Up
Rollins has been a heel since fans turned on his generic babyface persona in the fall of 2019. He has gone through several incarnations since then, including a Monday Night Messiah character so over the top that he pulled out Rey Mysterio’s eye out at an Extreme Rules pay-per-view WWE probably hopes you have forgotten about by now.
He has clashed with every top star, wrestled in every possible match and done all there is to do as a lead villain. He has been treading water, as evidenced by the fact that there were no definitive plans for him at WrestleMania had Rhodes not put pen to paper and rejoined the company.
What remains for Rollins on Raw should he not turn babyface?
Besides being beaten into the ground in rematches with Rhodes? Maybe a feud with the newly babyface Bobby Lashley? Probably a feud with Ezekiel, Elias’ younger brother, because…reasons.
There is little left for The Visionary to do as a heel that will not feel like he is stuck on a creative treadmill.
Turning him babyface but retaining the over-the-top nature of the character allows fans to continue singing along as he enters the arena, puts Rollins’ personality on display and gives him a new crop of competitors to square off with every week.
The rekindling of a rivalry with Edge, a showdown with Damian Priest, matches against young heels like Omos and Veer…the potential is limitless for Rollins as a babyface on Raw.
It is in the last of those three options that a babyface turn would benefit the company as a whole.
Revitalizing Raw
Rollins is one of the best wrestlers on the planet and in the midst of a major hot streak. He is doing some of the best work of his career, from both a character and in-ring perspective. Why not let the young talent that makes up the Raw roster benefit from that?
Sure, there will always be matches with Kevin Owens, Edge and even Reigns for the company to go back to but if there is a talent as special as Rollins is right now, why not put him in there with the likes of Omos, Priest, Veer and Austin Theory? Even Alpha Academy could see their stars rise by working alongside him.
Let them get the rub of working with one of the greats of this generation and learn between the ropes while doing so.
Fans are already chomping at the bit to cheer for Rollins anyway, so you might as well benefit from it.
Let the 35-year-old do for Raw what Bret Hart attempted to do for WWE in the mid-1990s, when he was tasked with working alongside the likes of Jean-Pierre Lafitte and Hakushi in hopes of developing them.
The result will be a fresher Raw rather than one marred with repetitive matches that fans stopped caring about long ago. They will have a new babyface to root for in fresh matches against talent he can help mold into the stars WWE hopes they become.
It is a win-win for everyone involved. Most importantly, that approach prevents a sudden rush to the title picture, which would hurt his long-term ability to remain super-over with audiences that appreciate the fact he has not been shoved down their throats over the last year or so.
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