• Home
  • Movies
  • Music
  • TV
  • Video Games
  • Wrestling
  • Topics
  • Latest Comments on Cult of Whatever
Search
Cult of Whatever logo
  • Movies
    Featured
    • The Living Daylights: Timothy Dalton as James Bond

      The Living Daylights is still awesome, thirty-five years later

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 28, 2022
      Movie Blogs
    Recent
    • The Muppet Christmas Carol: Michael Caine as Scrooge

      The Muppet’s Christmas Carol remains the gold standard for the book

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 20, 2022
    • Nightmare Before Christmas 1993 1

      2022’s Christmas Movie Watchlist!

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 18, 2022
    • Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio Poster

      REVIEW: GDT’s Pinocchio is my favorite film of the year!

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 14, 2022
    • Troll: Ine Marie Wilmann as Nora

      REVIEWS: TROLL and TROLL HUNTER -A giant creature double feature!

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 5, 2022
    • Harry with The Hendersons

      Harry and the Hendersons is still awesome, thirty-five years later

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 1, 2022
    • Fantastic Four Poster

      The five best “rogues galleries” in superherodom! (part 3)

      By Matthew Martin
      | November 28, 2022
  • Music
    Random
    • Elvis 1969 Bg

      Elvis's 40 Year Reign (1969-70)

      By Matthew Martin
      | September 3, 2017
      Music Blogs
    Recent
    • The Beatles: Get Back

      What GET BACK reveals about the Beatles

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 15, 2021
    • Simon And Garfunkel at Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam1982

      The Boxer is a song about being conned

      By Matthew Martin
      | July 4, 2021
    • Lady Gaga: Chromatica Album Cover

      Lady Gaga’s discography is totally out of order

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 3, 2021
    • Michael Jackson Thriller Album Cover

      Thirty years ago music fans said “Nevermind” to Michael Jackson

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 21, 2021
    • Queen II Album Cover

      On Queen’s The Miracle, and the importance of track ordering

      By Matthew Martin
      | February 16, 2021
    • Linda Paul Mccartney 1976

      50 years ago, McCartney dropped “Lennon” and went solo…

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 5, 2020
  • TV
    Featured
    • Big Sky S03e05: Kylie Bunbury, J. Anthony Pena and Katheryn Winnick as Cassie Dewell, Mo Poppernak and Jenny Hoyt

      Big Sky S03E05 Review: Flesh and Blood - Glamping!

      By Salome G
      | October 22, 2022
      TV Blogs
    Recent
    • Big Sky S03e10: Gang

      Big Sky S03E10 Review: A Thin Layer of Rock – Break time…

      By Salome G
      | December 11, 2022
    • Rick And Morty: S01e03

      Is Beth from Rick and Morty a bigger sociopath than Rick?

      By Jason Collins
      | December 7, 2022
    • Big Sky S03e09: Dedee Pfeiffer and Cree as Denise and Emily

      Big Sky S03E09: Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire – Stalling

      By Salome G
      | December 1, 2022
    • The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special: Dave Bautista and Pom Klementieff as Drax and Mantis

      REVIEW: The GOTG Holiday Special is a sweet prelude to next year’s finale

      By Matthew Martin
      | November 27, 2022
    • The Midnight Club S01: The Gang

      The Midnight Club S1 Review – A series of unfortunate events

      By Salome G
      | November 24, 2022
    • Big Sky S03e08: Reba McEntire as Sunny Barnes

      Big Sky S03E08 Review: Duck Hunting – I love a weirdo.

      By Salome G
      | November 19, 2022
  • Video Games
    Featured
    • Arkham Knight

      Batman: Arkham Knight - A fitting end to a trilogy

      By Tom Farr
      | July 18, 2015
      Video Game Reviews
    Recent
    • Splatoon 3 Screenshot

      A trio of Nintendo Switch reviews!

      By Matthew Martin
      | September 28, 2022
    • Nintendo Switch Logo

      Looking ahead to the Switch 2: Predictions and Wants

      By Matthew Martin
      | August 15, 2022
    • Legend Of Zelda

      Can a Legend of Zelda movie work?

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 6, 2022
    • Super Mario 64

      Which system had the better launch: A battle of four Nintendo consoles

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 1, 2021
    • Luigi's Mansion

      Happy twentieth to Nintendo’s underrated gem, the Gamecube

      By Matthew Martin
      | November 18, 2021
    • Metroid Dread

      Metroid Dread – Post Game analysis and sequel needs

      By Matthew Martin
      | October 29, 2021
  • Wrestling
    Featured
    • AEW All Out 2022: Keith Lee. Anthony Bowens, Max Caster and Billy Gunn

      AEW All Out 2022 - Review and (wild) Speculation!

      By Matthew Martin
      | September 5, 2022
      AEW
    Recent
    • WWE WrestleMania 38: Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins

      Was 2022 the wildest year in wrestling history?

      By Matthew Martin
      | January 4, 2023
    • AEW Full Gear 2022: Young Bucks and Kenny Omega Elite Entrance

      AEW Full Gear 2022 – A needed reset at the end of a tough year

      By Matthew Martin
      | November 22, 2022
    • WWE Survivor Series 1997: Bret Hart

      The Montreal Screwjob – Twenty Five Years Later

      By Matthew Martin
      | November 8, 2022
    • AEW Grand Slam 2022: Jungle Boy and Rey Fenix

      AEW GRANDSLAM 2022 showcased the present and future of the promotion

      By Matthew Martin
      | September 25, 2022
    • AEW All Out 2022: CM Punk

      AEW All Out Fall Out: All the CM Punk drama that’s fit to print!

      By Matthew Martin
      | September 5, 2022
    • AEW Dark: Ricky Starks (22/09/20)

      The future of the AEW World Championship

      By Matthew Martin
      | August 14, 2022
  • Topics
    • site logo
    Latest
    • Was 2022 the wildest year in wrestling history?
    • The Muppet's Christmas Carol remains the gold standard for the book
    • 2022's Christmas Movie Watchlist!
    • REVIEW: GDT's Pinocchio is my favorite film of the year!
    • Big Sky S03E10 Review: A Thin Layer of Rock - Break time...
    • Is Beth from Rick and Morty a bigger sociopath than Rick?

    The Thrill of the Chase, or why WrestleMania 31 should totally be Seth Rollins’ big moment

    By Matthew Martin
    | March 29, 2015
    WWE Blogs

    Despite Lesnar resigning with WWE it seems highly unlikely if not improbable that he will continue with the title until NEXT year’s WrestleMania. It would seem that the WrestleMania 31 main event is still a foregone conclusion:

    Roman Reigns will defeat Lesnar because the whole point of Lesnar’s reign was to put over the next superstar of tomorrow .

    That seems to be the general consensus people are settling on. But, uh…aren’t we forgetting something?

    Seth Laugh

    Just look at that face. Who would have thought one year ago that the face of Seth Rollins would be so punchable. Back when The Shield was still “The Shield” it seemed all anyone wanted to talk about was which of the three would be the breakout star and which would be the Marty Jannetty. Roman Reigns was clearly the future main-eventer if Vince would get his way (and he does…and he did). Ambrose was a bundle of energy and raw charisma that made him an instant star and favorite among the more hardcore fans of WWE.

    Rollins meanwhile was the best worker of the trio and certainly had the most impressive resume coming into WWE, but mic skills mean a lot more on RAW than they do in Ring of Honor. When Seth picked up a mic he was NyQuil. He had the unwanted ability to turn a three-sentence promo into a ten-paragraph speech. Meanwhile Ambrose could spin a yard that kept you hanging on every word; Roman was good (in those days) of just grabbing the stick and saying “Believe that…believe in the Shield” and peacing-out. Poor Seth Rollins was the presumptive odd man out. Liked by management but not as much as Roman, liked by fans but not as much as Dean. Poor Seth seemed doomed, whenever The Shield finally split, to a life of meaningless tag matches and throw away midcard title oppertuniWHOA WHAT IS THAT, WHAT JUST HAPPENED TO MY HEART, ITS BREAKING?!

    Seth Chairshot

    Before our very eyes “poor” Seth became THE breakout star of The Shield. And while Dean will always be adored by fans, and while Roman will always have the protection that comes with being Vince’s current pet project, Seth is the guy who really grabbed the brass ring. He’s the guy who took an upper-midcard spot and climbed the ladder to main-event status.

    Before you say it, yes: He’s a cowardly little turd of a heel. But that’s par for the course for almost every heel in WWE, and certainly for every heel that’s not as protected as Rusev, as mystical as Bray Wyatt or as unconquerable-by-gimmick as Brock Lesnar.

    Forget the way he does his heeling; look at how he went toe-to-toe with Brock at the Royal Rumble this year and owned that match. It was a triple threat but this time John Cena was the odd man out. That fight was Lesnar vs Rollins and fans could not wait to see Rollins get his in the weeks building up to the fight, and they respected how tough he looked in the middle of it (before ultimately…getting his at the end of it). It was a clinic on good heeling.

    His feud with Orton has been hampered by odd booking decisions but through it all Seth has looked every bit belonging on Orton’s level. Again, take away the cowardly heel tactics. When you see Seth and Randy in the same ring, do they not look like equals? Certainly. When you see Brock and Roman in the same ring, did it not look like a main-eventer and a mid-carder? Seth isn’t quite a “made man” yet because he’s lacking that one jewel in his crown to really solidify himself as a top star: A world championship.

    WrestleMania 31 would be the perfect time to give it to him.

    Forget Roman. He might one day live up to the promise he once showed and the push he’s been given, but right now it’s not unfair to say he’s fallen short of expectations. Blame a lot of that on Vince and co. for some bad bad decisions at critical moments (who approved of those “via satellite” promos while he was injured? Who okay’d those horrible Looney Tunes promos?), but blame doesn’t change the facts, and the fact is Roman’s star is diminished heading into WrestleMania compared to coming into SummerSlam last year (when he had his first singles PPV match).

    It’s Seth Rollins, not Roman Reigns, that deserves to walk out of WrestleMania the champ.

    And the best part about that is, if they do it right, it wouldn’t hurt Roman Reigns one bit. Not any more than winning the title to a chorus of boos would, at least.

    ___________________

    There are two kinds of babyface champions: The rulers and the seekers.

    The rulers are the champions who hold on to the belt for a long time, defeating challenges big and small along the way and facing off against a giant opponent here and there, just to keep things interesting. This is the kind of champion that’s been the norm since the early days of the WWWF. Bruno Sammartino ruled for seven years as champion. Pedro Morales for two years. Bruno again for five more years. Bob Backlund held onto the gold for five years as well. Hulk Hogan kicked off the modern era of pro wrestling with a four year reign. After that, thanks to greater TV exposure, the length of reigns got shorter, but still you had Macho Man’s year-long run, Hogan’s year long run, Warrior’s almost-year long run, Diesel’s year long run, etc.

    Starting in the waning days of the Hogan years, the title changed hands more frequently than ever. There have always been transitional champions in the McMahon wrestling empire (the WWWF’s first champion, Nature Boy Buddy Rogers only had the title for a month before passing it on to Bruno), but in the early 90’s it didn’t matter if you were face or heel you were probably not going to hold the belt for long. Undertaker won it from Hogan and held it for two days before losing it back. The title was then held up until the Rumble in 1992 when Ric Fair famously won it. He lost it just a few months later at WrestleMania VIII. Savage didn’t hold it for long as it soon went back to Flair who then dropped it to Bret Hart. Hart looked like he might grow in to his new-found role as a main-eventer, but instead he dropped it to Yokozuna. The “Japanese” giant held the belt from June of 1994 until WrestleMania X the following Spring; not even a year yet by that point it was considered a “long” reign.

    The title seemed to change hands weekly in the run up to WrestleMania 13, and then the Attitude Era kicked off a year later with Steve Austin winning the title. He was unquestionably the biggest star since Hogan. It would have been conventional for him to go on a long title run, akin to Sammartino, Backlund, Hogan. Instead he dropped it a few months later to Kane.

    And then won it back the next night.

    Throughout Austin’s main event run, pre-neck surgery (so, 1998-1999), he captured the WWF title four times. Mind you, Hulk Hogan won the championship five times from 1984-1994. It took Hogan seven years to win the title as many times as Austin won it in two. Times had changed and Austin was a new kind of babyface champion. Not a transitional champion, but a “seeking” champion.

    A “seeking” champion is the guy who main-events the PPVs, is central to all the top angles and storylines, is the face of the weekly TV show and is the franchise of the company. Basically he’s everything the top champion is supposed to, only whether or not he has the title is irrelevant. If he has the belt he’s defending it just like the old champions did. But if he was screwed out of the title, he didn’t leave the territory like in the old days; the territory was a weekly TV show: No one leaves! Instead, the defeated champion sets his sights immediately on regaining the belt, and then he eventually does, before the whole process starts over.

    It sounds old hat today, but it didn’t become the norm until Steve Austin started feuding with his evil boss, Mr. McMahon.

    ____________________

    Since the Attitude Era, there have only been a few examples of guys having long continuous reigns. JBL had one as a heel on Smackdown in the mid 2000’s, but again “long” is a relavtive term here. In the days of 2-3 month reigns, holding the belt for ten months was a big deal. John Cena also had one as a classic ruling babyface from September 2006 until early October 2007. CM Punk was the last guy to do it; starting out his 400+ day reign as a babyface before turning heel halfway through.

    Also if you’re keeping score, Triple H did have a near-300 day run with the World Heavyweight Championship, but WWE was always less concerned with the prestige of that title than they were with their own home-grown championship.

    Looking at the three recent long-reigning WWE Champions and reflecting on their runs reminds us why the days of year(s)-long reigns is basically over. Fans tuned out of Smackdown while JBL was champion. Fans who were already annoyed by John Cena gave up on WWE altogether while he was in day 200 of his reign and beating guys like The Great Khali on PPV. Punk struggled so much during his run (due to his having exhausted the number of credible heel challengers) that a heel turn was creatively necessary.

    If Vince thinks he can give Roman Reigns an eight month run with the WWE title, he’s crazy. At leat Cena started out with some popularity. CM Punk of course was incredibly over when he won the title. Roman Reigns would potentially be starting off a babyface title run booed worse than the heel he beat and whatever heel he was scheduled to face next.

    Letting him chase the title, however, allows for some unpredictability. It gives Roman a chance to show some vulnerability, which might win him some fans (assuming they don’t go all SuperCena with him…which…now that I type it is probably what they’re going to do).

    ____________________

    Either way, the best way to ensure that the seemingly very predictable WrestleMania main event is not so “ho hum boo” would be to simply do the unpredictable.

    Let Lesnar beat Roman and then have Seth cash-in and win it. Roman chases Seth for the title and during the chase Vince can assess how well fans are responding to him. If they aren’t then they can pull him out of the title picture for the time being and let some other babyface chase the title.

    It would not only give Roman Reigns a second chance to make a first impression with fans, it would reward the guy who has earned a big championship moment at WrestleMania; the guy who has stepped up his game since leaving The Shield, the guy who has become a great talker to compliment his amazing ring work, and the guy who has become the best pure heel on the roster today.

    Seth Smile

    This guy deserves his WrestleMania moment.

    Share this article:

    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit

    Tags

    Brock LesnarRoman ReignsSeth RollinsWrestleMania 31WWE Thoughts

    COMMENTS

    Please read our Commenting Policy before you join in with the discussion.

    Note: If you have email notifications enabled, please check your email spam folders to ensure emails are not missed.

    Subscribe
    Connect withD
    I allow to create an account
    When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
    DisagreeAgree
    Notify of
    guest

    Connect withD
    I allow to create an account
    When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
    DisagreeAgree
    guest

    0 Comments
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments

    You might also like

    • BloatedMania: Is this the year of the undercard?

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 24, 2015
    • Fear and Loathing in WrestleMania: On Reigns, Lesnar and one heck of a poor feud

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 23, 2015
    • Jim Ross Interview: WWE WrestleMania 31 Special

      By Josh Modaberi
      | March 27, 2015

    FIND THE TOPICS YOU WANT...

    Wrestling Topics

    Recommended for you

    • Was 2022 the wildest year in wrestling history?

      By Matthew Martin
      | January 4, 2023
    • The future of the AEW World Championship

      By Matthew Martin
      | August 14, 2022
    • Vince McMahon is out as WWE chief. First reactions here…

      By Matthew Martin
      | July 22, 2022
    • Getting AEW to the next level…

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 29, 2022
    • Your WAY TOO EARLY predictions for WWE WrestleMania 39!

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 20, 2022
    • The Curse of the WWE Royal Rumble

      By John Hancock
      | January 27, 2012
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Affiliate Disclosure
    • Cookie Policy and Settings
    • Terms of Use
    • Photo Credits
    • RSS
    All Cult of Whatever articles, logos, illustrations and graphics are copyright CultOfWhatever.com. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. © 2021 CultOfWhatever. All Rights Reserved.
    • facebook
    • twitter
    wpDiscuz