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Colby Daniel Lopez, better known to the world as Seth Rollins, has seemed destined for success in the squared circle from early in his career.
He won his first heavyweight singles championship in less than a year after his debut for Scott County Wrestling as the character Tyler Black. Lopez would spray paint the SCW title black, both a homage to the NWO and a sign that the era of Black had begun.
From that early success, he would go on to work for both Pro Wrestling Guerrilla--where he faced future WWE employee AJ Styles--and Ring of Honor Wrestling. He technically wrestled for TNA in a tryout match but was never called back for a full-time contract.
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Lopez distinguished himself in Ring of Honor, first winning their tag team titles (with Goth Princess Jimmy Jacobs) and then their big belt, the ROH World Heavyweight Championship. It was during his reign as champion that he was signed to a developmental deal with WWE.
He was first a champion in FCW, the precursor to NXT, and then that promotion's champion as well. Lopez made his debut on the Raw brand under the name Seth Rollins as part of the Shield faction. Eventually, he would betray the group and wind up being the WWE champion two times.
Now, Rollins seems to be the most popular wrestler on Raw, and there are a lot of reasons he should be the one to main event Wrestlemania 35. Here are ten of them.
#1. Popular with the fans
Seth Rollins has fans all around the globe and has always been respected by the wrestling fandom even if they boo him as a heel.
However, since Roman Reigns has had to take a leave of absence due to illness, Seth Rollins has seen his popularity skyrocket. Fans respect his work ethic and technical skill and recognize how hard he has worked to get to the level he is today.
Unlike some other Shield members we could mention, Seth is enjoying wall to wall cheers. WWE would be wise to capitalize on this surge in popularity and put him in the main event at their biggest show of the year.
#2. He worked his way to the top, and fans respect him for it.
In this day and age, it seems like in order to be a champion wrestler you don't actually have to put a lot of time in wrestling.
From Ronda Rousey's meteoric rise to the women's division title on Raw to Brock Lesnar's 'I'll defend the title whenever I feel like it' attitude, fans are tiring of seeing the big belts go to part-timers or big names who haven't, in the parlance of the wrestling industry, 'paid their dues.'
Seth Rollins is a man who has paid his dues. He paid them with blood, sweat, and tears on his slow rise to a WWE contract, wrestling his heart out in front of crowds of less than a hundred people for pitiful amounts of pay. Fans recognize and respect that Rollins is a man who earned his way to the top of the wrestling world.
#3. He's great as a heel or a babyface
When the legendary Nature Boy Ric Flair was asked who the greatest wrestler of all time was, he had a simple answer:
"Me!"
But then Flair went on to say that, in his opinion, Ricky the Dragon Steamboat--Flair's most celebrated rival--was actually a better wrestler. However, he still thought that he was a bigger star than Steamboat because of one simple reason:
Steamboat never worked as a heel, or 'bad guy' in the wrestling business. Ricky Steamboat worked his entire career as a babyface, and Flair believes that to be the best of the best of the best one must work both heel and face.
A man who excels as both heel and face is Seth Rollins. He successfully became WWE's greatest villain by betraying his Shield mates and kept the momentum going until he was asked to jump the fence back to being a hero. Since then he has proven he has what it takes to work both sides equally well.
#4. He trains at an Olympic level
By Seth Rollins's own admission, his physique used to be 'skinny fat.' What he means by this is not that he was, by any stretch of the imagination, overweight, but that his body type tends less toward the big and bulky look categorized by men like John Cena and Batista, and more closely hews to what average people look like.
However, he discovered CrossFit and hasn't looked back since. Thanks to his hard work ethic and scientifically engineered training techniques, he has chiselled his 'skinny fat' body into a veritable Adonis. When it comes to strength, speed, agility, and--most important for a wrestler--endurance, Seth is at the top of his game.
In fact, his love of CrossFit has spread to other WWE stars as well. Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong are among his disciples, and they also prove that with enough effort and technique anyone can have a stellar body.
#5. Everywhere he goes, he winds up wearing gold around his waist.
There is an old adage that goes something like this: Great people do not seek out power, but rather they have it thrust upon them by the people.
In wrestling, it could be interpreted as 'Great men don't seek championships, they have them belted about their waist.'
It's quite true that Seth Rollins has wound up wearing championship gold around his waist in literally every promotion he has worked for (not including his one-off match for TNA/Impact.) Unlike some wrestlers, such as Kevin Nash, Rollins doesn't play political games backstage or create drama; He is made champion because he is the best suited to the role.
This was true in SCW, in PWG, and in ROH. And now it's true in WWE as well.
#6. He weathered social media controversy and came out unscathed.
In this day and age, any celebrity, be they a movie star, a rock musician, or a public figure, must be extremely cautious about their social media footprint.
For example, big time Hollywood movie director James Gunn--who practically wove the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise from whole cloth--recently was fired by Disney from working on the third film in the series. The reason? Some racist and ill-humoured tweets from nearly ten years ago.
Another example is the Hulkster, Hulk Hogan. His particular fall from grace did result in a billion dollar payday from Gawker.com, but on the other hand, it nearly cost him his career and did cost him his position in the WWE hall of fame for a time.
It seems that no one is immune to the effects of a social media internet scandal--except Seth Rollins. After former girlfriend Zhara Schreiber posted some indecent photos of Seth and then made a lot of pro-Nazi tweets, it seemed like Rollins might plummet from his main event status and end up out of a job. However, two years later he is the Intercontinental champion and the most popular superstar on Raw. Rollins can handle the scandal, it seems.
#7. He's a 'locker room leader.'
Just exactly what qualifies a wrestler as a 'locker room leader' is a bit elusive. After all, it doesn't necessarily mean that the leader is the biggest star by default. It doesn't even mean that the world champion is the leader by default.
For example, Ric Flair was the NWA champion in the 1980s, but as Flair was frequently doing photo ops, interviews, and travelling around the world, it often fell upon Arn Anderson's shoulders to be the locker room leader. Even though Arn wasn't as big a star as Flair, he was the one who younger and journeymen wrestles looked to for guidance and for a role model.
Seth Rollins is a great candidate for a locker room leader role. He has the respect of 'the boys,' and that of management as well. He is a veteran who has wrestled for more than a decade and has much experience and wisdom to share. Making him main event Wrestlemania would be a great impetus to the other wrestlers accepting him in such a locker room leadership role.
#8. Supreme technical wrestling ability
As might be expected from someone who won the Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Championship, Seth Rollins is quite a skilled technical wrestler.
Technical wrestlers are renowned for their deep and varied movements, and being able to perform in any area of the ring--and sometimes outside of it as well. At one time technical wrestling was somewhat out of vogue--this was particularly true during the Attitude era and the Monday Night War, where a lot of matches broke down in fisticuffs--but now it has made a comeback. Wrestlers like AJ Styles, Bobby Roode, and the Undisputed Era have all brought their technical games to the WWE, and the results have been both spectacular and garnered the support of the WWE Universe.
Seth Rollins is one of the top technical wrestlers in the world and should be allowed to showcase his abilities at the grandest stage of them all at Wrestlemania 35.
#9. He's willing to go high risk if necessary
While Seth Rollins is not technically a high flying wrestler--like Lucha House Party or Ricochet--he can still fly ably when he wants to.
Coming off the top rope results in one of the most spectacular visuals in professional wrestling, and is unique to sports entertainment. While some wrestlers such as Hulk Hogan made an entire career with hardly ever traversing to the top rope, it's generally expected that most wrestlers will at least perform a double axe handle from the middle rope.
Seth Rollins goes above and beyond this standard--literally. While it may not be the hallmark of his character or wrestling style, he is willing and able to fly when the occasion warrants it. Seth Rollins can bring his high flying moves to Wrestlemania, and showcase them to the largest sports entertainment audience in the world if only WWE will let him.
#10. Seth Rollins could be bigger than John Cena or Roman Reigns
Hulk Hogan. Ric Flair. The Rock. John Cena.
All of these men are pro wrestling legends, it is true. However, the man now known as Seth Rollins has the potential to outdo them all.
If you look at the aforementioned men, they all brought something to the table that was either unique or sought after. Hulk Hogan was great at portraying the stereotypical All American hero. Ric Flair provided the swaggering villainy that kept NWA on the cultural map.
The Rock's boundless charisma made magic every time he held the mike. And John Cena's work ethic and earnest soulfulness have yet to be replicated.
But Seth Rollins doesn't just bring a single qualification to the table. No, he's too good for that! Rollins brings technical ability, high flying moves, the charisma to work heel or face, and popularity and respect from the fans to the game. Simply put, there is no one more worthy on the Raw roster of main eventing Wrestlemania 35. If given the right opportunities, Rollins could be the biggest wrestling star WWE has ever produced in history.
There you have it; Ten reasons Seth Rollins should main event Wrestlemania 35. Questions or comments? Please leave them after the article and as always thanks for reading!
Ex WWE writer blasts Liv Morgan HERE
