Seth Rollins successfully retained his World Heavyweight Championship against Jinder Mahal Monday night on Raw, but he suffered a loss far greater than any title defeat.
Wade Keller of PWTorch.com first reported after Raw that Rollins suffered a legitimate knee injury in the match that left him requiring assistance and noticeably limping backstage.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select reported on Friday what many feared: Rollins tore his MCL and partially tore his meniscus.
The idea of WWE potentially losing its workhorse champion for any period, let alone having to head into WrestleMania 40 without one of the competitors around whom a top story on the show would be built is devastating—for both the company and the man himself.
While there has been no official diagnosis or any determination of how much time Rollins will presumably miss, it is impossible not to look ahead and imagine what the 2024 Showcase of the Immortals looks like without The Visionary.
Massive Reconfiguration of the WrestleMania Card
From the moment he stepped through the curtain in Chicago at Survivor Series and basked in the roar of his hometown crowd, while simultaneously enraging Rollins to the point of an f-bomb tirade, CM Punk has been the consensus opponent for the world champ at WrestleMania.
An intense promo showdown between the two only intensified the expectation that would be the match, while little hints here and digs there have continued to plant the seeds for the showdown.
Should he have to miss the biggest show of the year, Triple H and WWE Creative will find themselves looking for an alternative direction, not only for CM Punk, but also the World Heavyweight Championship, which The Revolutionary would likely have to vacate in that scenario.
Punk likely remains a key figure in that puzzle, thanks to his undeniable star power and the fact that he has yet to main event WrestleMania, a story he hopes to finish in Philadelphia.
Speaking of which...
Cody Rhodes Finishes His Story No Matter What
With speculation running rampant that The Rock may return to the ring for the first time since 2013 to do battle with Roman Reigns in a dream match of epic proportions, Cody Rhodes appears to be the odd man out.
Appeared—past tense—as fate may have it.
The most obvious and logical Superstar to take his place is The American Nightmare.
Rhodes is a workhorse, making all of the rounds and putting in all of the appearances long after the show ends as one of the faces of the company.
Putting him in a position to fight for the title should Rollins be forced to forfeit it makes sense and allows Rhodes to finish his story by winning the championship his father was never able to grab during his brief time working for Vince McMahon Sr.
It also creates a ready-made feud with a returning Rollins, who can take exception to his rival winning the title, going as far as to claim that the only reason he was able to finish his story is that The Visionary did not get a chance to finish his own.
Hopefully, It Does Not Get to That Point
Rollins has done everything you want a champion to do.
He has appeared at all of the live events, is often the last guy out of the building as the main event attraction, works every Monday night, and has defended his World Heavyweight Championship more times in the past month than Reigns has defended his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in the past six.
He has committed himself to his on-screen persona, is as good a worker as there is in the industry, and earned this run as champion.
For him to potentially have to give it up, as he did a decade ago after suffering a devastating knee injury at the height of his run as WWE Champion during his initial heel turn that also forced him to miss the biggest show of the year, would be a massive disappointment for a guy who clawed his way back to the top of the card.
As much as Punk and Rhodes, and even Drew McIntyre, have earned the right to finish their stories and see their dreams come true, Rollins has equally earned the opportunity to see his title reign through and finish it off with one of the marquee matches on the WrestleMania card.
