The days of WWE audiences serenading Seth Rollins as he makes his way to the ring may be over now that he's injured both Cody Rhodes and Riddle in storyline. The Architect attacked Riddle following the main event of the July 25 edition of Monday Night Raw. After taking things to the outside, Rollins gave the former UFC fighter a curb stomp onto the steel steps, which lead to WWE pulling the match from the upcoming premium live event card.
Riddle vs Rollins was poised to be one of the better matches of the evening, and audiences who were looking forward to the fight will have all the reason in the world to boo Seth. Deep Waters is just the latest victim of the former Monday Night Messiah, as WWE credited him with hurting Rhodes during their bout at Hell In The Cell in early June. That was a megastar-making performance for The American Nightmare, while Rollins didn't miss a beat before bearing down on Riddle.
According to @WWE on Twitter, Riddle sustained a "brachial plexus injury", or a stinger during Rollins' attack and he won't be able to compete at SummerSlam. Shortly after that news broke, Fightful Select conveyed that they were "told that the injury is kayfabe, and there are a plans to do the match down the line. Those we spoke to claim it was due to 'creative adjustments'"(sic) While it's good news that the injury isn't an actual issue, the amount of heat that it should get Rollins could be of the nuclear variety.
Seth Rollins Is One Promo Away From White-Hot Heat
If Randy Orton was the Legend Killer, then lately, Rollins has been the killer of everyone's favorite faces. There wasn't anyone more over than Cody Rhodes before he was hurt by Seth (again, in storyline), and it'll be several more months before WWE fans see him wrestle again after what happened at Hell In A Cell and the subsequent episode of Raw. Those attacks didn't get the former Sheild member quite as much heat as they should have, mostly because of how enjoyable his heel work has been.
Hurting Riddle, who was in the midst of the best run of his main roster career, might do the trick in terms of getting Rollins the chorus of boos he seems to crave. If WWE wants him to be the top heel in the company—something that he probably can rightfully claim to be already—all they need to do is let him work the mic and gloat about how fans won't be seeing Riddle or Cody Rhodes anytime soon thanks to him. This gets Rollins heat as a vicious, vindictive, and jealous heel while also giving both Riddle and Cody a top-tier final boss to take down when the time is right. This may also be the first adjustment that Triple H is making to Vince McMahon's creative direction, but that is speculation. WWE SummerSlam is set to take place on July 30 and will air live on Peacock.
Sources: @WWE/Twitter, Fightful Selec