Seth Rollins was injured at WWE Crown Jewel and written out of The Vision on Raw. (Credit: WWE/WWE via Getty Images)
WWE via Getty Images
WWE star Seth Rollins is injured, and his expected hiatus is going to have a domino effect across Raw, SmackDown and the entire main event scene.
According to multiple reports, the World Heavyweight Champion suffered a major shoulder injury during his match against Cody Rhodes at Crown Jewel last Saturday. Though the extent and exact nature of the injury remain unclear, Rollins is expected to undergo shoulder surgery and “be out of action for several months as a minimum.”
That’s precisely why WWE split up Rollins’ The Vision Stable on last week’s episode of Monday Night Raw, where Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed shockingly betrayed their leader. That betrayal reportedly happened much earlier than originally planned, and in the process, shattered significant creative plans for The Vision and The Bloodline at next month’s WWE Survivor Series: WarGames.
The widespread expectation is that Rollins will now be forced to vacate the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and if and when he does, the creative team will have to go back to the drawing board for numerous top stars. Here are five paths WWE could take with the World Title and Raw’s main event scene in the wake of Rollins’ injury, which is likely to keep him out past WrestleMania 42 next year.
The Bloodline Shifts Focus to Winning WWE Gold
The main feud heading into WWE Survivor Series was originally set to be The Vision vs. a reunited Bloodline in a WarGames match.
That could potentially still happen even without Rollins involved, but with Rollins likely vacating the World Heavyweight Championship, WWE’s creative team could instead look to crown a new world champion as soon as possible. At least two of The Bloodline’s members, Jey Uso and Roman Reigns, would be strong candidates to follow Rollins as Raw’s World champion.
What’s more, Reigns and Uso currenly find themselves somewhat at odds with one another. The basis of their issues stems from Uso continuing to slowly morph into a 2025 version of heel Reigns, and that could ultimately result in the two stars facing each other yet again.
Uso, no doubt, is keen on winning gold again, and Reigns is always a world title threat. Thus, WWE could carve out another interesting Bloodline story arc with Reigns and Uso both looking to win a title that neither star holds as their issues continue to simmer.
WWE Raw Hosts A Tournament To Crown New Champion
WWE is reportedly considering hosting a tournament to decide John Cena’s retirement match opponent, but a shift in creative plans could alter that.
The easiest and perhaps most logical way to crown a new champion when a title is vacated is to host a tournament to determine the new titleholder. Raw, of course, has no shortage of stars who could could compete in a World Heavyweight Championship tournament, either. Stars like a returning Gunther, the Usos, Reigns, Breakker, Reed, Sheamus, AJ Styles and a slew of others would be great fits in a tournament to find a new World Heavyweight Champion.
WWE’s next PLE, Survivor Series: WarGames, isn’t until Nov. 29, giving the creative team plenty of time to create a bracket, host the matches, and still create a compelling narrative for the eventual championship match. Just hosting one world title match, as opposed to a full-fledged tournament, doesn’t really make sense given the sheer star power and depth on Raw, with various talents deserving a shot at the gold.
CM Punk Wins The World Title at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event
Just before The Vision imploded on this week’s WWE Raw, CM Punk won a No. 1 contender’s match against LA Knight and Jey Uso to earn a future World Heavyweight Championship match.
WWE shouldn’t simply forget about that. Instead, Punk should still have a guaranteed title match at some point in the near future. WWE had originally penciled in Rollins vs. Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship at the upcoming Saturday Night’s Main Event on Nov. 1, and Punk could, and should, still fight for the title on that night.
One possible solution is to combine the aforementioned tournament with Punk’s guaranteed title match, with Punk facing the winner of that tournament at SNME in Salt Lake City. Another would be Punk going one-on-one with the winner of another No. 1 contender’s match or even a member of The Vision.
Regardless of the specifics, Punk should definitely be competing for the World title either at Saturday Night’s Main Event or Survivor Series, and after losing it in mere minutes at SummerSlam, he should probably win it back, too.
Bron Breakker Push Begins As He Wins WWE World Heavyweight Championship
The biggest beneficiary of Rollins’ expected absence is almost assuredly going to be Bron Breakker.
The former Intercontinental Champion has long been deemed to be “next in line” as the heir apparent to the likes of Cena, Reigns and Cody Rhodes. That likely wasn’t going to happen until 2026 until Rollins’ injury expedited the process. Now, Breakker is better positioned than anyone in WWE to be able to rapidly rise up the ranks into the main event scene and eventually win a world title.
Breakker’s climb to the top still may not happen until next year, but a creative reshuffling as big as this one is going to have massive ramifications across the board. While Breakker may not have even been considered to win a world title in 2025 as recently as a few weeks ago, The Vision remains a prominent fixture on Raw, and Breakker is now its ace.
If WWE wants to truly catapult Breakker to the next stratosphere, an immediate world title win at WWE SNME or Survivor Series over someone like Punk would serve as a great launching pad.
Brock Lesnar Returns To Win WWE World Heavyweight Title, Lead The Vision
Brock Lesnar, after dismantling John Cena at last month’s WWE WrestlePalooza, was reportedly set to join The Vision in that now-likely-scrapped WarGames match.
Of course, “The Beast” loosely reunited with Paul Heyman, The Vision’s Oracle, at WrestlePalooza and has long been WWE’s “break glass in case of emergency” fix in the world title picture. WWE had reportedly been considering building to Lesnar vs. Breakker at WrestleMania 42, and that’s certainly still possible.
But WWE has, time and time again, brought Lesnar back from a hiatus to almost instantaneously half him win a world championship. That could very well happen again if WWE’s creative team decides it wants another heel world champion, particularly one associated with Heyman, to lead The Vision and carry Raw’s top programming in the months ahead.
The thought of the controversial Lesnar reclaiming world title gold in 2025 is a groan-inducing one, but remains a distinct possibility nonetheless.