Seth Rollins Returns, And That's About It

What was the story told in the main event match between Roman Reigns and AJ Styles last night at Extreme Rules? It was more of the same. The Usos and Anderson & Gallows got involved. In the end, Roman Reigns once again retained. And then Seth Rollins returned.

Before I talk about Seth returning, let me talk about how the WWE handled the storyline between Roman Reigns and AJ Styles. This was terrible. Just to make it clear, I am not saying anything about match quality. I am just talking about the storyline. People were anticipating so many things to happen with this storyline. The WWE can obviously still go somewhere with AJ Styles and the other two goons, but it will likely not have the same impact to it that it could have had if it had the main-event spotlight and WWE Championship involved.

The feud development for the last few weeks was just flat. It was Roman Reigns and his sidekicks going against AJ Styles and his sidekicks. I have seen a lot of fans eat this feud up like it was something amazing. No, it isn't. And how the WWE handled the match at Extreme Rules just further makes me stand by my point. Again, just looking at the story of the match, not anything about match quality or Seth Rollins, this was just more of the same. This was the same thing you had at Payback. The only twist you had was Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon each altering that match. But that was more their own story being developed. It didn't change the story of AJ Styles vs. Roman Reigns. This isn't even about Roman Reigns retaining against AJ Styles. This is about the WWE not taking advantage of the situation to have something big happen.

Is Seth Rollins returning something big? He never broke out as a star. He has main-event credibility. He held the WWE Championship for a long time. He won it at Wrestlemania. He never officially lost it. He beat a lot of top guys. A lot of his title defenses ended by shady means, but he has been pushed at a high level. But all the credibility in the world is not enough to automatically make you a star. Overness is based on more than just credibility. Seth obviously has the wrestling talent to get wrestling fans to love him. And this is an era where the WWE doesn't seem to know how to please the wider audience anymore, or they just don't care. Point is, this guy is not a star and the ratings issue will not be fixed just because he returned. He needs to break out beyond just connecting with those wrestling fans.