There are just some guys that do not have the ability to play serious characters and more comedic characters. Anderson & Gallows flopped as the WWE tried to figure out what kind of characters these guys should be. What about Roman Reigns? His issues over the last few years have been talked about very much. The WWE tried to take a guy that got over in a badass stable and turn him into this more witty character that he really couldn't handle. He doesn't have the mic skills. He's not The Rock, a guy that does have the ability to play various characters in an entertaining way, which is why he is so successful in Hollywood. I am not saying these other guys can never expand themselves to have that depth, but they just don't have it.
Even if someone does have that acting depth, there are just certain storylines where you should not want that person to drop a serious character and start acting like a bit of a clown. Pro wrestling is supposed to be about entertaining, but you don't need to be funny all the time to entertain people. Look at the heated feud Randy Orton and Triple H had a few years ago. Orton had attacked Triple H's wife, Stephanie. There was a storyline reason for Triple H to be intense and vengeful. If he started acting goofy, like he has proven he can over the years, especially with DX, that would have ruined the feel of the storyline.
What is the issue here in Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens? Specifically, look at Rollins. Some people don't like him as a face, but that happens a lot. A lot of smarks prefer heels over faces. This new face character for Seth may have some flaws, but I think the real issue is that the character he is showing recently is just inappropriate for this storyline. He's been goofing around a little, stealing The List of Jericho. Chris Jericho's list is probably the most popular thing in this storyline, but it really doesn't need to take over like it has.
Seth Rollins was screwed by Triple H a few weeks ago. He was intense about it. He was getting in Stephanie's face, even though there was no clear reason why Stephanie McMahon should be blamed for what Triple H did. He was attacking Kevin Owens. There was entertainment value in this intense character. And now, he just seems to have lost some of his edge. Without even considering whether his attempt to be more entertaining in a comedic way leans more towards The Rock's side or that of Roman Reigns, it just doesn't fit with what has been going on for all those weeks before that. That intensity over Triple H screwing him is gone. One of the issues is obviously that the WWE is dragging this on and Triple H has not given his motive yet, but I think the WWE could have done better.
I am not saying there is anything wrong with testing Seth Rollins by seeing if he can play this kind of face character. He has never been a solo face on the main roster. Challenge him a little. But doing it now hurts the feel of the storyline and the feud with Owens takes a bit of a hit because of it.
Onto the match. Who wins? Seth Rollins has failed to regain the title for months now. He needs to take a vacation from the title scene. I am expecting shenanigans in this match. It might not just be Chris Jericho, again. Triple H, himself, might once again pop up to give Seth Rollins a reason to intensely hate him again. The only way I can picture Seth winning is if he gets screwed again soon after. Think back to Daniel Bryan winning the WWE Championship a few times three years ago. All those reigns were short, The Authority screwing him out of the title multiple times. It would be better to just get Rollins out of the picture. Kevin Owens wins by shenanigans and something happens to add more fuel to Rollins vs. Triple H. That is what I am expecting.
Let me do an aside about the WWE Network. The WWE recently revealed that they had close to 1.46 million subscribers for the last quarter. That is more than I was expecting, but still less than the WWE's own projections of 1.49 million subscribers. I had said a few months ago that the WWE should not be too confident to retain that much of the 1.52 million they had for Wrestlemania. This quarter, the return of Goldberg is something they will be leaning on to sell Survivor Series. Let's see if that investment leads to a gain in subscribers this time.
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