Seth Rollins is currently holding WWE’s Money In the Bank briefcase for the men’s division, but unfortunately he’s also on the shelf with a knee injury suffered at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Sources are revealing shocking new details on the Rollins situation, including rumors on WWE working the company, what was really planned for SummerSlam, and
The Visionary was set to defeat LA Knight at WWE SNME XL on his way to the inaugural two-night SummerSlam, in possession of the Money In the Bank briefcase. After a bad moonsault landing, Rollins suffered an apparent right knee injury, and called an audible that led to The Megastar getting the win instead following a ringside discussion with officials, medics, and Paul Heyman. Rollins was backstage for WWE Evolution the next night, wearing a large knee brace and using crutches. He then appeared on The Rich Eisen Show and revealed some details on what happened, noting that he expected to be on the shelf for a while. The 39-year-old said doctors were unable to get a good diagnosis this week due to swelling, but he will undergo another MRI in the next two weeks.
Multiple sources have insisted the Rollins injury is legitimate, and that the mood was somber backstage at SNME. It was also said that the team of medics were not prepared to hit the ring during Rollins vs. Knight. In addressing rumors making the rounds, Bryan Alvarez noted on Wrestling Observer Live that he knows people close to Rollins who would be furious if they found out he’s not really hurt. John Pollock of POST Wrestling reported earlier this week that Rollins does have a knee injury, but was not injured at SNME as the angle during the loss to Knight was a cover to write Rollins out of the storylines.
Pollock, a longtime reliable source, was told two days before SNME to look out for a Rollins injury angle, one that would leave The Visionary on crutches going into SummerSlam. While not confirmed, speculation picked up on Rollins taking a bit of time off for the, presumably minor, knee injury, and will return for a surprise Money In the Bank cash-in. Now sources are reporting the plan for WWE SummerSlam.
Seth Rollins Rumored For Surprise WWE SummerSlam Return
There have been immense rumors and speculation coming out of Seth Rollins’ injury at WWE SNME XL, and the loss to LA Knight. Several sources have been adamant that no rumored cash-in was planned for the main event, and everything involving Goldberg vs. Gunther went off as planned, except for the timing issue.
John Pollock’s aforementioned report on there being no real injury at SNME fueled the Rollins chatter this week, and now multiple sources are now reporting that there was a plan to do an injury angle on the show to write Rollins out, then have him make a shocking return at SummerSlam during the title match between CM Punk and World Heavyweight Champion Gunther, according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The idea behind this particular creative direction is that Rollins and Heyman outsmarted everyone to capture the World Heavyweight Championship. Rollins vs. Roman Reigns was previously rumored for SummerSlam.
WWE’s Creative Writing Team may still move forward with the original cash-in plan, based on what was implied to The Observer. Dave Meltzer added that officials likely would have been able to keep the storyline under wraps in certain circumstances, but by working so many people within the company, word got out when people started investigating after realizing they were being worked. While it was implied that officials will keep the original plan, Meltzer speculated that the direction could be second-guessed, if not nixed, due in part to the inability to trumpet the fact that “we fooled you” once again.
People backstage at SNME were reacting like Rollins was legitimately hurt, and that’s what they were told, but a very small number of people knew what was really going down. Regarding the blockbuster report from Pollock, no one in WWE has claimed the story is false, and many sources are not discussing the situation at all. It’s believed that officials would at least leak something to media if Pollock’s story is not true.
In regards to Alvarez knowing people who would be very upset if they found out the Rollins injury was a work, Meltzer adds that the first word on the story was that a lot of people in the company would be very upset if officials worked them to that degree, but later on one source, who would not have been in then know and initially believed the injury was legit, now believes the SNME injury was just a cover angle for an injury that occurred earlier. It was acknowledged that people were not going to stay upset, but there will be more skepticism in situations like these moving forward.
Meltzer speculated that the announcers seemed too prepared as soon as Rollins went down, especially with calling it a knee injury right away. Furthering the speculation, it was also noted that Knight’s immediate post-match reaction was anger, as if the injury messed the match up, which is the usual immediate emotional reaction when something goes wrong, instead of celebrating the victory. Meltzer wondered what this meant, if anything, adding that Knight may have been clued in on a potential injury angle, or just went so far in the angle that acting upset was to legitimatize the injury as something that must be real.
It’s believed that the true nature of Rollins’ latest knee injury will not be revealed for a long time, whether it happened in the ring at SNME, in another match held before last weekend, or outside of the ring. He wrestled Penta on WWE RAW for the first time shortly before losing to Knight, and there was no sign of injury.