Goldberg.

 

Just kidding.

Well, I hope.

I don't really see how they could have had Rollins come back and not immediately go for the title. That's kind of the ready made story for a guy who got injured as champion and never lost the belt. It wouldn't have made a lot of sense to me to keep Reigns & Rollins apart and I thought it was kind of stupid how they did it right after WrestleMania last year. Rollins screws up Reigns' WrestleMania title match and Reigns wastes like 6 months battling Big Show & Bray Wyatt before going after the title again?

Yeah, nothing really comes to mind off the top of my head. That is why I kind of wish they would have waited, put them on different shows and left the "who is the real champ" question unanswered. Though of course this probably would have led to WWE immediately abandoning the brand split thing as a significant distinction in rosters.

 

The thing for me is I always found the most compelling parts of wrestling when there were multiple brands the curiosity and debate about who would really win. The kayfabe part of my brain can't help but want to see these champions go at it. And of course they have in the past, but politics determines outcomes. To me, the most potent part of a brand extension for the WWE is that they can manufacture that competition and ultimately pay it off in whatever way they want, but it depends on actually creating a clear distinction and not having as much bleed over as they did. Rollins coming back a little later and joining Smackdown and facing Cena (or whoever) for the championship at whatever ppv would have been one (not the only) way to establish that "what if" question right off the bat and building toward WM or something down the road.

 

Again, i am not really complaining about what I am seeing on WWE TV right now. I am more just thinking out loud about alternatives. Rollins vs Reigns is going to be fun and it is probably going to be a pairing that delivers for quite a while.