It's 2014 in the WWE on the eve of Seth Rollins' Hell in a Cell match against Dean Ambrose. And while the art of the heel wrestler isn't dead, it's certainly on life support. I'm not even speaking from a stylistic standpoint, like how fans these days choose to cheer heels who are doing too good of a job (read: not doing a good job at all) at being bad guys.
The main event heel in WWE has suddenly become an endangered species. This past Monday's Raw closed with heel Seth Rollins delivering his Curb Stomp finisher to heel Randy Orton. From here on out, every time we see Orton, he will be one step closer to turningbabyfce. As a result, the Curb Stomp spot carried grand implications for those charting the current state of WWE heels.
Current heel WWE World Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is offWWE programming at the moment due to contractual reasons. Bray Wyatt, who didn't appear on a pay-per-view last month for the first time in a year, is only heeling out in vignettes at the moment.
Who needs a victory more at Hell in a Cell?
Kane, currently pushing 50, is more of a figurehead who gets more heat by standing next to Triple H than anything he does in a ring.
After that, WWE is left with a midcardthat is much larger than it should be due to detrimental start-and-stop booking of once-relevant stars. WrestleMania XXX featured a 31-man Battle Royal for a trophy that was broken the very next night. It was WWE's way of telling 31 second-tier stars that Creative has nothing for you.
Rusev, who was kept out of that Battle Royal, could be on his way up as an entrenched star, but the jury is still out on whether he is a limited caricature of an anti-American villain or a potential long-term monster heel.
And that's about it for main event-caliber heels currently in the WWE. After Rusev, one must go all the way down to a resurgent Miz to find any hope for WWE on that front, and he will forever be scarred by what was a failed run as a WWE main eventer in 2011.
Not only is Seth Rollins the only relevant full-time main event heelWWE has, but he also draws the right kind of heat, where "you sold out" chants accompany his sniveling promos. Despite cutting his teeth in ROH, Rollins does not elicit smark fan support at live arenas outside of Iowa.
WWE's babyface roster is crowded with mainstays such as John Cena, Dolph Zigger, Big Show and Sheamus and will be further buoyed by the returns of Daniel Bryan (eventually) and Roman Reigns.
For the time being, it's imperative that Rollins is kept strong as a heel until WWE can better balance out its roster with more evildoers.
Ambrose's mission statement since the breakup of The Shield wasn't to beat Seth Rollins in a wrestling competition so much as it was to rearrange his face. This was made abundantly more clear during an awkward segment on Raw that saw Ambrose dismember a mannequin dressed as Rollins.
Meanwhile, Rollins smugly brandishes a Money in the Bank briefcase—one that he won in a June Ladder match—every time he is on WWEtelevision. Rollins has branded himself as the "undisputed future of the WWE," and hardcore legend Mick Foley was even booked to admit that he could see Rollins beating Ambrose in almost any setting.
For the Money in the Bank contract-holder, winning has basically become his currency. And at WWE Hell in a Cell, a win for Rollins is the most responsible option.
Who Need Hell In A cell Victory , Seth Rollins?
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