WWE’s grand WrestleMania 42 plans are up in the air for Roman Reigns. The dramatic conclusion to Monday Night Raw, which saw The Vision turn on Seth Rollins, was reportedly the result of a last-minute creative change necessitated by an injury to the World Heavyweight Champion.
On the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer discussed the belief that Rollins suffered a legitimate shoulder injury at Crown Jewel, forcing WWE to alter its plans.
The injury is thought to have occurred during his match in Perth, Australia. Meltzer explained the specific spot that is being pointed to as the cause. “That’s what everyone is saying, that Seth hurt himself doing the coast-to-coast headbutt spot, he landed on his shoulder,” Meltzer said. Alvarez added, “I think Seth hurt himself at the pay-per-view.”
Further evidence of an injury was present during Rollins’ appearance on Raw. Alvarez pointed out that the champion’s attire and mannerisms suggested he was protecting his arm.
“I don’t know this, but I think he had like a big giant brace on his arm, and that’s why he wore this coat for the entire night,” Alvarez said. Meltzer noted that while some within WWE are skeptical due to a fake knee injury storyline involving Rollins earlier this year, both he and Alvarez believe the current injury is real.
Roman Reigns’ WWE WrestleMania Plans
The injury appears to have accelerated a storyline that was planned for further down the road. Meltzer detailed that the long-term goal of The Vision faction was always to elevate Bron Breakker, but the turn on Rollins happened much sooner than originally intended.
“Seth Rollins was tentatively scheduled to wrestle Roman Reigns at WrestleMania,” Meltzer stated. “I don’t know this, but I have been told enough things to I expected that there would be a turn on Seth Rollins at some point because the whole thing with this faction was not about Seth Rollins, it was about Bron Breakker, and about making Bron Breakker into the next Roman Reigns. Now, how they would do that, I wasn’t told that. But I doubt it was going to be this early.”
The potential absence of Rollins is expected to have a significant ripple effect on WWE’s upcoming premium live events. Meltzer explained that immediate plans for Saturday Night’s Main Event and Survivor Series have now been thrown into disarray.
“Clearly, Punk and Seth were supposed to wrestle at Saturday Night’s Main Event, that was the next thing, and then obviously WarGames and all that,” he said. “So everything in that regard has changed. I don’t know where it goes.”
