Why Seth Rollins Failed As A Babyface World Champion In The Past, Explained

Highlights

• Seth Rollins has transformed into an ultra-flamboyant character and is thriving as Monday Night Raw's top babyface.
• Rollins faced hurdles to prove his worth as a main-event performer, but he has since become a multiple-time World Champion and a featured superstar.
• Rollins experienced a decline in popularity in 2019, partly due to a controversial feud with The Fiend and criticism of his on-screen character and WWE's creative booking. However, he has since regained favor with fans as a beloved top babyface.

Current World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins is, once again, thriving as Monday Night Raw's top babyface. Becoming among the most popular acts in WWE, Rollins is coming to his own as an ultra-flamboyant character, something much different than when he first made his WWE debut in late 2012. Rollins is certainly much different than he was during his babyface run in 2019 when he became a two-time Universal Champion on the Raw brand, when he was one of the most polarizing and hated superstars in the company.

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Seth Rollins Makes His Mark In Today's Generation Of WWE

Seth Rollins has come a long way to achieve the success that he currently has at this very moment. Even though Rollins has been booked as a prominent performer since the day he made his debut as part of The Shield in late 2012, Rollins went through many hurdles to prove to his doubters that he was deserving of his main-event success.

Although The Shield is one of the most critically-acclaimed factions in professional wrestling history, after breaking away from The Shield in mid-2014, Seth Rollins got tested as he was now getting booked as a singles talent when he first joined The Authority. Since then, he went on to become a multiple-time World Champion and has been among WWE's most featured superstars on its programming.

To this day, Rollins continues to enjoy monumental success and is still beloved by fans worldwide. However, even though he accomplished so much, there was a time when he became one of the most despised WWE superstars after he won the WWE Universal Championship in 2019, despite initially being one of the more popular acts in WWE.

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The Rise And Fall Of Seth Rollins In 2019

After Seth Rollins dethroned Brock Lesnar and became WWE Universal Champion at WrestleMania 35, it seemed that he would get a hero's treatment from the fans for bringing the Universal Title back to the Raw brand full-time. With Lesnar holding on to the Universal Title on and off for almost two years, Rollins becoming Universal Champion was a breath of air for fans who wanted a champion that would be on Monday Night Raw every week.

However, not long after winning the Universal Championship, Seth Rollins's popularity diminished severely as the months went on. And despite defeating Brock Lesnar to get his Universal Championship back in a rematch at SummerSlam 2019, Rollins became one of the most criticized superstars in the company.

What made things worse for Rollins' 2019 babyface run was his feud with The Fiend, Bray Wyatt. In arguably one of the worst PPV main-event matches in WWE history, things took a turn for the worst for Seth Rollins after his controversial Universal Title defense against The Fiend in a Hell in a Cell match at the Hell in a Cell 2019 PPV, which ended in a no contest. Rollins began to receive more hostile crowd reactions and had no other choice but to turn heel after losing the Universal Championship for the last time to The Fiend at Crown Jewel.

Why Seth Rollins Became One Of The Most Hated Superstars In 2019

During Seth Rollins' reign as a two-time Universal Champion from mid to late 2019, the quality of Raw continued to be heavily criticized by fans and critics alike while TV ratings plummeted. Around the time Rollins first became Universal Champion, Raw was considered by many to be the worst weekly professional wrestling show on TV.

As one might expect, Seth Rollins got much of the blame for the sad state of Raw in 2019 after winning the belt, as many criticized his on-screen character for being too bland without substance. It also didn't help that he was involved in a high-profile feud with Baron Corbin for the Universal Championship.

RELATED: Seth Rollins Admits His World Title Isn't On The Same Level As Roman Reigns'What really made Seth Rollins look bad in the eyes of the fans was his attempts to defend himself and WWE from criticism, seemingly taking the criticism personally. The way he conducted himself in out-of-character interviews when reacting to the criticism of himself and WWE's creative booking prompted fans to turn on him even more. Because of this, there was a notion among many fans that Seth Rollins was not "cool."

Fortunately for Seth Rollins, his babyface run in 2019 seems to be a thing of the past. Since turning face again in late 2022, Rollins is on the right track as a beloved top babyface.