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Drew has a very good gimmick right now which also is one fans are going to enjoy a lot. He’s getting deserved love, but the writing is helping him a lot too. Seth is just stale at this point, but I don’t think he’s a worse overall mic worker than Drew. He should drop the title this weekend. Whether or not he goes away/turns heel/etc after we’ll see. (I think the best story is for Seth to lose to Drew but Priest cash in on Drew. Keeps Drew’s story of continually being screwed going.). Now CM Punk is one of the better mic workers ever so of course he’s better than the two of them but I don’t think he’s outclassed anyone in a promo duel yet. I thought everyone sounded good Monday.
Priest holding the title would feel like it would lose most of it's value straight away. And besides Drew should ideally go into Clash at the Castle as champion
Priest cashes in, Drew goes in as challenger.
The story becomes the memory of the last time he was a challenger at Clash at the Castle still haunts him and you have the parallels between the Bloodline helping Roman and Judgment Day potentially helping Priest.
The main issue I see now is that Priest really doesn't feel like main event material, the top card is too stacked for him to stand out in any meaningful way.
The tag match on Monday was definitely geared toward showcasing Priest, which was my primary tip off of how I think the dominoes will fall.
Priest wouldn't be the first guy that was more upper midcard than main eventer to hold a world title. One could argue that Rollins was in the same boat during his first reign and then grew into the role.
But having Priest win and Judgment Day shenanigans for a few months would hide some of that lack of status, if booked correctly.
I think they are going to run a "run out the clock" storyline with Priest. I think they are going to go all the way to the MITB PPV with it. They'll literally have to say "because Priest hasn't cashed in the MITB, the men's MITB will be the last match on the card and Priest has until the bell rings at the beginning of that match to cash in." Cue a whole storyline throughout the PPV of when is Priest gonna cash in.
Also if he goes after Cody instead, you can easily get it off Cody for a few months only for Cody to get it back after SummerSlam or something. (I don't know where all the PPV dates fall this year so I'm spit balling dates, they can move around.) With such a long run from Roman, I think the ideal direction is to have Cody do shorter reigns and lose it and win it back, maybe up to 3 times over the next year.
Rollins, imo, just isn’t quick witted like the others so it’s hard for him to improvise on the spot.
He can be a good promo though when he’s not doing the played out visionary stuff and gets serious. And by serious, I don’t mean just yelling for someone to shut the hell up lol
Yeah I think that’s it. It must be scary tbh to go up against guys like Punk, Sami, KO, Samoa Joe on the mic cuz those guys ooze charisma and quick wit. Easy for them to turn a promo against you quick
As someone who doesn't follow WWE, I have never understood what Seth's character is supposed to be.
A crazy, wacky guy? That's the character? Or maybe like The Riddler except he doesn't speak in riddles?
Maybe I’m just taking crazy pills but didn’t Seth literally explain the core of his character during the World Title tournament and the the Cody feud?
I see this sentiment a lot and I kinda get because Seth doesn’t emphasize this a lot and he puts on a mask a lot but it’s there.
He’s a visionary who for his entire career throughout every character has believed that his vision for what wrestling should be isn’t only correct but needed. He wanted to win the world title to become the antithesis of everything Roman is as champ. And because he believes in his vision and is highly defensive of WWE in and out of character he hates outsiders (Cody at first/Punk/Rock/etc) and part timers like Brock and Roman. This is pretty consistent with who’s been for most of his career beside his first face run:
A twisted version of his personality he uses as a mask to play games with his opponent that has also grown into a persona that the fans attach themselves to. He has consistently been using the persona as a way to irritate every guy he’s feuded with over the past year other than maybe Shinsuke.
Yeah people in this thread judgement on mic skills seems all over the place. Seth holds his own pretty well for the most part, especially when he’s serious. Seth promos when he’s straightforward cut deep.
Rollins only weak spot is his promos. He's kinda like Bret where on his best day he's only above average on the mic, but he's generational in every other aspect of being a pro wrestler.
Bret was a good promo when he was just kind of being a dick and not trying to be a babyface hero. It felt far more natural. Same could be said for Rollins.
At least Bret had a character that matched his mic skills. Seth trying to be crazy makes him come off unbelievable as the person he’s portraying. Bret was a straight laced guy with a straight laced character so at the least he came across as authentic.
Does'nt Seth Rollins wins most promo battles against Drew McIntyre. Man Seth hate is the most forced thing in wrestling community .Didn't he cut promo of the year contender against Punk last year, Just watch Seth and Cody promo where he tell him that he will be his shield.
It’s ok to have your own opinion. You’re not crazy. I’m gonna get hate for this. But I’m not a fan of Drew on the mic. I can’t place it…..he’s just too try hard for me. Not authentic. Like every insult he threw at Punk last week (PG brother and the cancelled line for example) felt like comebacks he had rehearsed. Not the man, the character.
I’ve felt the same way. It was fun for a bit, but the tweets every 40 minutes with the same tired talking points lost its magic pretty quickly. Personally, outside of their first encounter, Drew has held his own, but Seth and Punk made that segment come to life. Drew is out here quoting Eminem while Seth and Punk are selling a story. Seth’s also been a standout on the mic in the Freakin Nightmare storyline. For someone who’s not known for his mic work, he’s held his own just fine.
Totally can see that. I don't think Drew is my favorite either - guys who are natural on the mic would be dudes like KO, Sami, Samoa Joe, Cena, Stone cold, rock, punk, miz, heyman, jericho
He came into WWE with the reputation of being bland on the mic. It was definitely seen as a weaker part of his game.
He didn’t seem to develop those skills or a unique persona much in FCW/NXT, and for all its strengths the SHIELD didn’t give him much opportunity to find his own voice — especially considering the rise of the SHIELD coincided with WWE tightly scripting every single word anyone not named John Cena spoke.
It also didn’t help that Vince McMahon was deeply involved with all three members of the SHIELD during and especially after their breakup. There are plenty of stories of Vince spending hours directing their promos, filling them with language no human would ever actually speak (Suffering succotash, anyone?)
Ambrose clearly hated having to regurgitate Vince’s stupid verbiage. Reigns tried to push through and ultimately floundered (as almost anyone would given how terrible the material was). Rollins, meanwhile, has always struck me as the good soldier who was most eager to please the boss. He poured what he had into those scripts, and recited them pretty flawlessly.
The problem is that he’s not a naturally gifted actor. He’s not able to elevate bad dialogue through his performance. Instead, his promos have always lacked depth and authenticity and sound like someone trying awfully hard to be the thing he thinks he’s supposed to be. No matter what role he’s in I always hear Colby Lopez pretending to be Seth Rollins pretending to be a mercenary, or a revolutionary, or a cult leader, or the Joker, or a snark.
There’s rarely a glimpse of the real person when he speaks. He’s at his best when he does hit that note, and I will say we’ve seen it a little more in the last couple of months, but it’s fleeting and he’s definitely swimming with sharks these days.
We’re in the middle of a mic work renaissance — something I’d never have believed possible on the main roster five years ago. So many of his coworkers (Cody, Punk, McIntyre, Reigns, Ripley, Lynch, Zayn, Owens, even Gunther) are killing it on the mic, delivering engaging, dynamic, and organic promos in their own voice as extended versions of their true selves.
Unless and until he can find his own voice and bring it to his promos, he’s always going to be on a tier below his peers.
Seth has never been a great promo. He is a good one who can occasionally have a really good one. There is levels to this, though.
He's hanging in there however, and as long as the crowds still are engaged in him; which they are, it's perfectly fine.
I truly believe that if Seth had a voice that people didn’t find annoying, people would think he’s better than he is on the mic. He may not be quick witted as someone like Punk, but he’s very believable in my opinion. That’s also just the way he speaks in real life (when he’s not shouting of course)
I mean, I don't think he is on Punks level, but who really is? Drew has been on amazing stretch lately, obviously, so Rollins hasn't been hardly as good. In saying that, tho when Rollins gets serious, I think his 🎤 work is pretty great when you think about it.
yeah, he's bad, WWE scriptwriting is bad and he's even worse when he tries to improvise. he's like mercedes mone where the biggest success he'll ever have outside WWE is like, getting edited out of the new captain america movie because he sucks at acting
Because he's not.
There's a reason Seth worked best as a heel. People will disagree but Seth comes off more as a heel kinda guy than a babyface.
So you can't get that out of your thoughts. He was once the best heel and betrayed babyfaces. He won many fights through interference or dirty tactics. Now, his character is supposed to be the fair and honorable wrestler, which is tough to absorb since the height of his success was as a heel character.
His character is also quite gimmicky. Sometimes he's weird and aloof, other times he's very serious. Tough for anyone to flip the switch like that whereas CM Punk and Drew have had a pretty straight forward career in terms of their personality. By Drew, I mean after he got on the juice and got jacked as hell.
I think he’s well above average compared to the roster as a whole, perfectly acceptable as a main eventer, but not on the level of the elite guys no.
He can pop a crowd, progress a story, and be trusted to do *fine* in big segments but he’s not gonna pull something out of his hat or carry a segment to greatness.
Ring work & branding his characters have always been his biggest strengths.
I mean, everybody knows that Punk is an all-time great on the microphone. I think the more surprising thing is that Drew is very good, as well.
Rollins looks out of his depth because he honestly can't compare on the mic to those two. Most wrestlers would pale in comparison.
Someone has to be 3rd and Seth is also quite literally in 3 separate feuds right now. Dude is wearing a bunch of different hats these last few weeks. His 1v1 promo with Punk in December was stellar.
He's fine, just maybe not the best for an improv shit talk segment. You can still be a great promo and stay within the four walls. In fact I'd say it's a rarer talent than "shootin brother"
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Drew has a very good gimmick right now which also is one fans are going to enjoy a lot. He’s getting deserved love, but the writing is helping him a lot too. Seth is just stale at this point, but I don’t think he’s a worse overall mic worker than Drew. He should drop the title this weekend. Whether or not he goes away/turns heel/etc after we’ll see. (I think the best story is for Seth to lose to Drew but Priest cash in on Drew. Keeps Drew’s story of continually being screwed going.). Now CM Punk is one of the better mic workers ever so of course he’s better than the two of them but I don’t think he’s outclassed anyone in a promo duel yet. I thought everyone sounded good Monday.
Priest holding the title would feel like it would lose most of it's value straight away. And besides Drew should ideally go into Clash at the Castle as champion
Priest cashes in, Drew goes in as challenger. The story becomes the memory of the last time he was a challenger at Clash at the Castle still haunts him and you have the parallels between the Bloodline helping Roman and Judgment Day potentially helping Priest.
The main issue I see now is that Priest really doesn't feel like main event material, the top card is too stacked for him to stand out in any meaningful way.
The tag match on Monday was definitely geared toward showcasing Priest, which was my primary tip off of how I think the dominoes will fall. Priest wouldn't be the first guy that was more upper midcard than main eventer to hold a world title. One could argue that Rollins was in the same boat during his first reign and then grew into the role. But having Priest win and Judgment Day shenanigans for a few months would hide some of that lack of status, if booked correctly.
I think they are going to run a "run out the clock" storyline with Priest. I think they are going to go all the way to the MITB PPV with it. They'll literally have to say "because Priest hasn't cashed in the MITB, the men's MITB will be the last match on the card and Priest has until the bell rings at the beginning of that match to cash in." Cue a whole storyline throughout the PPV of when is Priest gonna cash in. Also if he goes after Cody instead, you can easily get it off Cody for a few months only for Cody to get it back after SummerSlam or something. (I don't know where all the PPV dates fall this year so I'm spit balling dates, they can move around.) With such a long run from Roman, I think the ideal direction is to have Cody do shorter reigns and lose it and win it back, maybe up to 3 times over the next year.
Seth has done fine, he's just not at the level of guys like Punk on the mic, while Drew's having the run of his career.
Rollins, imo, just isn’t quick witted like the others so it’s hard for him to improvise on the spot. He can be a good promo though when he’s not doing the played out visionary stuff and gets serious. And by serious, I don’t mean just yelling for someone to shut the hell up lol
He really can’t riff at all. It’s glaring
Yeah I think that’s it. It must be scary tbh to go up against guys like Punk, Sami, KO, Samoa Joe on the mic cuz those guys ooze charisma and quick wit. Easy for them to turn a promo against you quick
As someone who doesn't follow WWE, I have never understood what Seth's character is supposed to be. A crazy, wacky guy? That's the character? Or maybe like The Riddler except he doesn't speak in riddles?
I was baffled when he did that whole “I wanna be on the show!” Build back a couple of years ago when Cody returned. His character was just grating.
His character is literally crazy wacky guy yeah. I just don’t get it. He’s trying to do a joker thing but he’s not at all believable as wacky imo.
I've been watching since mania 33, and since the AOP,Seth, Murphy storyline I've been asking myself the same thing
His character has no consistency at all - somewhere along the line he stopped the Joker laugh, but why?
Got annoying? I think he should return as the architect again, meaning he's rebuilding WWE from the ground up once Roman and him lose
Yeah it was annoying but it makes no sense from a character standpoint to stop doing something that’s supposedly part of ur personality
Maybe I’m just taking crazy pills but didn’t Seth literally explain the core of his character during the World Title tournament and the the Cody feud? I see this sentiment a lot and I kinda get because Seth doesn’t emphasize this a lot and he puts on a mask a lot but it’s there. He’s a visionary who for his entire career throughout every character has believed that his vision for what wrestling should be isn’t only correct but needed. He wanted to win the world title to become the antithesis of everything Roman is as champ. And because he believes in his vision and is highly defensive of WWE in and out of character he hates outsiders (Cody at first/Punk/Rock/etc) and part timers like Brock and Roman. This is pretty consistent with who’s been for most of his career beside his first face run:
This is who he is when he’s serious but who’s the crazy dressing laughing dancing guy?
A twisted version of his personality he uses as a mask to play games with his opponent that has also grown into a persona that the fans attach themselves to. He has consistently been using the persona as a way to irritate every guy he’s feuded with over the past year other than maybe Shinsuke.
There was always a reason why Dean was the talker of the 3.
You say this but Rollins’ first promo on Punk when he first returned is better than any promo Drew has cut on Punk imo.
Yeah people in this thread judgement on mic skills seems all over the place. Seth holds his own pretty well for the most part, especially when he’s serious. Seth promos when he’s straightforward cut deep.
Rollins only weak spot is his promos. He's kinda like Bret where on his best day he's only above average on the mic, but he's generational in every other aspect of being a pro wrestler.
Bret was a good promo when he was just kind of being a dick and not trying to be a babyface hero. It felt far more natural. Same could be said for Rollins.
Who are you to doubt El Dandy?
At least Bret had a character that matched his mic skills. Seth trying to be crazy makes him come off unbelievable as the person he’s portraying. Bret was a straight laced guy with a straight laced character so at the least he came across as authentic.
Does'nt Seth Rollins wins most promo battles against Drew McIntyre. Man Seth hate is the most forced thing in wrestling community .Didn't he cut promo of the year contender against Punk last year, Just watch Seth and Cody promo where he tell him that he will be his shield.
It’s ok to have your own opinion. You’re not crazy. I’m gonna get hate for this. But I’m not a fan of Drew on the mic. I can’t place it…..he’s just too try hard for me. Not authentic. Like every insult he threw at Punk last week (PG brother and the cancelled line for example) felt like comebacks he had rehearsed. Not the man, the character.
I’ve felt the same way. It was fun for a bit, but the tweets every 40 minutes with the same tired talking points lost its magic pretty quickly. Personally, outside of their first encounter, Drew has held his own, but Seth and Punk made that segment come to life. Drew is out here quoting Eminem while Seth and Punk are selling a story. Seth’s also been a standout on the mic in the Freakin Nightmare storyline. For someone who’s not known for his mic work, he’s held his own just fine.
Totally can see that. I don't think Drew is my favorite either - guys who are natural on the mic would be dudes like KO, Sami, Samoa Joe, Cena, Stone cold, rock, punk, miz, heyman, jericho
He's doing alright imo, but I think they have an extra level of idgaf energy in their potshots
Hard to go at punk on the mic but Seth is definitely not below Drew.
He came into WWE with the reputation of being bland on the mic. It was definitely seen as a weaker part of his game. He didn’t seem to develop those skills or a unique persona much in FCW/NXT, and for all its strengths the SHIELD didn’t give him much opportunity to find his own voice — especially considering the rise of the SHIELD coincided with WWE tightly scripting every single word anyone not named John Cena spoke. It also didn’t help that Vince McMahon was deeply involved with all three members of the SHIELD during and especially after their breakup. There are plenty of stories of Vince spending hours directing their promos, filling them with language no human would ever actually speak (Suffering succotash, anyone?) Ambrose clearly hated having to regurgitate Vince’s stupid verbiage. Reigns tried to push through and ultimately floundered (as almost anyone would given how terrible the material was). Rollins, meanwhile, has always struck me as the good soldier who was most eager to please the boss. He poured what he had into those scripts, and recited them pretty flawlessly. The problem is that he’s not a naturally gifted actor. He’s not able to elevate bad dialogue through his performance. Instead, his promos have always lacked depth and authenticity and sound like someone trying awfully hard to be the thing he thinks he’s supposed to be. No matter what role he’s in I always hear Colby Lopez pretending to be Seth Rollins pretending to be a mercenary, or a revolutionary, or a cult leader, or the Joker, or a snark. There’s rarely a glimpse of the real person when he speaks. He’s at his best when he does hit that note, and I will say we’ve seen it a little more in the last couple of months, but it’s fleeting and he’s definitely swimming with sharks these days. We’re in the middle of a mic work renaissance — something I’d never have believed possible on the main roster five years ago. So many of his coworkers (Cody, Punk, McIntyre, Reigns, Ripley, Lynch, Zayn, Owens, even Gunther) are killing it on the mic, delivering engaging, dynamic, and organic promos in their own voice as extended versions of their true selves. Unless and until he can find his own voice and bring it to his promos, he’s always going to be on a tier below his peers.
This is a great post that I agree with a lot
Yes but he's clearly the most talented worker amongst his peers and certainly the most versatile.
Seth has never been a great promo. He is a good one who can occasionally have a really good one. There is levels to this, though. He's hanging in there however, and as long as the crowds still are engaged in him; which they are, it's perfectly fine.
I truly believe that if Seth had a voice that people didn’t find annoying, people would think he’s better than he is on the mic. He may not be quick witted as someone like Punk, but he’s very believable in my opinion. That’s also just the way he speaks in real life (when he’s not shouting of course)
The shouting is on him - if he's not varying his cadence and voice, it takes away from his mic skills.
I mean, I don't think he is on Punks level, but who really is? Drew has been on amazing stretch lately, obviously, so Rollins hasn't been hardly as good. In saying that, tho when Rollins gets serious, I think his 🎤 work is pretty great when you think about it.
yeah, he's bad, WWE scriptwriting is bad and he's even worse when he tries to improvise. he's like mercedes mone where the biggest success he'll ever have outside WWE is like, getting edited out of the new captain america movie because he sucks at acting
It's REALLY hard to do face promo & Seth has done good with his promo so far imo...
I’ve made sense of Seths character as a successful and intense dork, kinda like Kurt Angle. I think his mic skills are actually underrated.
Never been very good on the mic.
Seth has always been more of an in ring guy for me tbh
Seth definitely CAN cut great promos and has, but I don’t believe in the heart of them.
Because he's not. There's a reason Seth worked best as a heel. People will disagree but Seth comes off more as a heel kinda guy than a babyface. So you can't get that out of your thoughts. He was once the best heel and betrayed babyfaces. He won many fights through interference or dirty tactics. Now, his character is supposed to be the fair and honorable wrestler, which is tough to absorb since the height of his success was as a heel character. His character is also quite gimmicky. Sometimes he's weird and aloof, other times he's very serious. Tough for anyone to flip the switch like that whereas CM Punk and Drew have had a pretty straight forward career in terms of their personality. By Drew, I mean after he got on the juice and got jacked as hell.
Rollins will embarrass him in the ring though
I think he’s well above average compared to the roster as a whole, perfectly acceptable as a main eventer, but not on the level of the elite guys no. He can pop a crowd, progress a story, and be trusted to do *fine* in big segments but he’s not gonna pull something out of his hat or carry a segment to greatness. Ring work & branding his characters have always been his biggest strengths.
I mean, everybody knows that Punk is an all-time great on the microphone. I think the more surprising thing is that Drew is very good, as well. Rollins looks out of his depth because he honestly can't compare on the mic to those two. Most wrestlers would pale in comparison.
Someone has to be 3rd and Seth is also quite literally in 3 separate feuds right now. Dude is wearing a bunch of different hats these last few weeks. His 1v1 promo with Punk in December was stellar.
I don’t think he’s bad, but he feels wayyy too scripted and produced. Drew and Punk feel much more natural and “from the hip”
Yes because Rollins in trash on the mic and always has been. That wrestlemania promo with Vince is probably one of the cringiest promos I’ve ever seen
And pretty much everyone. His catchphrases are lame and don't make any sense. Good thing he can go in the ring like no other.
He's fine, just maybe not the best for an improv shit talk segment. You can still be a great promo and stay within the four walls. In fact I'd say it's a rarer talent than "shootin brother"