Inside the mind of The Visionary

Seth Rollins has gone by many names in his WWE career. From “The architect” to “The Messiah” to even “The Drip Gawd” and more recently "The Visionary"; Rollins has found ways to reinvent himself over and over again. These changes didn’t come without taking risks. Rollins has transformed his personality and even wardrobe to become the crazed and over the top figure he is today.

Rollins has seamlessly transformed his character from era to era. What started off as a broken man just looking for some control over his career has become a crazed maniac that wears outrageous suits while playing wicked mind games. Let's go over the evolution of the new Seth Rollins.

The Monday Night Messiah:

2018 to 2019 Rollins was a bit of a weird time. He was defending the tag titles with Braun Strowman and then defending the Universal championship against his tag partner in the same night. At this time Rollins didn’t feel like he had a distinct character. He felt a bit directionless even while he was champion. It wasn’t till his feud with The Fiend, that we started to see cracks in The Architect.

It’s important to know The Fiend changes the people he faces and Seth was definitely changed after their first encounter. Before their match at Crown Jewel, Seth and Bray faced at HIAC. This match is infamous in the worst way. The match was stopped due to Seth going "too far". One of the most sinister match stipulations in WWE, and Seth can't use a sledge hammer?

However, it does say something about Rollins and his state of mind. Yes, that ending is still infuriating to this day but it did help plant the seeds that Seth was not the same as he once was. Does it make sense a HIAC match had to be stopped due to too much violence despite us seeing The Undertaker choke slam Mick Foley through a cage? No. Not at all. But, Seth being stopped due to going too far does show him cracking. It shows there's a more sadistic side to Seth Rollins. I am not defending this match in any way but I am saying I see what they were trying to pull off- or least accidentally pulled off.

After losing his title to Bray, this is where it all starts to change for Rollins. In 2019's Survivor Series, he was crowned the Captain for Team Raw. However, Team Raw loses under his leadership. The next night, Seth berates the entire Raw locker room for not winning. Kevin Owens stands up for himself and the locker room and challenges Rollins' to a match. During their match, the Authors of Pain attack Owens. Rollins claims he had nothing to do with that but later on we’d see Rollins align himself with AOP. And thus, the Monday Night Messiah was born.

But what caused this break in him? On an episode of Raw, Rollins' pours his heart out in front of the fans. "What do you want from me?" He pleads from the audience. Somewhere along the line, Seth felt a disconnect from the fans and he doesn't know what went wrong.

"... you and I we used to get along. We used to see things eye to eye and then somewhere along the way it all went wrong and I'm trying to figure out why. Why? I did everything right. I don't take nights off. I fight through injuries. Every single time I walk through that curtain and I get in that ring, I lay it all on the line for each and everyone of you. I stick my neck out for you guys, and not just in the ring but in the media too and what do I get? What do I get? I get spit on. I get disrespected and I'm sick of it."

Everyone still sees Seth as a backstabber. Even when he was trying to convince Owens and the world that he had nothing to do with the AOP attacking Owens; no one believed him due to his last. So, if no one is going to believe him, might as well give them a reason to dislike him.

Seth's past coming back to haunt him and the cold shoulder the fans gave him, despite Rollins working to prove he was a better and changed man, pushed Rollins to the edge. Seth felt these people questioned his leadership- not only from his showing at Survivor Series but also as a locker room leader. So, he was going to force everyone to see his vision.

Seth was going to enforce his will no matter what. He had the AOP behind him. Who was going to stop him?

He was speaking of his opponents as sacrifices and that this was all for the "greater good". Though Rollins' couldn't lead his survivor series team to victory, perhaps he could lead his new friends and himself to a higher purpose.

Rollins preyed on those who already felt lost or confused in their careers, and preyed on their vulnerability. Thus, this is how we saw his alliance with Buddy Murphy form. After losing a match, Murphy sits ringside and looks like he is reevaluating his entire life. He stays there even as another match takes place. It’s not till a desperate Rollins comes up to him in distress that Murphy looks up and takes this as the sign he has been looking for.

The two did go on to win the tag titles together and found some success as a team. After losing the belts though, Seth goes on a losing streak of sorts. From being number 30 in the rumble that year and still not winning it all, to losing his tag titles, to losing at WrestleMania against Kevin Owens, and then failing to win the Universal Championship against Drew Mcintyre, Rollins starts to descend even more into insanity.

All these failures being said, who would have thought Rey Mysterio congratulating Rollins on his fiance Becky being pregnant would have been the thing that launched Rollins into a full blown rage that got to the point where he tried to (and successfully) take out Rey’s eye? Perhaps it was just failure after failure getting to him. Perhaps it was the nerves of becoming a father. But something in Rollins snapped.

Though it felt the feud between these two would never end, it did kick start Rollins' new and even more insane character arc. Mysterio and Rollins ended up having an eye for an eye match at that year's Extreme Rules show. Though the ending wasn’t done that well, we were supposed to believe Rollins did really take out Rey’s eye from his socket. In terms of letting go of our suspension of disbelief, it is insane to think Rollins really did take out this man’s eye. His descent into madness knew no bounds. What else was he capable of?

Rey and Seth had some more matches after this encounter though and Rollins even faced Rey’s son at Summerslam. Rey and son teamed up to take on the team of Seth and Buddy at Payback. The latter lost. Rollins berated Murphy (as was a usual occurrence for these two) but this time, Buddy wasn’t going to take the abuse. He attacked his messiah, and ended their alliance. AOP gone, Buddy dared to disobey him- Rollins was alone again.

At 2020’s Survivor Series, Rollins was on team Smackdown. However, Rollins was the first to be eliminated after "sacrificing" himself. Perhaps the messiah needed some time to rest, but we wouldn’t hear from Seth again till next year.

The Visionary:

Seth would return at the 2021 rumble. He was eliminated by Edge- someone who would become a target of Rollins' later on. On an episode of Smackdown, Rollins cut a promo on the Smackdown roster- very similar to his speech to the one he gave the Raw roster post Survivor Series. He told the locker room they needed to "embrace the vision". The roster of course walked out on him after not understanding his ramblings.

This returning Seth had less rid religious and cult undertones. He came out wearing colorful and boldly patterned suits. He would laugh. He would sing and dance to his own theme. He seemed happier and more carefree, but was he really?

Rollins was in the men's MITB ladder match that year. However, he failed to capture the case. Not satisfied with this, he interrupted the Universal match that night of Roman Reigns vs Edge. He costs Edge the match- never forgetting what Edge stole from him at the rumble earlier.

Seth is vindictive. He's hell bent on winning. When the losses stack up, it pushes him over the edge and he can't take it. Once Seth gets in his zone, he will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

This feud with Edge let us see an even more sinister side of Rollins. You can strip Seth of everything he tries to hide behind- his cult, his outrageous clothes- but under all of this is a broken man with nothing to lose anymore. And when people don't have anything to lose, that is when they become the most dangerous.

Seth was set on making Edge's life hell. He even stooped as low as breaking into Edge's family home and taunting the distraught father as he could do nothing but watch.

Following their feud, Seth was drafted back to Raw. He competed on Team Raw and was the sole survivor that year which was a bit of redemption for the visionary after his past two failed attempts. Perhaps things were finally going right for Rollins.

During his time at Raw this go around, he’s gone after the WWE Championship and failed to capture it. He also formed a new alliance with Kevin Owens. Both have a history of turning their backs on their partners, but they somehow made this partnership it work.

And speaking of turning their backs on their partners, an old friend of Rollins crossed his path. At the 2022 Royal Rumble, Seth challenged his former Shield brother Roman Reigns for the Universal championship.

These two men are definitely not the same men they once were when they were a group or even after they disbanded. Roman, now the tribal chief, is a force to be reckoned with and dominates everyone he faces. But Seth knows everything about Roman. They have a bunch of history together. Seth is probably one of the few people who truly knows the real Roman. This new attitude of Roman doesn’t scare or phase Seth, but maybe this new Seth scares Roman. It's clear Seth has always been selfish. Even when he tried to change, his real self was always going to shine through. Roman knows Seth has always been a coniving weasle, but he never expected Seth to be this far gone.

And now Roman had to face an old ghost and confront the death of a group he wasn't ready to let go. To make matters worse, Rollins comes out in his shield attire and entrance. Maybe it's too much for Roman to bear.

It was an emotional match for the tribal chief who let the mind games of Rollins get the best of him. Roman put Rollins in a hold and refused to let go and even cried "he won't allow me to let go".

Rollins is a pain in the ass for anyone who comes in contact with him. Rollins is malicious. He won't allow you to just leave him. He needs to take up a part of the people he faces lives. He harasses his opponents for weeks and even months on end. He's relentless and this persistence from Seth makes him dangerous. Seth wants for the people he faces to go as low as him. He wants them to break mentally. Perhaps when they break, they will start to see what he's seen for years.

At the rumble against Roman, Seth's mind games backfired and he was unsuccessful in his attempts to win gold. Again.

Still titleless, his spotlight was fading from him. He had no plans leading up to Wrestlemania 38 either. He tried his best to get on the card, so much it almost sent him into another fit of insanity.

Turns out, getting a match at Wrestlemania was as easy as just asking for it. Vince McMahon gave Seth his match but said it would be against a mystery opponent of his choosing. Seth gladly took the offer.

At Mania, Seth shows up in a gorgeous blue and black lacey gear as he awaited his mystery opponent. His opponent? No other than Cody Rhodes.

Cody’s return is one of the biggest moments of this year. Cody had been gone from WWE for years and even helped in creating WWE’s biggest competition- and now he was back at the grandest stage of them all.

Cody was able to put away the visionary in this match. As we've seen, Seth is not one to let things go so easily. What started after this loss was an unhealthy obsession with Cody and beating him. The two had a match at Backlash which Seth also lost.

And then the two had a match at Hell in a Cell where Seth lost to Cody despite Cody having a torn pec. Seth even came out wearing a Dusty inspired gear to further get into Cody's head. One thing about Rollins' is his use of gear to taunt his opponents is genius. While not a new thing for wrestlers to do, Rollins does it so brilliantly and it really adds to his character.

Losing to Cody three times in a row was the final straw for Seth. Seth put Cody on the shelf after a surprise attack the following Raw. Seth was able to get rid of the one person tormenting him these past couple of weeks. Though he couldn't beat him, this was the next best thing.

Seth acts out on his emotions but at the same time is very calculated. He acts on sudden impulses- like breaking into a man's house or removing someone's eyeball- but they're done with reason and purpose. He knows these kinds of things will get into his opponents heads. It's all about bringing the worst out of people. It's all about getting them to crash and burn so Seth can take a step back and admire his work.

The next and most recent target for Seth’s wrath was Matt Riddle. Why this feud started, I still don’t know, but it became personal quick. The two’s match was announced for Clash at the Castle. Seth was able to defeat Riddle here. A rematch at Extreme Rules was then announced where they’d fight in the fight pit. Seth did what Seth does best and played extreme mind games on Riddle in the weeks following up to their rematch. The two's rivalry was so heated that they had to exchange words in two seperate rooms.

After the two were done, Seth called out to Matt. Rollins then brought up Riddle’s family and divorced wife.

"Yo Riddle you still there. You talk about my family, let's talk about your family. Oh wait, you ain't got one because your wife divorced you and took your kids and they don't want to see your bitch ass anymore."

There's no emotions behind Seth eyes in this promo. It's almost like he's blacking out and saying the most henious thing his mind can conjure up. He's saying exactly what he knows what will make Riddle tick. He's going the lowest he can go, and using it to his advantage. Seth has a history of going after the families of the people he's feuding with. Whatever you love and hold dear, Rollins will use that to screw with your head. Dead fathers, divorced wives and children are all free game for Rollins.

At Extreme Rules, Seth lost to Matt. Though Seth might have lost this match, the visionary is always quick to take opportunities as they come to him. On the October 10th episode of Raw, a match was announced for Bobby and Seth for the US title. Bobby made his entrance but after that came out a surprise return: Brock Lesnar. Lesnar attacked and beat down the US champion, leaving him a mess and unable to walk for the most part.

The ultimate opportunist noticed this all felt a little too familiar and came out for his match. Despite being advised not to, Bobby did the match. Bobby couldn’t overcome the much healthier Seth and lost his US title. Shades of Wrestlemania 31, Seth was able to seize the day and win the US title! After 2 years, Seth is a champion again. The vision is complete.

Seth has had a long career and gone through many character phases. But I will argue these last 2 years have been his best. From the feuds, to the outfits to the character work- it’s all been very entertaining to watch. I enjoy the campiness of it all. The Seth we see now feels like a culmination of all the previous characters we've seen from

him before. He's cunning, sly, opportunistic and manipulative. He's also vulnerable and impulsive. All these characteristics make up the real Seth freaking Rollins.

Seth is now finally a champion again after trying so hard for the past couple of years. After failure after failure, he's finally did it. Was it always supposed to be this easy?

All Seth wanted was a bit of appreciation and trust for everything he did for the company and fans. If no one was going take him seriously, then Seth found a way to impose his will on to everyone regardless if they wanted to follow him or not. He never lost his vision but instead watched it become bigger and brighter. This win here is the culmination of months of madness finally paying off. And of course the ultimate opportunist won in the most opportunistic way.

Now, we can only wait to see what new vision Rollins' unleashes on to the world.

What's next for the visionary?