on seth rollins’ redemption chapter, and his descent into darkness once again
considering that seth rollins has gone through an extensive redemption arc (and honestly, he’s the only character who’s actually repented for his sins), seeing seth ‘revert’ to darkness is like seeing a person who has defeated his demons but is now falling back into bad habits again. (i’m being kind of dramatic here, but still.) but the thing is, it was so liberating to see him finally snap.
see, it’s not the same kind of darkness that seth let himself be led into 5 years ago. his first heel turn happened because he wanted a better spot on the card. he felt like he was going to be left behind, and he felt like he wasn’t being appreciated enough, so he accepted triple h’s offer and turned his back on his brothers and, consequently, the crowd. he mocked them. he belittled them. he became a whiny, insufferable brat who was too chicken to do anything without daddy’s approval.
but after being betrayed by his father figure, he was finally able to put things into perspective and realise that he actually liked himself before he met triple h. the person who promised him the whole world on a silver platter had become his demon: someone he had to defeat to break away from the cycle of abuse. and he finally did at wrestlemania. but life didn’t stop there, he had to get back his two brothers he betrayed. it took a while, and he tried everything – just simple talking, sacrificing himself physically, imploring to be hit with a steel chair to make dean feel better – and finally, finally he was able to regain the trust of his brothers. and throughout this journey, the crowd he’d ignored, the same crowd he’d mocked and belittled back when he was a heel, began to support him again. by the time he won the ic title, they fully appreciated seth, and his genuine love and passion for the business.
and this supportive relationship between seth and the fans continued until they decided that seth was just not good enough. even though it took seth rollins years to regain respect and trust from the crowd, it only took a couple of days for the crowd to turn their backs on him. but seth, he wasn’t going to let that get to his head. he loved the business too much. he’s been through a lot, he’s learned to be a better person. he wasn’t being selfish here, no, he wanted his team, team raw, to be the very best and deliver the very best show, so that the crowd can be happy – but they failed to deliver at survivor series. he became desperate, so frustrated during the match at one point he screamed that he was the one who built nxt, and he would be the one to tear it down… only to let his ego get him eliminated from the match. this was the first glimpse into his destructing mind.
the next night, he held a ‘meeting’ with the whole locker room and demanded that they do better as a team. he commented that they all sucked. and hell, if veterans and other leaders like randy, rey, or charlotte refused to step up, then he would steer the ship and push his team mates to do better. but why is no one listening to him? he’s right, surely he’s right, he had only said those harsh words to charlotte, randy, and rey because he cares about the locker room–and obviously they fucking don’t–and yeah, he said some things he didn’t mean to kev, but hey wait, fuck kevin owens, he only thinks for himself… either way, i’m right, i’m seth rollins, and i’m the only one who cares about raw here, i’m speaking from my heart, unlike all those other guys who don’t give a shit about raw, i’m the only one who’s willing to make this better, what more do i have to do for the people to be happy? what more do they want?!–
and thus began seth rollins’ descent into madness. his need to deliver the very best to the crowd, his need to have his brand, the very brand he poured his heart and soul into for years, to deliver the best show, to make things right and get people to love them (him) again, but not being good enough for anyone began to eat at him. this was a different kind of darkness that was threatening seth. it wasn’t like a few years ago, where his darkness was in the form of greed to be the only guy at the top, which isolated him from the fans and his brothers. it was the fact that after dedicating everything to the fans, after doing everything for the fans, after caring about the fans too much, that was slowly isolating him from them again. his need to make things right was turning him into a villain again: a different kind of delusional, self-righteous heel.
and now? he’s finally snapped, and he’s finally asked the people, what more does he have to do to make them happy again? he fights through injuries, he works every single fucking week, he sticks his neck out for his company, he’s defeated brock lesnar twice to bring that stupid title back to raw, but even so people aren’t giving him the respect, the validation, he wants and craves from them. why did they turn their back on him? what does he have to do? does he have to go out into the ring and kill himself? will that make them happy? what is good enough for them?
after being treated poorly by the fans for so long, seeing seth rollins finally snap and demand an explanation from the fans, lay out the facts and accuse them of being fickle was quite honestly a liberating experience. and i’m sure it was liberating for seth, too: to finally realise and verbalise the fact that he wasn’t being treated right by the fans, by the people he would have done anything and everything for.
once a beloved, redeemed hero, seth rollins has made his descent into darkness to become the fallen hero.
dededos
kianamaiart
izzy806
blakekathryn
