WWE has two world champions once again. Seth Rollins defeated AJ Styles to become the inaugural WWE World Heavyweight Champion. This title has its own lineage separate from the previous World Heavyweight Championship, as that rebranded WCW Title was retired when Randy Orton unified it with the WWE Championship in December 2013. Since winning the title, Rollins has had successful televised defenses against the likes of Damian Priest, Bron Breakker, and Finn Balor. Including live events and dark matches, Rollins has defended the World Heavyweight Championship a total of 18 times. By comparison, Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns has defended his prize on six occasions this year.
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Taking to the microphone after a recent WWE live event, Rollins responded to one fan who was calling him a “fake a– champion.”
“Being a fighting champion is taking its toll on me. I have one guy over here, that guy right there is calling me a fake a– champion. I am here in your city, sweating buckets, bleeding my own blood. I am far from a fake a– champion,” Rollins said (h/t WrestlingNews.co). “I am a fighting champion because you guys deserve a champion that’s gonna show up, a champion that’s gonna sweat buckets, a champion that’s gonna bleed his own blood. You deserve The Visionary, you deserve The Revolutionary, you deserve the world champion Seth [Rollins].”
Why Do Some Call Rollins a “Fake” Champion?
The criticism of Rollins’s championship reign is not due to Rollins himself but rather the title that he holds. When the World Heavyweight Title was introduced, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque essentially said it was created due to the fact that Reigns had become a part-time champion, only regularly appearing on WWE SmackDown, and that the Monday Night Raw fans deserved a world champion that would defend his title consistently.
Many took this as Triple H declaring that Reigns was all but unbeatable, leading to the World Heavyweight Championship immediately being smeared as a consolation prize. Despite the initial criticism, Rollins has regularly put on high work-rate bouts that have helped legitimize the young championship.
Rollins defends the World Heavyweight Title against Finn Balor this Saturday at WWE SummerSlam.
WWE SummerSlam 2023 Card
- Undisputedย WWEย Universal Championship:ย Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso (Tribal Combat Rules)
- World Heavyweight Championship:ย Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
- SmackDown Women’s Championship:ย Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Bianca Belairย
- Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnarย
- Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler
- Intercontinental Championship:ย Gunther vs.ย Drew McIntyre
- Ricochet vs. Logan Paul
