Seth Rollins opened this week’s Monday Night Raw by celebrating his World Heavyweight Championship victory from this weekend’s Night of Champions pay-per-view. AJ Styles walked out to congratulate “The Visionary” on his win, followed by the pair getting confronted by The Judgement Day and setting up the show’s main event. There was no indication of who Rollins’ first challenger might be for his new title, and a new report emerged Tuesday morning that debunked a previous rumor.
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Over the weekend, rumors that Rollins’ first opponent (most likely at Money in the Bank in July) would be Brock Lesnar. Rollins’ history with “The Beast” is well-documented, with him beating Lesnar to become Universal Champion at WrestleMania 35 and SummerSlam 2019. However, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is now reporting there’s no truth to that rumor as Lesnar is still involved in a program with Cody Rhodes. “The American Nightmare” claimed Lesnar feared him on this week’s Raw and offered Lesnar an open challenge to a tiebreaker match at any point going forward.ย
“So they are doing another match [Lesnar and Rhodes]. I don’t know if it’s gonna be in London (Money in the Bank) or it’ll be in Detroit (SummerSlam), but they are definitely doing another match. And I did check and there is nothing in the cards right now for Lesnar with Seth Rollins. It’s not. I mean, they could do it later, but it’s nothing that’s in the plans right now. It’s just Lesnar with Cody. I don’t know how Seth wrestles. I thought maybe we would find out. I thought maybe it’d be like Damien Priest, but then, by the end of the show tonight, it was….when that thing was over, it’s like, I don’t think they’re gonna go to Seth and Damian Priest because if they did, all I would say is what a stupid finish they did,” Meltzer explained on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t WrestlingNews.co).
Who do you think Rollins’ first opponent should be? Let us know in the comments!
WWE Night of Champions 2023 Results
- World Heavyweight Championship:ย Seth Rollins def. AJ Styles
- Trish Stratus def. Becky Lynch
- WWE Intercontinental Championship:ย Gunther def. Mustafa Ali
- Raw Women’s Championship:ย Asuka def. Bianca Belair
- SmackDown Women’s Championship:ย Rhea Ripley def. Natalya
- Brock Lesnar def. Cody Rhodes
- Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships:ย Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn def. Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa