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Seth Rollins Stripped Of WWE World Title — Here’s How WWE Will Crown His Replacement

The rumors are unfortunately true. Seth Rollins has been forced to relinquish the WWE World Heavyweight Championship due to injury, and plans are now in place to crown a new title holder.
Rick Ucchino|
Seth Rollins
Seth Rollins | WWE

Recent reports have been proven to be accurate. Seth Rollins is going to be out of action for quite a while due to injury and he was stripped of the World Heavyweight Championship Monday Night on Raw.

General Manager Adam Pearce made the official announcement in front of a sold out crowd at the Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California, ending Rollins' second reign with the title after 78 days.

He successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on CM Punk to win the title back at SummerSlam, which was the culminating moment of a three-week-long ruse that saw Rollins pretend to be suffering from a serious knee injury. It's a cruel twist of irony that his run with the gold is being cut short after he was actually hurt in a match. 

Rollins has already undergone shoulder surgery, according to Adam Pearce, to repair the damage he sustained after he delivered a coast-to-coast diving headbutt on Cody Rhodes at WWE Crown Jewel. The kayfabe cover up for that injury was the attack by Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed last week in Australia.

The timeline for Seth's recovery is still up in the air. The Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer reported over the weekend that the company will get a better feel for how long he'll be out of action once his surgery has been completed.

“They don’t know all the damage in his shoulder," Meltzer said in his report. "They hope he’ll be okay for WrestleMania. There’s no way of knowing one way or the other today... But, he’s out for months."

What's next for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship?

The Vision Seth Rollins
The Vision turns on Seth Rollins | WWE

A new World Heavyweight Champion will be crowned at Saturday Night's Main Event coming up on November 1 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

CM Punk defeated Jey Uso and LA Knight in a No. 1 Contender's Triple Threat Match last week, which automatically earned him a spot in that title fight. His opponent was determined later in the night on WWE Raw when Jey Uso won an over-the-top rope battle royal. He eliminated both his brother, Jimmy Uso, and LA Knight before finally tossing out Dominik Mysterio to claim victory.

The next edition of Saturday Night's Main Event will be the first to stream exclusively on Peacock, with a brand new 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) start time. Since these quarterly specials no longer air on the NBC network, WWE now has the option to begin the show an hour earlier.

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Rick Ucchino
RICK UCCHINO

Rick Ucchino is the Assistant Editor & Content Coordinator for The Takedown on SI. He also works full-time for 700WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio as a local news and sports anchor, in addition to his time covering the Cincinnati Bengals for Sirius XM. Rick has been on the professional wrestling beat since 2019, having provided coverage for a number of outlets, including Fightful, SB Nation’s Cageside Seats and the Bleav Podcast Network. With an educational background in theater, creative writing and journalism, Rick focuses primarily on the storytelling aspect of pro wrestling, but he’s no stranger to the squared circle himself. He had the privilege of training with former WWE & WCW cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang for nearly two years and retired early due to back issues with a perfect 1-0 record in singles competition. Rick is a married father of two incredibly adorable children, who are budding pro wrestling fans themselves. Much to the chagrin of their mother. You can reach Rick at rwucchino@gmail.com

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