What’s good for Seth Rollins is bad for wrestling

Recently, I spoke about how modern fan behavior isn’t always awesome due to the constant chanting that just drones on and on, which is becoming a problem when Seth Rollins is in the building.

Now, the man famous for leading his choir of supporters as they shower him with endless psalms is chiming in on the topic. And given his comments to The New York Post, Rollins doesn’t plan to add The Sound of Silence to his set anytime soon.

“Why would I want to stop it? They’re doing my thing for me. Why would I want to stop them? What good is that? That’s silly. They ‘What’ people when they’re bored with them. They’re singing my song to my opponent to aggravate him, to piss him off. They know that it annoys him, so they keep doing it. That’s as good as it gets.”

I’m not surprised by his response. Rollins is more popular now than ever. It would be ridiculous of him to discourage what has become an essential part of his presentation. Rollins is also correct in that fans singing his song is just another form of heckling aimed at his enemies.

However, fan participation today does as much to hurt performances as it does to enhance them. And regardless of crowd antics, “The show must go on,” but we can’t move on until the heels have their say.

And the bad guys need to speak their piece.

For one, it’s critical to the story and the character. Booing Dominik Mysterio out of the building is fun. But stopping to listen to him whine about how his dad only gave him a BMW for his birthday (which wasn’t even an M Series) adds to his heat, which helps build a fire for his feud with his father, Rey Mysterio.

Perhaps more importantly, fans ruin what could become a star-making moment. Imagine Stone Cold Steve Austin trying to cut his famous Austin 3:16 promo while the patrons in the arena entertain themselves with their incessant taunting.

It’s also worth asking how that endless cascade of crooning affects the rest of the show and if it forces WWE to cut segments and time from other wrestlers.

In closing, there’s a fine line between spectators giving the villain the business and going into business for themselves, and fans today cross that line too often.

But based on the feedback I received initially on this topic, I know that some wrestling-goers feel a paid ticket entitles them to do, say, and act as they wish.

Well, to those people, keep it up, then. Just do me a favor.

Bring that energy, and then some, when the time comes for Seth Rollins to face Roman Reigns. That’s when I want to hear all that singing the most.

Because when the Tribal Chief puts The Visionary down following copious amounts of shenanigans, ref bumps, and a single spear, the ensuing silence will be music to my ears.