DES MOINES, IOWA — Just one week into his alliance with AOP, Seth Rollins has laid down the law: Follow him or pay the price. Claiming that he is still the visionary and trailblazer he’d been heralded as since his time in NXT, The Architect promised to lead Raw and the sports-entertainment industry into the next decade “by hook or by crook.” Kevin Owens, in that case, was little more than a casualty of history — someone who Rollins claimed resisted and was made an example of.

Going forward, Rollins set the same terms for all who label him a false leader. “Whether you like it or not, you are coming with me,” and he promised that AOP will deal with those who think otherwise. Speaking of which, The Architect left the WWE Universe with an ominous warning that some unnamed score would be settled before the night was over. “You’re not going to like it,” he told the audience, ending on a note in the unsettling sweet spot between an apology and a threat. “For what we have to do tonight,” he said, “I’m sorry.”