Seth Rollins joined The Rack this past Thursday night, where he discussed what it was like to be in the ring and curb stomping both Brock Lesnar and John Cena on RAW, his thoughts on Smackdown moving to Thursdays, who is he looking forward to working with from NXT in the future, his favorite Smackdown moment and what it was like working with The Undertaker, his reaction to Randy Savage going into the Hall of Fame in 2015, what he likes to do on his days off and so much more.
What it was like to be standing over both Cena and Lesnar at the end of RAW: “You know, it felt good; those big nights you were referring to are starting to pile up here and I’m starting to have them more and more and more. Last night on RAW, surely, standing over both John Cena and the WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, was a feat that, honestly, I don’t think there are any other men that can say they’ve done that; I might be the only one in the history of the WWE, so that’s quite monumental.”
On his championship Triple Threat match at the Royal Rumble: “My strategy for this match is to go in full boar, 100 percent, 110 percent, whatever you want to call it and try to win the match. If things don’t work out and I don’t end up winning, the odds are against me for sure, I have back-up plans. I always got a Plan B and that is my Money in the Bank briefcase. It’s an unprecedented situation; I don’t think it the history of the Money in the Bank briefcase contract scenario that you’ve had a challenger with two opportunities essentially to win the title, so it should be a very interesting Royal Rumble. I think the fans are going to be at the edge of their seats the whole time.”
What it’s like working with both Triple H and Stephanie McMahon on TV weekly: “Oh, they’re phenomenal; two of the greatest minds in the history of our industry. You’ve got one, born and bred a McMahon so she knows all there is to know about what we do and she knows all the little tricks of the trade. She sees things from a completely different perspective, so you have that. On the other hand, you have ‘The Cerebral Assassin’, a man who’s been WWE Champion multiple times, who is clearly the heir-apparent to the company itself and already running the ship for the most part. There are really no better mentors; if you’re not learning something every single day, every single time you go out there, then you’re really just making a mistake trying to progress yourself. If people have kept track over the past 6-8 months, they’ll have noticed a lot of improvements in my game, at least I have, and a lot of that is due to having Triple H and Stephanie on my side, nurturing me all the way through.”
On Triple H following his progress through NXT, The Shield and now: “Yeah, clearly, the man has an eye for talent, you know? It’s been good; NXT was a good experience for me. We were really the first group of guys who were involved in that project and if you look at what it’s become now, it’s pretty impressive to think about where it started and how it began, very humbly, in a warehouse in Tampa and now, basically, it’s its own brand. To have Triple H’s support, through and through the entire way, has meant more to me than people will ever understand. It’s really helped position me to where I want to be and helped me grow as a person and as a performer.”
Is there anyone in the new crop of NXT talent that he’s looking forward to facing in the future: “I have a lot of friends down there; a lot of people who I traveled the road with in my previous life and I think those guys, the Adrian Nevilles and Sami Zayns, Finn Balor, Hideo Itami, Kevin Overs; these are the guys obviously making a name for themselves now in NXT. There’s also a lot of young guys too, who are pushing the envelope as well, really trying to make a name for themselves in the shadow, a little bit, of some of those bigger names.
You’ve got someone like CJ Parker, who’s been down in NXT for a while making waves. You’ve got Tyler Breeze, who is on the cusp of something big and stuff like that. So, there’s a lot of talent down there; I’m looking forward to seeing how the landscape up here in the WWE looks like in 2-5 years, with all of those names I mentioned, up here working with us. It’s going to be a very interesting period for the future of WWE.”
If the shift of Smackdown to Thursdays gives people like yourself a chance to be the one the show is built around, like Edge and Undertaker in the past: “I would like to assume that both RAW and Smackdown will be built around me from this day forward, or maybe from the Royal Rumble forward. I talk a lot about how the future is now, well I’m not the future anymore; the present is upon us and I am a major part of that. Smackdown moving back to Thursday nights, where it originally began, is really exciting for me just because that’s the night I used to watch it when I was younger; all the stuff with The Rock, Edge and Christian, Eddie Guerrero and my *ahem* security guard Joey Mercury also played a huge role on Smackdown during that time as well. It’s an awesome move; I’m looking forward to reaching into another night in the week and just seeing what that brings and what that holds for us as a company moving forward. It’s going to be good for everybody involved.”
On his favorite Smackdown Moment: “Man, there’s a lot of really good ones; I would be hard pressed not to say that one of my own personal favorite moments is me powerbombing the Undertaker through a table, that’s pretty iconic as far as a Smackdown Moment gets. If I’m going to reach back in the vault, I’m going probably to the very first Smackdown with the Shawn Michaels superkick on the Rock, that was pretty awesome and I’m a big Shawn Michaels fan, so when Rock is going for the People’s Elbow and Shawn just clocked him in the tooth, I thought that was pretty sweet.”
What was it like finding out he’d get to work with the Undertaker on Smackdown: “It’s one of those things where you don’t even really think that’s ever going to happen to you in your career and not because.. I expected the level of success I have but I expected Undertaker to be long gone by the time I came around and the fact that he’s still here is a testament to him and the fact that we were able to, we in The Shield, were able to ascend to that level so quickly and get a chance to be in the ring with him before he stepped away is pretty awesome. Obviously, you know, he could still be around and maybe there’s a WrestleMania match for me and him in the future, but for now, I’ll definitely I’ll cherish those moments I got to spend in the ring with him.”
His thoughts on the announcement of Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage for the 2015 WWE Hall of Fame Class: “Yeah, my only real thought is it’s about damn time; I know there were a lot of issue with getting him into the hall and stuff like that but I’m really glad, after all these years, people made the decision that it was the right thing to do and II think everybody knew that, it was dotting the I’s and crossing the t’s a little bit and I think they put their personal pride aside and made it well known that one of the greatest of all time, the Macho Man, deserves to be in the Hall of Fame and it’s about time. I’m glad to be involved in it in some way, shape or form; just to be part of the company while that happens is pretty cool.”
