WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins has pulled back the curtain on his elaborate “Ruse of the Century,” where he faked a career-threatening knee injury for weeks before making a shocking return at SummerSlam to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase and win the championship. The long-term storyline was one of the most talked-about angles of the year, completely fooling a large portion of the fanbase and even some of his closest friends in the business.
Speaking with Jimmy Traina on the SI Media podcast, Rollins was asked how many people were in on the plan. “You can probably count on two hands.”
He also discussed the origins of the idea and his own commitment to making it a success.
“I’m not exactly sure where it was hatched. It was presented to me in advance, quite some time, which in our business is a few weeks. I thought the idea was brilliant when I first heard it. Obviously, the execution was going to be important, and the details were going to need to be ironed out. I felt the crux of the idea was brilliant. I was the guy to be able to pull that off. I was very excited at the prospect of it. My level of commitment to our industry is second to none. I was the guy for the job.”
When asked if he felt any guilt about deceiving his colleagues and the fans, Rollins was unapologetic.
“I didn’t feel guilty. I let my wife [Becky Lynch] take all the guilt. She has the Irish guilt anyway… If someone did this to me, I wouldn’t feel bad in the slightest. I would totally get it. Even my closest friends. Maybe John Cena. John reached out and I had to do my best to wiggle around it. John and I are cut from the same cloth, so when John saw the final outcome, he was very happy and proud.”
The storyline will culminate this Saturday at the WWE WrestlePalooza Premium Live Event, where Rollins will team with Becky Lynch to face CM Punk and the returning AJ Lee.