Seth Rollins has been one of the WWE’s most reliable stars of the past decade, and on Night 1 of Wrestlemania 38 he was apart of another unforgettable moment.
With Rollins awaiting his mystery opponent in the ring, Downstait’s “Kingdom” hit, and the crowd erupted as former AEW EVP Cody Rhodes made his way to the ring.
The pair put on a classic, with “The American Nightmare” eventually coming out on top. Speaking to The Gorilla Position, Rollins had a chance to reflect on the night.
“I’ve got a lot of mixed emotions about Saturday. It certainly was a moment that will live in time and history of this industry, but I lost, and losing at WrestleMania is not fun. I have been on the losing end of some very important matches at WrestleMania, I’ve been on winning said of some things as well, and losing sucks, no matter how you slice it. The moment will live forever though, that’s how I have to remember it, the moment will live forever. I always tell people, those big stadium events, the ring is like the eye of the hurricane. It’s very calm, maybe because it’s like my zen space. For whatever reason, it feels very calm to me and it was very surreal watching him come down the ramp knowing everything he’s been through the past six, seven years and everything he came back for. It was cool. It was cool to see the reaction and I was, in many ways, happy for him,”
Cody stated after the match that he couldn’t have asked for a better opponent for his return than Rollins, as Seth was considered one of “Dusty’s kids” during Dusty’s time as a trainer/produce at the Performance Center. Seth responded to Cody’s comments during this interview:
“To be able to be in the ring for his son’s return, and really Cody did it his way, he left when he was unhappy, he did all the things that everybody said they wanted to do and he came back a bigger star than he’s ever been and that’s not easy to do that, it takes a lot of hard work. He learned that ethic from his father. For him to comeback, say those nice things about me, it was all very good. Except the bionic elbow.”
When asked if he’d watched the match back following the praise from fans across the world, Seth confirmed that watching his matches back is a habit he’s grown out of.
“I am my own worst critic. I can’t watch it back because I’m so hard on myself. Watching my stuff back is pretty brutal. For me, it’s an experience and I’m over it. if it was good, I know it in the ring and I can move forward. When I was younger, I’d watch my stuff back, I learned a lot from it and was able to figure things out. At this point in the game, it’s more like pulling teeth. It ruins my week. If something was good, I can’t do it. I can’t go back and ruin it for myself. I heard nothing but good feedback for once in my life and I’m going to live with that.”
Cody became the first major AEW name to jump ship to WWE, and his return may entice other AEW stars to follow suit. When asked who he’d like to see cross the divide from Jacksonville to Orlando, Rollins had the following to say.
“Anybody who wants to come work in the big leagues. [Laughs]. I said it to him [At WrestleMania], I’ve said it before, this is the premier professional wrestling company on the planet. I know, ‘don’t say professional wrestling,’ doesn’t matter. We have the best in the world and now we have Cody Rhodes on top of that and he is joining that club. If you want to be the best, don’t go play rinky-dink, come here, do your thing here. We are the best, top notch, across the board. I’m not taking anything away from anybody else or anywhere else, I love it, do what you do, you guys are tremendous and there are great talents out there, but this is where you are the best. This is where you find out if you can hack it on the top top level.”
Seth Rollins
Rollins closed by saying “the internet is going to be pretty mad at me. They don’t like when I say words.”
Rollins and Rhodes would share the ring once again on this week’s Raw, with Rollins welcoming Rhodes back ‘home’ and the two shaking hands. Whilst future plans for Seth Rollins are currently unknown, Rhodes has made no secrets of his desire to become WWE Champion.
H/T to Fightul for the transcription.
