Seth Rollins On AEW’s WWE References: ‘It Reeks Of Desperation’


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Seth Rollins has commented on the various shots AEW have taken at WWE.

Seth Rollins has been known to take shots at other wrestlers and wrestling promotions on social media over the years, with back and forth arguments between Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay being the most notable.

“When Kenny’s done playing in the minor leagues over there, then he can come and work at the absolute top professional wrestling company in the world, in front of the most people, and make the most money, and have the biggest matches, which is with me at WrestleMania,” he said during an interview in 2019.

Rollins isn’t the only wrestler to fire shots at other promotions however, with AEW making numerous references to WWE during episodes of Dynamite. These were met with mixed feelings by fans, with some liking the competitive nature, and others feeling like they were unnecessary.

Rollins recently spoke to Jimmy Traina for the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast, where he discussed his views on the references.

In the lead up to his match against Roman Reigns at this year’s Royal Rumble, Rollins named dropped Jon Moxley during an episode of SmackDown. Rollins was asked whether his comment was brought up backstage.

“Not one thing. Not one single thing. Nobody said anything to me about it. Everyone knows he’s a part of our history. You can’t do Seth and Roman without Dean or Mox, whatever you want to call him. You can’t do it. To ignore that part of our history and put him aside and focus on Roman and Seth, the focus was Roman and Seth, that was the story, but he’s a part of that so to ignore that and pretend he didn’t exist is silly. I referred to him by the name he prefers to go by and that’s where we’re at. I heard nothing in response to it backstage,” he said.

Rollins was then asked specifically about his perspective on companies referencing other promotions, and whether he thinks that it’s worth it.

“To me, it’s one of those things where, if it’s very useful, it’s fine. The references you spoke of [Rollins mentioning Moxley, CM Punk mentioning WWE] are two kind of different things. I didn’t use the reference to Mox to talk down to somebody. I wasn’t trying to diminish anyone’s accomplishments. It wasn’t like that. He’s part of our story, Roman wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t for Mox and I. The other side of that coin is the way that it can be used by those guys. They can do whatever they want. I find it very tacky and low-brow, personally. I think it looks and reeks of desperation. I don’t think it’s anything on our television show that we need to go there and talk down about those guys. They are doing their thing, they’re doing it very well, we’re very happy for them. I am, at least personally, are they on our level? No. They have a long way to go to catch up to us. That’s fine and they know that. They do things differently. From my perspective, it’s a step down for us to use it as an insult. That’s my perspective. People may not share that opinion.”

Rollins is currently scheduled to face a mystery opponent on this Saturday’s WrestleMania, who is reportedly going to be Cody Rhodes.

Thanks to Fightful for the transcription.

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